Avoid Disturbing Your Soil

Nature’s “no-till” way relies on leaving the soil alone and nourishing it by the continual addition of new layers of dying and dead plant matter. Cre

Disturbing soil by tilling (turning soil to prepare for growing crops), leveling, or otherwise manipulating its natural physical arrangement is destructive and disruptive to plant roots and soil microbes, creating a hostile environment for them to live in. It also destroys the structure of soil and can make it more susceptible to erosion and carbon loss. Nature’s “no-till” way relies on leaving the soil alone and nourishing it by the continual addition of new layers of dying and dead plant matter. As these materials gradually decompose, they feed the soil and improve soil structure. 

Here's how you can do it:

• Design your planting area so that you do not walk over bare soil in your garden; soil compaction from foot traffic is the enemy of a no-till approach.
• You may want to till the garden one-time before planting to correct deficiencies in organic matter or nutrients.
• Add organic material as a mulch to the top of the soil. This will keep the soil in place, reduce weeds, and enrich the soil as it breaks down.
• To plant, push aside the mulch layer where you want to put seeds or transplants.

Tips for the edible garden:

• Use a pizza cutter or narrow shovel to create a trench for seeds, pinch to close after planting.
• When putting your garden to bed in the fall, cut your plants at the soil line rather than pulling them out by the roots.
• If you planted a cover crop in the summer or fall and it was winter killed, retain the dead material as mulch and peel apart to slip in seeds or transplants.
• For the first year or so, you may need to dig out old roots and add topsoil or compost in the hole where you want to plant.

Learn about sheet composting, also known as lasagna composting and sheet mulching.