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Rotatiller use

roses25roses25 Posts: 567
edited November -1 in Parenting and Life
Does anyone here use a rotatiller to till their ground? Is it hard to do? I need to till our ground up before I plant seed or put sod down. The dirt is sand like, and it has been scooped up and moved around quite a bit to level it out. However there are some pretty hard spots. It's a pretty good sized back yard. I've never tilled before. I haven't found anyone willing to do it for me. There seems to be no interest at all. So I'm trying to decide if I can do it myself or if I need to look harder for someone else to do it.

Carolyn
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Comments

  • PatienceisavirtuePatienceisavirtue Posts: 777
    edited November -1
    My wife rotatills (is that even a word?) her mom's garden. She said the worst part is her hands going numb from the vibrations. For reference- my wife is short (5 feet) and not particularly strong (like normal strength).
    TTC #1: 1-5 BFN; 6- BFP
    TTC #2: since June 2016...
  • MNmommasMNmommas Posts: 1,081
    edited November -1
    You could also consider raised beds. We use the square foot garden method (ish) and get huge yields.
    Donor 7070, births 2012 & 2013
  • ShannyShanny Posts: 2,456
    edited November -1
    If you are open to not having a grass yard I agree about raised beds. If I had my whole yard as a blank slate to start from scratch the last thing I would do would be to put down grass :)
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  • MNmommasMNmommas Posts: 1,081
    edited November -1
    LOL! I did not even catch that this was for planting GRASS seed (or sod). Whoops! But yes, like Shanny said, I also would be the crazy neighbor who didn't have grass but instead grew tasty food in raised beds.
    Donor 7070, births 2012 & 2013
  • blkbrd3blkbrd3 Posts: 1,221 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Ha ha ha. My front yard is now sporting 8 raised beds. I'm now converting what's left of the grassy areas into flower beds for native plants.

    Tilling is pretty easy to do. My hands go numb to when I do it. If your soil is particularly hard you could till after a good rain.
  • roses25roses25 Posts: 567
    edited November -1
    Does anyone have a good site on how to do raised beds? I'm really open to suggestions.

    Carolyn
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  • blkbrd3blkbrd3 Posts: 1,221 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I encourage you to search the following in Google and Pinterest;
    - raised beds diy
    - square foot gardening
    - container gardening

    You can be as complex or as simple as you want. We put cardboard down as a weed barrier. Then added simple cedar boxes and filled those with garden soil. We put down bark in the pathways between the boxes. Next was to divide the boxes into 1 ft squares and plant.

    The final phase will be to pull up the rest of the grass. Then plant native wildflowers and plants. Also I want to install a drip irrigation system from box to box.

    I wanted a landscape that would inspire Thomas and I to be outside. Digging in the dirt, watering flowers, chasing butterflies, filling a bug waterer... these activities will provide us more fun than mowing.
  • b&kmakebabiesb&kmakebabies Posts: 818
    edited November -1
    I thought this was pretty simple: http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeandgarden/2011/02/build-your-own-raised-flowervegetable-bed/

    But honestly, the easiest raised garden bed (and cheapest) is cinderblocks. I also love planting wild flowers in the holes of the blocks. Cinderblocks are also easy to paint which could be a project for kids...
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    TTC from 06/2015...Baby M born 11/24/16!
  • ShannyShanny Posts: 2,456
    edited November -1
    I've never thought of cinder blocks!

    I'm going to start a separate thread with more on this topic.
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  • MNmommasMNmommas Posts: 1,081
    edited November -1
    We did ours with cinder blocks. And by we, I mean that I did all of the work. I think it was worth it, but let me just say, if you are DIY, be prepared for a major workout. Those blocks are HEAVY. I undid all of my work recently (we're getting ready to sell our house), and wow, I had forgotten just how heavy they were! The work aside, I can also tell many tales of the great fresh garden produce yields from those magnificent beds. YUM.
    Donor 7070, births 2012 & 2013
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