Soil that has been enriched with organic matter is better for growing plants and easier to till. Watch this video to find out more.
Further Information
- Soil Evaluation (video)
- Guide to Soil Amendments for Your Garden (article)
- How to Amend Soil Around Shrubs and Garden Plants (article)
- How to Mix Soil for Planting Beds (video)
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Danny Lipford: Boy, Tricia, this dirt is in great shape, I mean it’s tilling up so easily.
Tricia Craven Worley: Oh, thanks Danny. Well, you know it’s taken quite a few years to get like this. To get dirt that’s as rich as this takes a combination of the garden being used for a long time.
I kind of let the leaves get it here, and of course I try to amend it, work with mulch and different things, and that helps create this really nice, rich soil. And the other thing, by using all those things, the earthworms just love it.
Danny Lipford: Oh, I’ll bet so , and they certainly can help out as far as loosening up the soil.
Tricia Craven Worley: Yeah, and of course that’s one of the greatest things about tilling, because over the season the ground, if you don’t get enough rain, it tends to creates big clods and so it’s more difficult to plant.
Danny Lipford: Well, this size tiller is perfect for a yard that’s in this good a shape. Of course I’ve been in situations where I’ve had to go rent one of the real big ones, but they’re only $30 to $50 a day and that can really get a lot of tilling done in a quick time.
Tricia Craven Worley: Oh yeah, and something this size, it looks like it would be pretty easy for me to operate it as well.
Danny Lipford: Yeah, yeah. It’s pretty light—light weight—and so, but actually a string trimmer that has the attachment on it, so you can use it on a lot of different things.
But what about a situation where you have a lot of weeds or grass, do you dig those up or do you till them right under?
Tricia Craven Worley: Well, there are many schools of thought. I prefer to try to get all the weeds out first, because those seeds are always there, but some people just till it and hope for the best.
That’s why I carry this spade around, because, you know, this is my line of first defense.
