Best time to rotavate garden

Hi

Just wondering when is the best time to start rotivating a garden?

someone told me should spray weedkiller on the grass first a few weeks in advance. Is this true?

Cheers

Its A bit early to do either yet, Garden.ie is a good place for advice throughout the year

Hi,

Are you re-seeding the grass or laying turf? You will need to give the earth a few weeks to recover from any pesticides before laying a new lawn.

Round up will kill off the grass & anything else that it is sprayed on .. will take around 2 weeks to die off... assuming that it's dry, you can then "set it alight" to burn it off.

Once you rotovate it, you should roll the earth to level it. (you can add some manure to give the earth some nutrients at rotovating time), make sure you have enough top soil & rake till you have a fine tilt & no stones or pebbles... Apply grass seed as recommended... don't let the earth dry out, so check it every few days & water as needed... let the grass develop well before cutting & when you do cut, never take more than the top third off... even less if possible... Don't apply any fertiliser till after a winter season has passed...

Rustbucket - I assumed from your post your are rotivating for a veg plot (whereas Jazz01 has assumed its for a new lawn). Which is it?

If its for a lawn then any time during the growing season is fine and then follow the advice Jazz01 has given.

If its for a veg plot then Mark1 is right in that it's a bit early yet. If you rotivate too soon before you are due to plant then some of the nutrients will be washed through the soil when it rains.

Guys

thanks for the post. Its for a new lawn. current one is shocking- mostly weeds, very little grass left. dead in parts

Hi... Best to get started very soon so... the weather is very mild for the time of year, so ideal opportunity to make a start on it... You can rent rotovator and roller from local tool hire...quite reasonable for weekend...

Best to wait till April before putting down the grass seed... a good quality grass seed to give your lawn the best start...

Good luck with it...