rec.gardens.ecosystems homepage -> archive: MOD$000919.16412@rec.gardens.ecosystems



Subject: Re: Best Tiller ?
From: orangerose@aol.comnotthis (Kelly Houston)
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 00 22:52:46
Message-ID: <MOD$000919.16412@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$000917.16843@rec.gardens.ecosystems>



>What should I look for when buying a tiller to use on my yard and garden.
How about not buying one at all?

No really...

Tillers are big, smelly, polluting machines. Very good results can be had from
no-till methods, even on very hard soil. The slow way is to literally not till
at all--lay down lots of mulch/manure/other organic matter and let it be:
worms and other critters will eventually work it in the soil. More expensive,
but in the same vein, is to build raised beds filled with nice compost mix:
this gives you immediate planting beds without tilling. Finally, my personal
favorite is to add lots of organic material and just encourage it a little with
a gardening fork: just rock back and forth on the fork to "crack" the soil
below here and there. Clay to loam in two seasons, I swear.
Tilling will A-damage the trees whose roots have invaded (so you should remove
the tree if it's such a problem--you'll have to anyway when it sickens/dies
from having it's roots tilled) and B) disturb whatever natural balance is
already in the soil--in fact, in high clay soils, the tiller may actually
create what amounts to hardpan at the depth of the tiller. Wet clay will even
break down and become less permeable if it is tilled. (This has to do with
soil structures on a microscopic level--I can explain if you want to know the
details)

I say, if you really have your heart set on it, rent a tiller and till a test
plot. See if it has the effect you're after. Remember, tilling will bring up
long-buried weed seeds, so the weeds you till under will likely make way for
new ones. Also, you will get a feel for how much work these work saving
devices are...

Kelly