Is tilling harmful

[PaulieD]

Since acquiring my KK tiller a few years ago, I look forward to tilling my wifes garden and my neighbors garden every year. Initially I tilled in the spring and the fall, but after a couple of years of doing that, I've cut back to once a year in the spring.

In a recent discussion I had with my neighbor, she mentioned that she had heard or read something that led her to believe that annual tilling would damage the soil in some way.

Can anyone provide some insight into the benefit or detriment of annual tilling? Thanks.

 

[Egon]

In some areas it may make soil susceptible to wind erosion but on small gardens there should not be any perceived damage.

Note: This applies only to the areas and soils I have experience with.

 

[kossetx]

It's also supposed to cut down on benificial organisms like worms by disturbing their lair. I'd go ahead and till. They'll come back.

 

[ToadHill]

If you plant a cover crop in the fall and till it in the spring it will be good for the soil, it creates bio mass and it creates it's own compost which is great for the soil borne critters.

 

[LMTC]

We maintained between 1/2 and 3/4 acre in gardens for nearly twenty years. Our best routine seemed to be cutting any remaining debris in the fall with a rotary cutter, tilling that debris into the soil, then seeding (we just hand broadcast) rye or winter wheat over it and running the tiller lightly over it to cover the seed. Come spring we would again take the rotary cutter over the growth, and then till it in. If you want less growth to till in come spring use a lawn grass, perhaps annual rye, in the fall rather than a grain like wheat. The quick fall ground cover helps prevent winter erosion.

 

[Bird]

I guess I just did things differently from others because I tilled my garden spot frequently; after every rain even in the Winter. At the end of the garden growing season, I mowed everything down with the brush hog, sometimes even went over it again with the finish mower, then tilled it all in. And every time it appeared that grass and/or weeds were trying to get started, I tilled it again. During the growing season, as soon as it dried enough after every rain, I tilled between the rows to keep the grass and weeds down.

 

[CharlieTR]

I agree that the wind and rain errosion is the main reason for no-til planting and that it should not be a concern with smaller sized plots. There are some good benefits from tilling.

 

[forgeblast]

I heard that tilling does two things. one it kills a massive amount of benificial microorganism that live in different layers. this results in fast growth of the plant at first with a gradual decrease of growth. It also provides more chances for erosion/compaction. If you till, and i did this year after i planted i put a layers of compost--grass-woodchips--peatmoss, on top to stop the weeds and erosion. soon when everything is harvested i will put some buckweat seed down and let it be until spring. once spring comes, i will have my beds outlined and it will just take a little bit of time to get them back in order. To me tilling is great to start the beds, but once established you really dont need to till if you use a ground cover. compaction from rain and walking necessitate the need to till.
Just my .02
Forgeblast

 

[charlz]

I heard that tilling does two things. one it kills a massive amount of benificial microorganism that live in different layers. this results in fast growth of the plant at first with a gradual decrease of growth.

Yep, that is the theory that many of the 'soil food web' proponents abide by. Of course they also don't use fertilizers etc. besides not tilling. Their technique is to simply keep layering compost and 'compostables' on top of the soil and let them break down naturally... providing nutrients to the plants and building the soil.

I have a hunch that they are also not dealing with 1/4 or 1/2 acre gardens.

I saw a quote somewhere from (supposedly) one of the founders of Green Peace or one of those organizations saying that they were AGAINST stopping the use of chemical fertilizers. Their reason being that fertizlizers tripple crop production.. if you stopped using fertizlier you would have to tripple the acres farmed.... and there goes the rainforests for crop land.

I am still building my gardens and in a few years I might be able to get by with less tillage. For now I need it for weed control and to incorportate compost etc. to build up my soil.

 

[Chuck52]

I've always heard that you can get hardpan formed under the top layers that get tilled and that can cause drainage problems and also not let some root crops do as well as they might. For that reason I usually run my middle buster up and down and back and forth before tilling under the stuff left from the garden.

Chuck

 

[WVaHillbilly]

I guess I just did things differently from others because I tilled my garden spot frequently; after every rain even in the Winter. At the end of the garden growing season, I mowed everything down with the brush hog, sometimes even went over it again with the finish mower, then tilled it all in. And every time it appeared that grass and/or weeds were trying to get started, I tilled it again. During the growing season, as soon as it dried enough after every rain, I tilled between the rows to keep the grass and weeds down.

I am with you ..I never had any problems tilling frequently,I think thats pretty much an old wives tail about killing the Earth worms.
I can see it now, labels on the tiller " Warning, tilling your garden may be hazardous to the earth worms " The surgeon general or the tiller general...

 

[jinman]

If I don't till my soil, the hard pan is the surface. Water will not soak in at all, but rather run off and leave my clay soils hardening to a crust. I till my soil to keep it aerated where nitrogen can be absorbed and rainwater is held in the top 6" of soil while it slowly soaks into the ground below.

Winter cover crops that are legumes add nitrogen and keep the soil aerated. Peas are a good winter crop. They also keep the soil from becoming so hard packed because of their root systems.

I think if I had 6" of nice fluffy compost about the consistency of peat moss, I would probably not worry about tilling so much. So, I think is just depends on the type and condition of your soils. Experience is hard to replace.

 

[schmism]

Jim, your not still harvesting from your garden?

we are pulling about 5lbs of yellow grape tomatto's off the bushes er... vines every 3-4 days.

my betterboy's just keep pumpin them out we replanted some lettice, and tilled teh greenbeans/cucumber patch under which ment that the cukes poped right back up and the new grean beens are blooming again

 

[hitekcountry]

I can see it now, labels on the tiller " Warning, tilling your garden may be hazardous to the earth worms " The surgeon general or the tiller general...

Yea but the birds love it!!

 

[SPIKER]

not to long ago there was a few different publications I get that had right ups about over tilling soils. mother earth news and also was on HGTV some show.

basically they said that slow tilling is OK plow or pitch fork is better but constant high speed tilling is bad as someone said beneficial bacteria & micro critters suffer & die, it also causes some of the nuitirants to come/evaporate out of the soil quickly loosing them (forget which ones do this?) and that they are gone with in a short time of turning the soil.

anyhow just passing along what I heard, not what I have to do, I already ran brush hog through 3/4 of garden adn still have a few spots to finish off. need to get seeds off the stuff I left go, and the weeds are killing me any good way to et rid of weeds seeds??? lol
mark

 

[PaulieD]

Thanks for all the great feedback.

When I was a kid, one of my spring jobs was to turn over a 10' X 40' area with a spade, so that my dad could plant his garden. My preference was to be out playing ball. At the tender age of 60, I'm even less inclined to spade my 40' X 80' and 30' by 45' garden areas. So, my intention is to continue using the tiller, but I would like to minimize any negative effects tilling might have on the soil. My garden areas are small, flat and protected, so I'm not inclined to be concerned about erosion.

I am motivated by the the compost suggestions. My bride has mentioned starting a compost pile on several occasions, and my neighbors do a great job of composting, but I haven't been inclined to pursue it. I guess I need to research some composting articles and find an in conspicuous spot to start a compost heap.

There was another suggestion to plant a winter cover crop like grass or winter rye. One of our garden locations is the fenced in area just east of the old pig house. While the soil there is very rich (as you might imagine), it is also abundantly populated with pig weed. Last year, and the year previous, we planted winter rye in the fall to control weed growth. I have not planted winter rye in the larger garden area, because weeds haven't been a significant problem there. But based on the information you've provided, I'd now be inclined to sow some rye in that area as well.

I'd like to minimize or avoid the use of chemical fertilizers if possible, so I may speak with one of my neighbors about obtaining horse manure. I suspect a combination of manure, compost and wood chips, along with the sowing of winter rye, wood serve to replenish soil.

Thanks again for all the information provided. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'm willing to learn.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[Egon]

Pig weed, know as an unwanted plant, is beneficial to the soil as it has deep roots and brings nutrients to the surface.

Nitrogen may be lost from cultivated bare soil. Some forms of composting material may require extra nitrogen added to the soil to compensate for that used up in the composting process. I think!

 

[jinman]

Jim, your not still harvesting from your garden?

we are pulling about 5lbs of yellow grape tomatto's off the bushes er... vines every 3-4 days.

my betterboy's just keep pumpin them out we replanted some lettice, and tilled teh greenbeans/cucumber patch under which ment that the cukes poped right back up and the new grean beens are blooming again

'Mators are the only thing remaining in my garden. We are still getting 5# of fruit every two or three days. The rest dried up and I mowed it down and tilled it under. After first frost, I'll uncage the tomatoes and do the same to them.

 

[Chuck52]

Anyone familiar with the lazagna method of gardening? Apparently the idea is to layer compost and newspaper and other stuff and then plant directly in that. You never till, just keep adding layers or something. I was told the folks who rented my place before I bought it used a no till method in the garden and did very well, but I've just done things the usual way of tilling spring and fall and adding whatever I had to the mix, be it leaves, manure or whatever. I'm going to raised beds over the next few years, and that will eliminate my use of my KK tiller, but I'll probably still turn the dirt in the beds as I add compost and such to them. I guess I might try the lazagna method in one bed to see how it goes.

Chuck

 

[charlz]

I am motivated by the the compost suggestions. My bride has mentioned starting a compost pile on several occasions, and my neighbors do a great job of composting, but I haven't been inclined to pursue it. I guess I need to research some composting articles and find an in conspicuous spot to start a compost heap.

I compost using the 'pallet bins' method. Basically you get some free pallets, tie them together to make a bin and start tossing in leaves, grass clippings etc. These really help with letting the pile breathe etc. I used to just pile all the stuff in the middle of the garden in the fall, turn it a few times in the fall and spring and spread it out and till it under right before planting. Turning is a fair amount of work if done by hand but not bad at all if done with the tractor


With the bins I have found 3 to be nice 'workflow'. Take 9 pallets and construct 3 bins, two with 'doors' (pallet is 'hinged' with twine so you can untie one side and open it) and the last one with no door. I start with the first closed bin and start heaping in stuff till it is full (I have a lot of grass clippings to deal with) I let it 'cook' down about half way and then top it off again. The next time it is about halfway down it gets rolled to the next closed bin and I start over in the first bin. By the time it makes it to the last bin and sits for a while it is pretty much done and goes to the garden or the 'done' pile until I need it. Trick is keeping everything moist enough that it breaks down. This is a fair amount of work when rolling between the bins and not real pretty but it works very well.

Charles