Is too much Garden tilling bad?

Question

I just read in my local paper that tilling the garden every years is NOT a good idea! I have a small community garden which a neighbor dutifully tills for us, does an amazing job, but the article said that too much tilling upsets the eco-system of the soil.

Any thoughts and advise on this before we till for spring (we live in Cleveland, OH)

Answer 1

Tilling is very hard on the soil. Not only will it cause hardpan but will also break down the tilth of the soil turning the soil into dust.

Also realize the soil is teeming with billions of life forms (micro-herd) per teaspoon and the action of tilling kills a lot of the micro-herd, especially the beneifical microbes. When this happens the bad guys always rebound first so planting in freshly tilled soil is never a good idea. Wait 10 days or more for the good guys to get back in the program.

All that said, tilling once a year is not going to do a whole lot of harm to the soil. it is tilling weekly (say for weed control) that will do a real number on soil and ruin it for decades.

Answer 2

John H answered very good.  The tilling will cause a hard layer below the surface called a hardpan after many tillings.  Eventually it becomes impermeable to water and causes problems.  However, this usually occurs in agriculture for larger equipment such as plows that are digging deep into the soil and have lots of soil weight on top of the blades.  This weight packs the soil at the blade depth creating the hardpan.  Once this hardpan is formed after years of plowing, one must break the hardpan using a plow that goes deeper; however, this is a band-aid fix since it will eventually lead to another deeper hardpan.

Answer 3

i have lived on a farm my whole life, my mother always made a big deal about planting a garden, although i never really cared for it.  my mother tills the garden atleast once a week, some times two or three times, we often pull the weeds and throw them in the dich though to keep them from growing back

Answer 4

Excessive tilling with those rotary tillers could become harmful. They can break down soil structure and also could leave you with a compacted layer of soil just below the limits of the tiller. However this with excessive use, just having your garden tilled each Spring is not likely to cause you any problems. If you keep a compost pile and put the organic material on top of your soil as well as keeping the vegetative material on the garden before tilling it into the soil, you'll do it a lot more good than harm. Do you know the practice of double digging your garden? It would be a good idea to double dig your garden about every five years instead of just tilling it every year. It's a lot of work, but would eliminate any problems caused by your tiller.

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Double-...

Answer 5

it is true you can loose nutrients when you till execivily

Answer 6

There are some good answers here.  Compaction can be a serious problem in a small garden because most people don't think about it.  Soil structure is always important no matter what you are growing.  I also agree with the use of compost or even yard clippings.  This can improve soil health in a major way.