Hi all-
I am caught in a feud to rival the intesity of the Hatfields and McCoys and, being a hyperactive gardener of relatively limited experience, need to harness the amassed wisdom of y'all to, hopefully, settle this thing. Here's the issue: Under what circumstances/conditions should we till? How often? For what purpose? How deep? Any and all input will be greatly appreciated!!!
Felicia
To till or not to till
Felica, what are you planting? Veggies? Annuals? Perrenials? Are these brand new beds? Established beds? Yet-to-be built beds? What kind of soil do you have? Will you need to amend?
More info please. (Like so many things in gardening, the initial answer is, "It depends.")
:-)
Maggie, that's what I was thinking. I tilled for new beds and mulched as soon as the plants were in the ground. If we till too much the dirt just gets blown away in the wind.
I've also heard that tilling too much can break down the soil so it's more "dirt" than "soil" (does that make sense?) It loses much of it's texture and nutritive & water-retention abilities. Of course, If you have a large bed, and it's a matter of veggies that have to have new plants/seeds every year, tilling makes sense.
Let's see....the "bed" is an established (3 years now) plot, about 95 x 55, that I attempt to grow veggies in. The soil type depends on where you are standing...varies from very sandy loam to very Brazos River clay. I actually broke down and bought a soil test kit this year and amended my soil based on the results before planting. So far, so good. Anyway, I had tilled it up once to de-crust it from winter and make it workable for amending and making rows. It was perfect! Then my husband comes along and tilled it again (and again and again.....). Now I have a prize-winning stand of nut grass (the nuts are edible....really!) and all kinds of new and exciting weeds in amazing quantities! So, now the cat's out of the bag.....
Felicia
Where'd everbuddy go?
John
We're out tilling and double digging. Why aren't you? ;-)
Too cold, 56!
At 4:55 pm?! Oh my goodness, you just live too far North. Get down here!
pcnfe,
My soil is very sandy and needs compost to help retain moisture. So two years ago I bought a big dumptruck load of compost for what was to be my vegetable garden. My husband wanted to try out his new disc plow. He used that instead of the tiller. By the time we leveled the plot, the Burmuda had started to grow. It really, really loved that compost. I now have the most beautiful stand of Burmuda I've ever seem. Our heifer love it and will sneak in through the gate whenever they can. The grass is always greener.... I've sprayed and sprayed and that Burmuda keeps coming back. My vegetable garden is on hold.
Warmer weather is coming. I will till then and not before. DW says I am a sissy.
On the subject of tilling I am confused also. When we started our vege garden we turned the soil by hand and pulled weeds, added everything on Howard Garrett's organic recommendation list and planted and soon had a jungle. Tilling can make the weeds worse because it brings the seeds to the top. Adding compost according to Malcolm Beck can give you a bumper crop of nutgrass just because it RRRREEEEAAAALLLLYYYY likes it.
One thing about spraying Round UP that he told us was very interesting. Howard Garrett does not recommend RU, but Malcolm Beck says that you have to follow 2 very important rules. First never spray if there is a wind blowing. Second you have to spray in the coolest part of the day. It's more effective then. Also after it does it's job on whatever you sprayed it on, it breaks down into completely harmless stuff. If you spray when it's hot it doesn't break down and stays in the soil for years. He can explain this much better than I can. My DH and I were lucky enough to catch him at the end of the day when he had time to talk. He is a fascinating person to talk to. For those who don't know him, he started Gardenville in SA, TX. He is a wonderful source of organic knowledge.
Gardenville, is that a nursery? Display garden?
I had heard that RU breaks down and doesn't harm the soil, but had never heard that it was dependant on the temp. Good information, thanks!
I hope to rent a rototiller today. If I manage my flower beds correctly it will be the first and last time a rotoriller is used. Then do not walk on your beds, ever. No need for me to buy one. Roundup is SAFE to use but, one must follow the label instructions/warnings religiously! Its ancestor is agent orange. I use it on Bermuda grass and poison oak only but, am prudent about its use. Do not get it on you, wear rubber gloves!
Gardenville is not a nursery. I guess it's a supply business. Best description I can come up with. They make wonderful garden soil, rose soil, all kinds of mulch and really great compost. They also sell all kinds of other amendments for soil, beneficial insects, etc. and probably more other stuff than I could list. And they are a wonderful source of info. They sell their products to other small nurseries, too, so I can buy it even in Fredericksburg.
It's funny, right after I posted my question about Gardenville, I made a run to get some soil and other stuff for my work today. I was listening to the local radio garden show, and the host was talking about Gardenville products! He highly recommended them, and I always go for organic stuff. Here's the website: http://www.garden-ville.com/
John, I'm like you. I use RU only on poison ivy, and very carefully at that.
I just noticed that Garden-Ville in San Antonio is located on the same property as the Antique Rose Emporium! Another stop to make in San Antonio.
This message was edited May 7, 2005 11:10 AM
Yes the two of them make a great duet.
It has its place in my garden. Not everyones.
Hey, Garden-Ville's web page "Our Favorite Links" lists GardenWeb, but not Dave's Garden!! I think we should all e-mail them to let them know there's a GREAT garden website- complete with PlantFiles, GardenWatchdog, Garden Terms, and a free garden diary and journal!! (And the owner is a San Antonio boy!) I asked Dave if he would rather e-mail them, but he said those requests carry a lot more weight coming from members. So how about it? Please e-mail them, here is the link: beck_malcolm@msn.com
I confess. I use roundup all the time. Saves me a lot of work at my age.
Do not trim with the weed eater, Just spray the edges to keep everything out of my flower beds. Weeds in my drive way, weeds along the fences. LOL