should I rotavate my garden ?

I am in a new build house and my clay back garden is full of weeds. I have got most of the nettles out , but the garden is still full of daisy like weeds / grasses / clover etc
The ground is solid, so I was thinking of hiring a rotavator next weekend to turn over the soil, so I can then pick out the stones / weeds.

Is this the way to go or will that make the problem worse?

 

Hello and welcome to the forum.

If its a new build, or even in any situation, I'd dig a few test holes first. New builds have a reputation for having gardens that are made of left over hardcore with a dusting of top soil scattered over it then turfed.

If the ground is full of rubble, and you take a rotavator to it, you will hurt yourself. It the tines will find the lumps of stone and hurl them at your shins.

 

there is no turf at all, its all just dirt. I've dug out loads of weeds and so far have not come across any builders rubble, just regular stones. I'm more concerned that I'll make the weed problem worse by rotavating. The plan was for my hubby to push the rotavator and I went at the back of him collecting the loosened stones and weeds

 

In that case then, if the place is big enough to warrant the use of a rotavator (they are hard work, and in my opinion only worthwhile on fairly big flat patches because turning them round requires a lot of effort), then I'd go for it.

However, they will mince up all those weed roots and scatter them. In the case of the likes of docks, dandelions, and heaven forbid, bindweed, then that's not a good thing. However if there's such an infestation of weeds, it may be worth resorting to the sprayer instead.

If you do get a rotavator, get one with driven wheels. That way there'll be no pushing to be done as they drive themselves. Then you just have to steer them, and fight them when they hit something and try to tip over.

And don't walk behind your husband as he pushes it along. Far better to stay well out of the way so you don't get blasted with dust or larger objects and so you can point and laugh when he loses control of it and it tries to drag him through the fence to next door's. Modern ones have a 'dead man's handle' which basically means they shut down if you let go, but that doesn't change the instinct to cling on to it when its not going your way.

The rotavator will bring most of the weed roots up to the surface, so if you do get one, it would be a good idea to do it when its forecast for sunshine, as that way the roots you miss when you rake up afterwards will mostly get baked dry in the sunshine.

 

Lucky you to start from scratch. I would turn the soil as you planned, and at the same time mix into the clay soil some manure and peat. This will help soften up the clay for the new plants. I have use a Rotavator with pumper guards on it so it does not back kick stones at me. And if you wear heavy pants with shin guards your ok. also always ear protection and eye goggles.

 

thanks for your input, you made me laugh thinking of my hubby being dragged up the garden I'll maybe take a few photos of the garden tomorrow and upload them. Its very exciting having such a blank canvas but its also a bit over whelming.

 

I was going to add some manure but I thought it would be a bit of a waste money wise as I will be building a fair size patio / garden paths etc I thought I would wait until I'd decided what parts were going to be turfed / flower beds/ shed etc first before adding compost

 

If you are not in too much of a hurry then I would spray the weeds with a Glyphosate based weedkiller first. ONLY use it when you are SURE there will be 6 hours of dry afterwards. It will take 2 weeks before the weeds go yellow and die, after that you can rotavate (and much less risk that you cut-up and thus multiply any pernicious weeds you have compared to rotavating whilst there are still weeds growing)

As Clueless1 said yYou need one of these self-propelled ones:



and NOT one of these that just power the tines (they are OK for soil which ahs been prepared before, but not for "digging" new ground):



or, better still, if your plot is large enough, hire a mini tractor with a PTO-driven rotavator on the back.