Using a Tiller for Minimal Soil Disruption

(source: www.yougrowgirl.com)

Tilling the Soil

My first few experiences in creating an in-ground garden involved a lot of digging. Having nothing else available, I grabbed a large shovel and I dug. And I dug and dug and dug. Anyone who has ever used their own two hands to dig up a bed knows what back-breaking work it can be. Not a whole lot of fun. Over time, the more I learned about gardening the more I realized that all that digging might have been a little unnecessary, especially for a small-scale gardener such as myself; harmful even. Here’s why:

Tilling, digging, and double-digging disrupts the soil. And soil is complicated really, much more complicated then we give it credit for. The soil is alive (yes even the crappy stuff) with all sorts of important organisms and minerals. A relationship exists between the elements that live and thrive within the layers that sit between the soil surface and the ones below. When we dig, we shake those layers all over the place, messing things up good. We also bring weed seeds up to the surface giving them ample opportunity to germinate and subsequently drive us nuts.

I’ve given up digging in the last few years. I dig holes when I need to put in plants. But for the most part I have decided to leave the soil be, adding compost and amenders to the surface with a little “scratching” but no additional digging required. I still can’t say whether or not double digging would have made things worse but I can see that NOT digging has been positive for both the garden and me. I am certainly glad to have that painful nonsense behind me.

So why did I decide to try out a tiller? For a couple of reasons, the first being that the no-dig no-till method is one theoretical approach to gardening but certainly not the only one out there. It’s the one I have chosen for me, but I’m not about to stick my nose up at the diggers of the world or stuff the no-till method down everyone’s throats as the tried and true way forsaking all others. The End. While I do not have any use for a tiller and have no plans to use one in my personal gardening experience anytime soon, if ever, I figured it would be worth it to at least see what all the fuss is about. I have absolutely no prior experience with a tiller. I have never seen nor touched a tiller either in use or stationery. I also realize that my no-till policy is a little biased. It’s easy to shun the use of a large machine when you’re gardening in a small space or have lots of people-powered help to get a garden going.

Have I changed my mind about tilling versus no-tilling? Not at all. Experiencing the ease of a tiller has not changed my belief that disrupting the soil as little as possible is still the better way to go.