Content
- Should beds be dug in the fall?
- When the digging is recommended
- Work light and heavy soil
- Note the water content
Digging in the fall has its advantages
Should beds be dug in the fall?
Digging in the fall is a measure that has been practiced for generations. With the advent of organic horticulture, this approach was questioned. Whether a soil should be dug up in the fall, depends on the soil type and the weather conditions.
When the digging is recommended
The soil type decides whether digging up is useful. In order not to disturb the sensitive life in the earth layers unnecessarily, you should balance the digging against a loosening up. It is recommended to shift, if snails have spread on the beds. They lay their eggs protected under leaves and dead plant parts. By digging, the clutches are transported to the surface, where they die from sunshine or frost. The new plantation of a bed requires a digging.
These are the benefits of digging:
Work light and heavy soil
Timing plays a subordinate role in the processing of light and humus rich soils, as you do not have to dig up such soils. A loosening with a grave fork or a sow tooth is quite sufficient. The floors are less prone to compaction, so you can do without digging and redeployment. This prevents unnecessary disturbances of the soil structure.
For heavy clay soils, digging is recommended. Gardening tools for loosening fail in these difficult-to-machine substrates. Fall is ideal because the low-temperature soil organisms have retreated to earth like earthworms. Even the early spring is suitable for digging because of the low temperatures. If frost then occurs, the coarse earth fragments are blown up and you can loosen the crumbly substrate again before planting.
Note the water content
Both when loosening up and when digging it is important that the ground is not too wet. When you enter and work on a wet floor, the soil layers will thicken. The compaction can be so deep that you can not remove it with conventional tillage. Late rainfall in autumn ensures that the newly tilled soil is once again doused. If the fall is very wet, you should wait for the first frosts or postpone the spring measures.