Hiring a rotorvator

in_my_wellies

I have a large allotment at the end of my garden. I have tended it for 22 years but last year I did nothing at all. It now looks like a field except for one small patch where the marrows and pumpkins were. I really don't think I can do all the digging and keep up with everything else in the garden. I have covered what I can with carpet and black plastic (compost bags) which will slow them down but I need to start planting soon.

Do you think I should hire a rotorvator? Will this just chop up the weeds and make them worse (it's already very thick grass) Will it break it up enough for me to fork through? Will I be physically strong enough to push it? (I can push the lawnmower but I have to get my neighbour to start it for me.) Are there different types, if so, which is best for thick couch grass and a woman pushing it?

Any advice gratefully received, thank you.

zacspeed_2

I hired a rotavator from Travis Perkins a couple of years ago, to do my (badly neglected) front lawn.
The machine cost me about £25 for the day, but it was truly ehausting work - much harder than a lawnmower.
In the end, I opted for the 10 tons of shingle approach. not ideal for an allotment I suppose!
Hope this helps!

BigAde

If you need someone to help you start the mower, I think you're probably going to find a rotavator a bit much - they can be fierce beasts!

You could always get a huge bit of black polythene and spread it over the area and wait for the weeds to die, but if you need to be planting soon, you probably won't have time to do that.

I think you may need to find someone to dig it over/rotovate it for you. If you can get a decent job done now, then you'll be free to start planting. Once it's dug over, you could always get a great big sheet of landscaping fabric from your local builders merchants (around £2/m for a 4m wide sheet) and cover the ground with that. This will stop any more weeds growing while allowing rainwater to soak through. Then cut small holes in the fabric where you put your plants in.

I've done this the last few years and while there's a bit of work at the beginning of the season getting the soil ready, but very little work after that.

Jay-Jay_4

We had our back garden rotivated last year as it had been untouched for 25 years and was covered in 6ft raspberry bushes.

We cleared the raspberry canes, chopping them down above the soil, then got a gardener to rotivate it for us. The results have been really good. We had turf laid and have not had any weeds come through. The soil was lovely after they'd rotivated.

Could you look in your local paper for a gardener to do the work for you? I know it's not very moneysaving but it might save your back.

Or.... could you hire the machine and pay someone for a couple of hours work? (maybe if you put a notice in your local post office offering two hours paid gardening work)