Tips for No-Till Gardening

If you grew up gardening at all, or garden still, chances are you are used to tilling being one of the first gardening chores you perform, so the very thought of no-till gardening may seem all wrong at first. Experienced gardeners are used to tilling the soil they plant in, in order to loosen it up, allow the soil to breath, and provide a looser bed for the root systems of the plants they are about to add. But, not only is tilling time consuming and labor intensive, it turns out it is not the best option for gardening in short or long term situations.

No-till gardening is a lot easier than traditional garden bed tilling, and it saves you a lot of time that you could spend on other garden chores or sitting back to watch your garden grow. If you are going to be planting a flower or vegetable garden bed, here are a couple tips and reasons for no-till gardening that you can start using this season and carry over to the next with success.

Why No-Till?
Funny enough, no-till gardeners decide to go this route for the basic reasons thousands of gardeners have been tilling their soil in the first place. Basically, tilling disrupts the soil, unearths it and allows a gardener to sift the soil till it is conditioned to a level that they feel suitable planting in. Only problem is, the manner in which tilling disturbs the soil actually destroys the very things gardeners work so hard to achieve in a balanced garden bed.

Tilling disturbs and even destroys beneficial microorganisms that are found in healthy soil and that would have contributed to the growth of your plants. Even more detrimental, especially when growing deep rooting plants, is the fact that constant tilling causes soil deeper down to become more compact, basically creating a situation you originally were trying to avoid, only further down. While these problems are mainly out of sight, tilling can cause a huge eye sore and environmental concern in the form of erosion and increased run-off. No one likes losing the soil they worked hard to create, but tilling can loosen soil to a great enough degree that a strong enough rain can take entirely away.

Learning about all of these consequences first hand, and having several beds wash away after a particularly wet spring was enough to turn me on to no-till gardening. Ever since I stopped tilling, learned other methods that were less invasive to my garden beds and saved myself some time my garden beds have flourished with half the effort.

Tips for No-Till Gardening
Even if you have tilled your garden beds in the past it is easy to get started and work to reverse the damage that has already been done. If you are just starting a garden bed that you want to cultivate without tilling, the first thing you need to do is create the bed without the help of a tiller to remove, turn and work the earth. To do this, use newspaper or corrugated cardboard spread out over the entire area that you want to use for your garden bed. The layer on the earth serves to kill any grass or weeds that are there and leaves you with bare soil that did not have to be tilled to create.

To keep soil manageable and easy to work, regularly add fertilizer and compost in layers over the existing garden bed. Compost improves the condition of the soil, and when you regularly contribute to the soil it improves the soil the longer it is there. Adding the compost to the bed immediately after you remove your cardboard, or to the bed you have stopped working with a till, will create a rich bed of soil within a couple of weeks that is ready for planting in the first season. If you are still concerned about the ground becoming too compact or still feel the compulsion to till, settle for staking a spade into the rows of your bed and rocking it back and forth. This action is enough to give the soil some aeration, but will not disturb the soil more than is necessary.