Settle a gardening "argument"?
- Thread starter suziquzie
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
miniman
Executive Chef
It depends on what you are planting. Seed should have tilled soil to give them space to grow Smaller plants would get a better start in tilled soil. If you are planting mature plants, you could put them straight into a hole.
It also depends on your soil, if it is a light soil, it would need less tilling. A heavy, clay soil would almost certainly need tilling - at least mine does as it goes in to a compact mass.
You may also want to incoporate enriching stuff such as manure that could be done whilst tilling.
It also depends on your soil, if it is a light soil, it would need less tilling. A heavy, clay soil would almost certainly need tilling - at least mine does as it goes in to a compact mass.
You may also want to incoporate enriching stuff such as manure that could be done whilst tilling.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I agree with DH. Tilling the soil breaks it up and "fluffs" it so the roots have an easier job of growing and spreading out and so water can penetrate to the roots more easily.
If he thinks it needs to be tilled, tell him to do it then sit back and drink my favorite brand of beer.
If he thinks it needs to be tilled, tell him to do it then sit back and drink my favorite brand of beer.
GB
Chief Eating Officer
When I moved into this house there was a small garden bed. I did not do a thing to it before I planted my first year other than pick out some of the large rocks and debris. My plants that year grew great.
I do till now though.
I do till now though.
jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
What miniman and Andy said.
I rented a rototiller this year for the garden and then went a bit overboard on the front lawn
I rented a rototiller this year for the garden and then went a bit overboard on the front lawn
I think tilling does help soften the ground for the tender roots, but if your ground is pretty soft you might be okay. I live in Utah and so most soil around here is clay. We HAVE to till.
You could always do an experiment: till half your garden and just plant in the other half and see what works better. That way you might be able to avoid some extra work next year.
You could always do an experiment: till half your garden and just plant in the other half and see what works better. That way you might be able to avoid some extra work next year.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
DH always tills and adds manure early in the spring, combined with weeding and cleaning out from last year.
What is your soil like?
It's very very fine sandy stuff. We added a pile of black dirt to it last year when we built it, so its a nice consistency now, but it could use another load of compost. I suppose thats better tilled in than just raked over the top?
buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
i get my soil so fluffy that the planting beds are raised upwards of 8 inches to a foot over the non tilled areas. it definitely helps the roots to grow in my rocky, clay soil.
the neighborhood cats don't like to walk on it because they sink in.
another benefit of raising a bed by tilling it is that you can plant certain plants deeper, like tomatoes, and not worry that it's too deep and the roots will hit a clay layer about 2 feet down.
soil doesn't need to be tilled, necessarily, but it should be turned at least once (one shovel deep) to help loosen it, breaking the surface tension.
the neighborhood cats don't like to walk on it because they sink in.
another benefit of raising a bed by tilling it is that you can plant certain plants deeper, like tomatoes, and not worry that it's too deep and the roots will hit a clay layer about 2 feet down.
soil doesn't need to be tilled, necessarily, but it should be turned at least once (one shovel deep) to help loosen it, breaking the surface tension.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Yes. Fine, sandy soil doesn't hold moisture very well, so the garden will need to be watered more frequently. But if you mix compost and/or good loamy soil into it, it will change the composition of the sandy soil to be more of what you want, and it will hold water better. The roots will be able to go deeper and still get water, and the plants will be healthier.
simplicity
Sous Chef
Here is an article. Although it is written about Alaska, it could be Houston.
http://www.plantea.com/no-tilling.htm
I am trying to convert my own gardening practises into more environmental friendly ones. I'm not lunatic about it. It's worth a thought.
http://www.plantea.com/no-tilling.htm
I am trying to convert my own gardening practises into more environmental friendly ones. I'm not lunatic about it. It's worth a thought.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Clearly we need to define terms I wasn't thinking of roto-tilling with a machine when I responded. I was thinking more of what Bucky described - turning over, by hand with garden tools, the top few inches of soil and breaking it up a bit. We only roto-tilled when we first started our gardens 12-15 years ago, to get rid of the grass roots.
We try to garden in environmentally friendly ways, too. That's one reason why it's a good idea to incorporate manure into the soil, especially sandy soil like Suzie has: Then the garden will require less fertilizer later.
BT, DH built a raised bed with railroad ties, to make a square garden. Then entire garden is about six inches above the ground, and surrounded by bricks to help keep weeds out. Raising a garden is a very good way to go
I wasn't thinking of roto-tilling with a machine when I responded. I was thinking more of what Bucky described - turning over, by hand with garden tools, the top few inches of soil and breaking it up a bit. We only roto-tilled when we first started our gardens 12-15 years ago, to get rid of the grass roots.We try to garden in environmentally friendly ways, too. That's one reason why it's a good idea to incorporate manure into the soil, especially sandy soil like Suzie has: Then the garden will require less fertilizer later.
BT, DH built a raised bed with railroad ties, to make a square garden. Then entire garden is about six inches above the ground, and surrounded by bricks to help keep weeds out. Raising a garden is a very good way to go
Maverick2272
Washing Up
We don't even own a tiller. We just use a stir-up hoe to break it up. When we lived in Evanston we had sandy soil, it was great stuff to work in and easy to break up, everything grew beyond belief there, especially the veggies. When we moved to Cicero it was almost all clay. Since DW was planting only prairie plants, she didn't have to turn the soil, just dig em in. Now the soil is black, rich, and easy to work with. She added mulch once I think, and over the years spread out compost out around all the beds, but that is all she had to do. The prairie plants and worms did the rest for her. Oh, and she would leave some leaves on the beds. I don't know which ones, as there are some that smother and she rakes out, but others that don't and she leaves in.
I think though, if we had tried to put a veggie garden in at the time, we would have been forced to till and add some compost or planting soil to the mix.
I think though, if we had tried to put a veggie garden in at the time, we would have been forced to till and add some compost or planting soil to the mix.
Bilby
Executive Chef
I don't till or hoe but plant up with mulch. It seems to work generally but not always. I have at best a khaki thumb. My strawberries and pittosporums (not all, but most) die irrespective of what I do!
Constance
Master Chef
DH is right...till the garden first. It's not so much for turning up new dirt as it is for loosening the soil. Your plants will really appreciate it.
The notion that tilling the soil is necessary, or much less even beneficial, is totally bogus! The very idea is absolutely ludicrous!!!
Men bonded together centuries ago to create and perpetuate this myth as a method to spend all of their daylight hours walking around in fields behind an animal dragging a stick stuck in the ground (until the invention of the plow, and then the invention of the tractor) so they could spend as little time with their wives as possible. These days, farmers spend massive amounts of money on tractors, and the fuel to run them, for the same purpose.
Yes, suzi - DH is right. Not only does tilling the soil make it less dense so the roots your plants produce have less resistance to their growth - the voids (air pockets) created in the soil contain water better than in compacted (not tilled) soil.
Men bonded together centuries ago to create and perpetuate this myth as a method to spend all of their daylight hours walking around in fields behind an animal dragging a stick stuck in the ground (until the invention of the plow, and then the invention of the tractor) so they could spend as little time with their wives as possible. These days, farmers spend massive amounts of money on tractors, and the fuel to run them, for the same purpose.
Yes, suzi - DH is right. Not only does tilling the soil make it less dense so the roots your plants produce have less resistance to their growth - the voids (air pockets) created in the soil contain water better than in compacted (not tilled) soil.
expatgirl
Master Chef
I like to loosen the soil and then add compost and manure and extra dirt---we have the awful gumbo clay so the new plants are quite appreciative for the extra help. I'd kill to have a little sand in my garden, too.
