tilling & soil

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dun1kirk Berkeley, CA(Zone 9a) Mar 29, 2016

I know I'm not SUPPOSED to till my garden, especially every year but.....Although I have been amending my soil yearly, it is still not very friable. When I till, the soil is nicely broken up, but I understand in the long run this is not a great practice. In trying another method, I have just used a 9 tine broadfork for a 10x4 foot area. This took almost 3 hours. (I'm older!) Roots from my neighbor's ivy proliferate and I still end up with large clods of soil that will dry hard as rocks in a few days, before I get to plant & mulch. How acceptable would it be if I tilled just the top couple of inches?
Thanks for all your opinions

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1lisac Liberty Hill, TX(Zone 8a) Mar 29, 2016

Many people till once a year or more. There isn't a right or wrong way everybody situation and location is different if I were you I would till as deep as you need to.

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MaypopLaurel Cleveland,GA/Atlanta, GA(Zone 7b) Mar 29, 2016

I agree with Lisa's answer. I've got a tiller and small farm tractor. Prefer not to have the weight of the tractor on a relatively small kitchen garden space. Most years we till in spring and French double dig the more challenging spaces. We have layered, aka lasagna gardened, but those were the most problematic gardens. Not exposing certain garden pests, such as Japanese beetles or squash vine borer larvae, or interrupting shrew/vole/mouse tunnels resulted in seriously lower yields. What works in some situations does not work in others. I encourage folks to experiment.

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