Content
- When to dig up the garden
- Digging up or loosening up?
- When is the best time to dig up?
- spring
- autumn
- A guide to digging
- Special feature: double digging
- The right garden tool
When digging, the soil is loosened up
When to dig up the garden
For centuries, farmers have been rearranging their fields so that the plants can grow better. But digging up is associated with a major disadvantage that was not known at the time. This tillage is now recommended only for specific purposes.
Digging up or loosening up?
By digging up the soil, the habitats of numerous soil organisms are disturbed. Every organism needs special conditions that occur in different layers. A redeployment of the substrate destroys these conditions, so that the soil needs time to regenerate after these care measures. This form of tillage is recommended if you want to lay a new bed on lawns, stony ground and heavy surfaces. Already existing beds should be loosened up to deeper layers with special equipment.
Advantages of a reclaimed soil:
When is the best time to dig up?
Whether you dig up your garden in spring or autumn depends on the substrate properties. Both variants have advantages and disadvantages that you have to balance against each other.
spring
If you have applied compost to the soil in the autumn, next spring is ideal for tillage. They prevent the soil structure from becoming loose in the autumn and the soil organisms being exposed to the frost. Mulch the soil after spreading the compost. A protective layer of foliage isolates the substrate and ensures that the microorganisms can work well in winter.
In the spring, the compost is fine crumbly due to frost damage. Digging in the spring ensures that the nutrients get directly to the roots of the freshly used plants. During the winter, the earth has become thicker, so loosening and digging requires more effort.
autumn
Bring out the compost in the spring, the fall is better for the digging. In autumn, tillage is easier as the substrate is not so much compacted before the frost. Over the winter, the dug up ground freezes, which inhibits the formation of weeds. Large chunks are blown up by the frost and the soil structure is improved. The proportion of air pores in the substrate increases. A frost-sprinkled soil is slightly loosened in the spring, before you can put the plants in it and sow seeds.
The floor should be neither too dry nor too wet. Wait with the tillage until the first autumn showers have settled. From mid-September to the end of October, the days are still mild temperatures and at night there is no risk of frost. Remove any weeds that you discover while digging.
A guide to digging
The simple digging ensures that the floor is completely turned.
- Create a ditch that runs across the entire bed. To do this, prick the earth off with a spade, which you put on slightly obliquely. The spade leaf can sink completely into the earth. The excavated earth will take you to the opposite side of the bed. Take a second one next to the first ditch. Turn the excavated soil 180 degrees and place the substrate in the first trench. In this way, continue to the end of the bed. The last ditch is filled with the earth from the first ditch. Remove weeds and take care that no major soil organisms are harmed.
Special feature: double digging
In this variant, the soil is dug to a depth of two spade leaves. Proceed in the same way as with simple digging. The advantages are that the permeability of particularly heavy soils is improved. If you create new beds, this method is also well suited. In this way, the sod reaches the subsoil, where it is decomposed and nutrients available to the substrate. The weed seeds, which are found in the upper soil layers, reach deeper earth layers and can not germinate.
Additional advantages:
The right garden tool
Spades are stable garden tools that are perfect for digging and loosening soil. Pay attention to the length of the stem. When the spade reaches you to the chest, you can work at an optimal height. With a small spade blade, heavy soils can be worked well. Rocky surfaces are dug up with a triangular or semicircular sheet. Curved and rectangular leaves are suitable for low-stone substrates.
With their four tines, spade forks have the advantage of damaging less soil organisms such as earthworms during tillage. This garden tool is easier to insert into hard and stony soils. It serves to loosen up the underground. Using a sow tooth, loosen the soil up to deep layers without redeploying it