Why do you till your garden beds year after year in spring and fall? Is it because you’ve always done it? Because your mother or dad always did it? Because it just looks nicer?
Many experts agree that the less tilling the better. While tilling can destroy weeds, it can also cause more weeds by breaking their roots into tiny pieces, each of which will sprout on its own. Tilling also brings to the surface weed seeds and lays the soil bare to windborne seeds, all of which are eager to germinate
Tilling fluffs up the soil, which looks nice, but doing so provides air to soil microbes that become metabolically supercharged and then release a flood of nutrients for fast crop growth. That may sound great, but those revved-up microbes will quickly burn up all the soil’s nutrients and then die, actually depleting the soil’s fertility. It is a waste of time and nutrients to till in fall when nothing will be planted in the soil for six months or more.
The more the soil is disturbed, the more quickly its organic matter decomposes and the more often it needs to be replenished. If you do till, make sure to replenish that lost organic matter by adding compost, shredded leaves or other organic matter to the soil.
Bare, newly tilled soil is susceptible to the impact of rain. A hard spring or autumn rain can pound on the soil and either compact it or wash it away.
Power tillers shred and kill thousands of beneficial earthworms. You may have heard that cutting a worm in half results in two worms, but that is not true. Only the head can survive and regenerate a body, but it probably won’t survive the shredding or tearing of a tiller.
Try to avoid tilling unless your garden soil is extremely compacted or is hard clay that needs to be mixed with a topping of organic matter. If the soil is fertile enough but merely compacted, use a broadfork to loosen it. If you must turn over the soil, it is better to do it gently with a spade or digging fork than with a power tiller. If you have good loose soil, but still want the neater look, use a hoe to fluff up the top inch or two.
Not only will you save yourself some work by avoiding tilling, you’ll be doing your plants and the environment a favor too.
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