When to roto-till for new garden

[gillstone]

I have a large space of about 250-300 sqft in my backyard that is currently home to a garden planted ten years and two owners back, but allowed to go wild for 6 years.  I've tried managing the plants. But I have come to the conclusion that for the effort I'm putting in to keep bachelor button and snow-on-the-mountain from taking over, I'm not getting nearly enough back. 

I'd like to rip it all out and put in some edible, zone-appropriate plants.  For this patch I'm looking at berries since my local CSA does all the other produce I need in abundance.  I need advice on when to get this project moving.

Do I rip out everything this fall and lay down cover, compost, magic fairy dust etc... or do I wait until the ground thaws in spring and get everything out then?

[TrulyStashin]

I have a similar plan for a patch in my yard.  I plan on tilling sometime before Labor Day (fingers crossed) or mid-September so that I can get fall cold crops (spinach etc) in the ground for Zone 7b.  Failing that, I'll till sometime in early fall, enrich with compost/ leaves etc. and let it sit over the winter to mellow.

If you're planning on doing strawberries, you might do some research as I have the impression (no knowledge, just the impression) that they are perennial and should be planted in the fall.  Others know more than I and perhaps they'll chime in.

Many (most?) berry plants do not need a tilled area.  You'd be better off improving the soil in/ around/ under where you intend to plant your blueberry bush or blackberry canes and then growing a ground cover like creeping thyme around the berry plants.  You might also look into figs as a good and easy fruit to grow.

Note that blackberries/ raspberries can be very invasive.

[Cpa Cat]

Any time you want. If you're tilling for weed control, then till immediately and then till again in a month, because tilling will turn up weed seeds.

For raspberries, I like a variety called Heritage. If it's suitable for your area, it's a nice producer and it fruits on new canes - so every year you just cut or mow them down completely, making them very easy to care for and control. Yellow raspberries are sweeter, but - as with most raspberries - fruit on 2 year old canes, so require a bit more effort.

For both raspberries and blackberries, you can basically just plant them right in your lawn, so they rarely need any special ground cover. They easily out-compete weeds. But blueberries and strawberries should have a clean, weed-free bed. I don't have much problem with raspberry spread (the bramble will gradually expand, but not excessively) - but blackberries will shoot up canes 6-8 feet away from the source (I just pull them or cut them down - it's no big deal, just mildly annoying).

Plant in the fall, not the Spring - if possible (see below).

You'll want a soil test for blueberries, due to their acidity needs. Then you'll have to adjust the acid-content of your soil, which probably means planting in the Spring. You should start this now.

As a general idea for spacing and placement: My 3 year old blackberry bushes each take up a roughly 4-by-4-by-4 area. My 10 year old raspberries are around 3-by-3-by-3 each. My blueberries never thrived. My strawberries creep toward full-sun of their own accord. Animal thievery is most common with the strawberries.

[Milspecstache]

When I did my blackberry patch I already had a tiller so I did it multiple times.  Basically till it, then wait for weeds to pop up, then till again.  Repeat until it is time to put the new plants in the ground.  Then I put down cardboard around all of my blackberry plants (as a weed blocker) and then covered with mulch, pine straw, and wood chips.  This is really effective at minimizing weeds and water useage by the plants.

This doesn't work if you have to rent/borrow a tiller.

[SondraRose]

Raised beds are a better solution than tilling, IME.  Google "lasagne gardening" or "sheet composting" for more ideas.  Fewer weeds, better drainage, easier to keep looking nice.