A well-prepared soil is the literal and figurative foundation of good planting. Aside from infusing the soil with nutrients, you have to loosen it up or have it tilled. Tilling spreads the nutrients from below to the surface of the soil. It also uproots the weeds and buries the vegetation from the previous planting.

In the old days, tilling the ground means using a wooden or iron plough tied to a working animal like horses and oxen. These days, farmers use huge earth-moving machines to break up the soil before sowing seeds. Or if planting in small areas like a home garden or in a backyard, you till the ground using a couple of simple tools. You will now learn about the humble tiller, and how it helps you become a better gardener.

A tiller is one of the tools farmers and gardeners use to aerate the soil. There are now special equipment that can do this for you. Prepping the soil is also done much faster with the tiller. If the area set for tilling is more than 300 square meters large, a tiller is highly recommended. This can also stop the weeds from growing. Lastly, this machine can break up new soil to form fresh plant beds.

To till a garden properly, it is best to do it a couple of days after a heavy downpour. This is a good condition to till as the dirt is not too wet or too dry. The ground is easy to turn with a bit of moisture.

As a general caution, always read the tiller’s or any machinery’s manual before operating it. Be familiar with the controls and various settings to be safe in handling the tiller. Actual directions for tilling may differ from one tiller to another. Wear safety gear such as eye protection and durable working boots. Another important reminder to tilling the soil with a tiller, do not turn the dirt too much. This will make the soil too compact and dense.

Generally, tilling a garden starts with getting rid of stones, twigs, and weeds that might get stuck in between the tines of the tiller. Next, the tiller’s depth setting depends on the hardness or softness of soil. If breaking up a hard ground, use the shallow setting while the medium setting is suitable for softer soil.

Then, start the tiller keeping in mind the specific brand’s instructions. Use the tines carefully making straight lines across the garden. Remove any rock or weed while tilling as to avoid damaging the tines. Pick off any vegetation caught in the tines during tilling.

After tilling the garden completely, use the tiller’s deepest setting and slowly run it perpendicularly to the previous passes. Let the tiller do its job. Once the soil is all tilled, run the tiller along the length of the garden then across its width.

Make sure that the organic matter is spread into the soil 8 inches deep. Let the nutrients seep into the soil by leaving it for a couple of days up to a few weeks. At a medium setting, run the tiller across the soil to incorporate air into it and spread the nutrients well. Finally, run the tiller perpendicularly across the soil for the last time in a deep setting.

A tiller is a great tool for enriching the soil with nutrients making it prime for planting. Instead of loosening the ground manually, using tillers is a fast and easy way of preparing the garden soil and it is much more effective in making the dirt fertile. Mastering the tiller can make garden work better because the machine does most of the work.