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Allotment works
chrisallum101
Posts: 1
Hi,
I've just taken on an allotment which is 51sq ft (around 17 metres squared) and it's been somewhat neglected for a couple of years.
I'm going to strim and mow it down to a workable level but it's not realistic to manually dig out the weeds after as the area is too big so I'm going to hire a rotavator. I've never used a rotavator and am wondering how long it will likely take me to clear this area and then rake it out after? Any advice would be appreciated thanks.
I've just taken on an allotment which is 51sq ft (around 17 metres squared) and it's been somewhat neglected for a couple of years.
I'm going to strim and mow it down to a workable level but it's not realistic to manually dig out the weeds after as the area is too big so I'm going to hire a rotavator. I've never used a rotavator and am wondering how long it will likely take me to clear this area and then rake it out after? Any advice would be appreciated thanks.
0
Posts
It rather depends what the weeds are. If there are perennial weeds like bindweed or creeping sow thistle then the rotavator will cut up the roots which will re-grow if you don't rake them all out. Hard to say how long it will take. Depends how strong you are too.
It also depends on the soil. A heavy clay soil will be much harder work than a light soil and will take longer.
I have a vegetable garden about 20m long and 5m wide. It is wider than that but had weed suppressant fabric put on half of it by the previous owner of my house. So a lot smaller than yours. The garden had also been neglected a couple of years. I dug it all last spring and removed all the weeds. There have been far fewer weeds to deal with this year.
In the meantime I've watched a lot of YouTubes and read stuff online for when the day comes that I finally get an allotment. Most advice I've seen about coping with weeds is to cover the soil, basically kill the weeds by preventing light. You can then tackle parts of the allotment at a time and pace yourself. I believe rotovating can make it worse, cutting up the weed roots like you've made lots of root cuttings!