tjandrews
Silver Member
I have found that an alfalfa sod will break up compaction nicely. Those tap roots will go down deep and break up the soil. Of course, they take about five years to complete the job...I have found this thread to be very interesting. Fact: the tiller is not the correct tool for virgin ground breaking. Fact: soils varies a great deal from area to area. Fact: the breaking of the soil with some type of plow or disk is often needed.
I am also noticing that several people keep having the compaction problem with their soil and there has been little discussion on remedies for this problem.
Having grown up in SE Ohio and plowing hundreds of gardens in our small town I will offer this solution. Add organic materials to your soil. We brought in truck loads of sawdust, straw, grass clippings, leaves, straw and composted it or added it directly to the gardens. And I mean truck loads. It was amazing now quickly it would disappear into that red clay.