Destroyed our Soil through Tilling?? How to get Rid of Weeds without Tilling????......

My partner and I are really new to gardening and wanted to garden naturally without using any chemicals (Which has been a challenge so far!). But we have been quite regularly tilling over our soil, to get rid of all the weeds that keep coming up and today I read that tilling destroys the soil!!!!!!!!!!

Have we ruined our soil forever and how else do we get rid of all the weeds that keep appearing?? Do we just pull them all out by hand?? We've got quite a large garden, so that will take ages!!! If we have ruined our soil, there anything we can do to repair it?

 

This article about tilling destroying soil, wasn't American was it?

Think we would have died out centuries ago if that was the case

 

Tilling is best done *after* all weeds have been removed - and most especially *after* all perennial weeds have been removed. Tilling over perennial weeds chops them all up into teeny pieces and then ... those teeny pieces take root and grow!
If chemicals are not to be considered, then pulling them up is probably the only sure way of getting rid of them. I've heard people suggest cardboard/black plastic to "smother" them, but, when I tried it in my previous garden it was a) ugly and b) didn't really make a big enough difference to tell! Many of the weeds simply lay dormant

Yes, it would and what an overwhelming thought that is! But, only if you are tackling the whole garden all at once. With a large garden especially, it would be wise to divide up the garden - in your mind, if not literally - and work on small sections at a time. Gardens, not just weeding, take ages/years to develop and mature; unless you are certain what you want, where you want it, how it is to look when finished and the funds to do all of that in a short space of time.

Pick a section, decide what you want to achieve with it and focus on weeding and developing that (smaller) area first. Once you see the results of that first section you will a) have a better understanding of how weeds work, how your particular soil works and which plants thrive in those conditions. So, by the time you move on to the next section you'll have gained some experience.

Good luck and don't be daunted. You both sound very committed and I'm sure you will see results fairly quickly once you get going.

 

When you say 'tilling over' what do you mean exactly? (Sounds more agricultural than horticultural, - I associate it with ploughing with a tractor or shire horses!)

Don't panic, you're not going to destroy your garden soil using a fork, a hoe or a spade. Or even a rotavator, though that you should only need to do as a one-off thing, e.g. for reclaiming an abandoned allotment.

@"M" gives good advice about how to get rid of persistent weeds.

If you want to improve your soil's condition and fertility the best way to do that is by incorporating organic material - compost or well-rotted manure. That is a very natural thing to do and if you apply it as a mulch the worms will do most of the work of pulling it into the soil for you! More guidance here: Organic matter: how to use in the garden/RHS Gardening

 

Actually what you have suggested is a bit easier, because the garden is already divided up into three separate beds, with a lawn in the middle. So, we will just concentrate on one bed at a time!!

Thanks for helpful reply!!!!

 

We were just using a spade and rake, no machinery involved.

Yes, great idea about the manure etc., we were planning to do that anyway!

Thanks!

 

I am finding that gardening along with beekeeping in the UK is best kept to UK information sources. Saves on the panic button......

 

I think it was from a UK site actually and I also find a similar view on the RHS website.

 

Beechgrove did an experiment on digging over soil - they grew a better crop where the soil was left undisturbed, have a look at this:

http://www.beechgrove.co.uk/module_uploads/2/Factsheet_2017_-_Prog_18.pdf

To me, this doesn't make sense - if you dig over surely the plants will benefit from aeration?

 

I'd never heard of this, so I looked into it a little. As @Zigs did point out, it does come from the US. The point most seem to make is that if ground is tilled often, such as weekly, then it does destroy the soil because it breaks down things that are required to keep it healthy. So in a way, I can understand their reasoning. However, some research pointed out that as long as tilling is kept down to a maximum of 2 inches, no damage whatsoever is done, no matter how many times it is turned over.

That for me seems highly contradictory. I dont think it is reasonable to say that the first couple of inches can be treated without any damage occurring, whilst damage will occur lower than that. As @ARMANDII so rightly says, its normal practice to add manure or compost. Something that was not done in any reports. So it pretty obvious to me why they came to the results they did. Incomplete research!

Being a bit scathing, its just another case of know all Americans spouting s**t without knowing how to use it!

Apologies in advance to any Americans on here!

 

The only disturbing of the ground I do is when I'm either harvesting and pulling out weeds and spent plants or digging to plant in new ones or sow seeds. I don't seem to have any trouble growing things.

Course this is a Canuck who doesn't like digging any more than they have to... I know, I know, anything outside of the UK is all bother and nonsense... ..

 

If digging over in the spring to the depth of one spit is considered tilling then I am guilty and have been for 45 years or so.
I need to do it even more since I've been growing green manure over winter, cant imagine trying to smother that with a top dressing, and planting in the winter compacted clay soil underneath.

The no dig system might work for some, but my allotment, although dug over every year for the best part of 30 yrs, still contains some bindweed, and couch grass encroaches every year, no top dressing of manure is going to get rid of that, might even encourage it.

If by tilling you mean hoeing out weeds, I find that totally boring and tend to pull annuals.