After a busy summer season, I want to relax as soon as possible and, if possible, reduce the list of work. One of them - digging up the earth in the fall - was until recently carried out by all gardeners and was considered very important.
And now the question increasingly arises: is this really a necessary procedure, is it worth spending time and effort on it, or can you get by with just spring digging? So, let's finally find out whether it is necessary to dig up the garden in the fall and understand all the intricacies of this work.
Preparing beds in the fall for the new season is one of the most important conditions for obtaining a rich harvest. Over the winter, the soil is saturated with minerals that were added during digging. Snow saturates the beds with moisture faster, while the dug-up soil itself does not become compacted. As a result, in the spring it is much easier to carry out preparatory work before planting. Significantly save energy and time. But that’s not all the advantages of digging!
Why dig up the soil in the garden - the advantages of the procedure
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Have summer residents really made a mistake for decades when they started digging with a shovel in the fall? To be fair, it doesn't. Digging has many advantages, some of which are quite obvious, while others are not so noticeable, but also make their useful contribution. So, digging is useful because:
- during work it is easier to apply the necessary mineral and organic fertilizers, to deoxidize the soil, the effect of these procedures will increase many times;
- weeds will not have a chance to have a free winter, and their seeds will not have a chance to develop further, due to the fact that they will be deep in the soil;
- garden pests and their larvae, pathogenic bacteria, once on the surface, quickly die from cold, wind or exposure to chemicals, and birds are not averse to feasting on insects;
- the soil becomes looser, water- and air-permeable, is more easily saturated with moisture during the winter and does not become too compacted, and warms up faster in the spring;
- it becomes possible to clear the area of weeds, leaves, stones and other debris, which creates many problems in the spring.
As you can see, digging is important and brings many benefits. But where there are pros, there will always be cons.
What is a sole and how to get rid of it
The sole is a layer of compacted soil resulting from frequent digging of the garden to the same depth.
Heavy soils (soddy-podzolic, clayey) and swampy soils are susceptible to the formation of soles. It is recommended to carry out a two-tier excavation of the territory every 4-6 years.
Important! Do not overuse two-tier digging. Beneficial substances disappear
The sole prevents the growth of many rooted plants: celery, carrots, beets, onions, parsley, etc., and deforms their roots.
If the sole is heavily compacted, then stagnation of water occurs, which promotes the development of unfavorable bacteria and microorganisms, which subsequently affect the development of vegetables.
A two-tiered digging of the garden will help you get rid of the sole. It is advisable to carry it out in the fall, so that beneficial microflora has time to form during the winter and spring. To do this, you need to dig a furrow the width of the bayonet of your shovel and loosen its bottom with a garden fork. In this case, the soil along the edges of the furrow should also be loosened. Then you can add compost or manure. As a result of such digging, the arable layer increases, and the earth is saturated with oxygen necessary for the development of useful substances, and its physical and water properties improve.
Did you know? During two-tier digging, the top layer of low-fertility soil is not removed.
Is it necessary to dig up the soil in the fall in the garden - the disadvantages of digging
Now let’s look at the disadvantages of digging up the soil, and why adherents of organic farming dislike it so much.
Soil is a home for many living organisms, and each of them has its own place in this “kingdom”. When digging, not only harmful inhabitants appear on the surface, but also useful ones, those thanks to which the soil maintains its fertility. By depriving the beds of “good” bacteria and insects, we thereby impoverish the soil. But restoring soil fertility, alas, is not easy.
There is also a possibility that the weed seeds will still survive under the soil layer and safely overwinter until spring. In addition, with deep and frequent digging, a less nutritious layer of soil rises to the surface, the structure of the soil is disrupted, and it loses its physical properties.
And finally, digging is hard work, which has a bad effect on the back, heart and overall health if the summer resident is not very physically prepared. Mechanized digging also requires significant effort and preparation.
Dependence on soil type
Before digging your garden in the fall, it is important to consider its features:
- Clay and loamy areas, as well as land with close groundwater, cannot be left untreated. The dug up area, every pore and hole will be filled with oxygen. This will help double the volume of soil. The soil, enriched with oxygen and carbon dioxide, copes faster with decomposing plants, and useful humus is formed. After planting plants in the spring, they will be more resistant to frost and drought, and their root system can penetrate into the deep layers of the soil.
- If the soil is light, loose, and saturated with humus, it is better to loosen it shallowly with sand, but not dig it up. Digging is only necessary in areas contaminated with weeds. It is impossible to regularly resort to deep plowing, since the procedure negatively affects the structure of the soil.
You need to plow before the onset of cold weather and the first snow. If it is plowed together with the soil, the process of heating the soil in the spring will slow down significantly. You also need to do it before the rainy season, otherwise the top layer will become too dense.
When do you really need to dig up your garden?
As you can see, there are quite a few pros and cons to digging. But in reality, it all depends on two factors: the type of soil on the site and the climate in your region. In other words, the disadvantages will clearly manifest themselves if you dig where it is not needed at all, and vice versa.
If the soil on the site is heavy, clayey and uncultivated, then digging in the fall is highly desirable. But loose and light soils can simply be loosened. Sandy soil only needs spring treatment.
In regions with a hot climate, the soil is drier and does not require frequent digging, but in humid and cold areas of the country this procedure is necessary because... Under the influence of natural conditions, the soil becomes compacted and becomes unsuitable for growing cultivated plants. And although adherents of organic farming often cite the example of forest ecosystems, where everything grows on its own without digging and fertilizers, we should not forget that varietal and hybrid vegetables are unable to survive in such conditions. In other words, to obtain a harvest, certain conditions are needed, which are created on personal plots. Therefore, first of all, monitor the condition of the soil and plants.
What it looks like: harvesting parsnips and planting winter garlic
The situation is as follows: parsnips have been removed from the garden bed, and we are planning to plant garlic in its place. Neighborhood rules are observed - this is an important point and cannot be missed.
Autumn digging of ridges
Parsnips have long roots. To get the crop out of the ground, you need the help of a shovel. We act carefully. We drive a shovel into the ground near the parsnip and make a slight movement - you should hear the sound of roots tearing. We take out the shovel vertically, without disturbing the layers of soil, and pull out the parsnips. We receive a harvested crop and a conditionally dug garden bed. Please note that the soil is practically not damaged during the process.
Just for fun, you can check the degree of softness of the soil after this method of growing and harvesting. After three years, without digging, a thin twig easily penetrates the ground to a depth of 70 centimeters!
Now it's garlic's turn. Using a flat hoe, we slightly loosen and at the same time level the ground. Touch the top 3–5 centimeters, no more. Use a peg to make holes for the garlic cloves, place them in places and sprinkle. Work is done.
All that remains is to cover the beds with parsnip tops. Under natural conditions, it would remain lying on top of the ground - no need to break the rules. In spring, the soil under the leaves will be soft as feathers.
When is the best time to dig up a vegetable garden - timing
We hope you are convinced that tillage in the fall is still necessary. But not every summer resident knows how and when to dig up a garden to get a positive effect. This should be done after harvesting, when late-ripening crops and all plant debris have been removed. It is advisable to carry out the work until the end of October - beginning of November, depending on weather conditions. You shouldn’t delay the work too much so that the first frost doesn’t set the soil. It’s ideal if you can finish digging before heavy rains.
Quotes again
A little about recommendations from dacha magazines. One of the readers says that for carrots she digs up the beds twice (in autumn and spring), applies humus and mineral fertilizers. The gorgeous harvest from the photo above was grown contrary to all these rules. And not for the first time, not by chance, but year after year.
It is known that carrots came to us from the Mediterranean. It was originally grown on cultivated former peatlands, so heavy soils are not suitable for it. In beds formed with virtually no outside participation, the root crop feels great. Need proof? – Go back to the photographs.
More about the rules of cultivation in the next video.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PUAfcAUVnZc
How to prepare the soil for planting vegetables
After the first processing of virgin soil, you cannot immediately begin cultivation. It is necessary to further prepare the land. If the soil was processed using machinery, then weeds are not selected from it, as with manual digging, but are plowed up along with the soil.
After plowing with a walk-behind tractor or
To improve the structure of the soil and saturate it with useful microelements, green manure plants (mustard, lupine, oats, rye, alfalfa) are planted. When the greenery grows, it is mowed and additional digging is carried out using machinery or manually.
Winter crops are planted in winter. In early spring, after the snow melts, the third plowing is carried out and the plot is planted with garden crops for the first time.
After manual digging
When cultivating the land manually, you can use the previous method, but more often they do it differently. The land freed from turf is treated with herbicides to kill weeds. Then sprinkle with peat, humus or sawdust and dig, mixing everything.
A week later, the soil is fertilized with complex mineral fertilizers: potassium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, nitrophoska, superphosphate and dug up a second time. The land becomes suitable for use as a vegetable garden.
How to dig a garden without injuring your legs
It often happens that in a moment of excitement or anger, we forget about safety precautions and want to break a large earthen lump, break the root or stem of a large weed with a shovel blade, and so on. But it often happens that such an action can injure the performer of this work. To prevent this from happening, try to take the process seriously, do not be nervous while working, maintain a safe distance between the shovel and your feet during such actions, and also try to dig in closed shoes, such as boots. Of course, doing this in the summer is not particularly pleasant, but believe me, an injury from a shovel or even drying out the skin of your feet from dust (if you work in slippers) is much more unpleasant.
How to dig soil in the garden: instructions
Now we will provide you with literally a few points that will tell you in detail how to dig in a vegetable garden or garden.
The most important thing in such a process is the correct choice of tool.
- One hand rests on the edge of the shovel handle, the second - a little further, holding the handle in the palm of your hand, the foot is placed on the top of the shovel tray and pressure is applied downward into the ground, preferably at a slight angle.
- After the blade of the shovel has sunk into the soil, you need to take a more comfortable position for lifting and dumping the soil, which means you need to take a step back, bend a little and put pressure on the handle of the shovel, grabbing one hand even closer to the tray.
- Now, you can bend your knees a little and press as much as possible on the handle, which, with a lever effect, will pull the soil out of the hole.
- Raise the shovel with the soil, turn it over and lower it into the hole, hit the largest lumps of earth with the blade of the shovel several times to break them up.
You see, digging with a shovel is very easy, it’s strange that many people don’t succeed the first time.
We remind you once again that the material on how to properly dig the soil is only for beginners in summer cottages, gardens and vegetable gardens, and in no way concerns experienced summer residents, who themselves are able to give such advice.
There will be a chance to improve your financial situation
The Italian dream book also assures that digging soil in the garden symbolizes a quick increase in income.
However, there are a couple of things to consider. Firstly, if you dreamed that you were digging a garden that belongs to you, then the money will “go” into your pocket. But digging up other people's agricultural property predicts prosperity for the company you work for; your profit is an increase in salary.
And secondly, if you dug the ground alone, this means that success will come thanks to your experience and diligence. Digging in the garden with someone is a symbol of teamwork.
Organic farming and soil cultivation features
Organic farming is based on respect for the land.
Proper, reasonable management of the land will help preserve and increase soil fertility. That is why supporters of organic farming adhere to the following principles:
- The loose layer should be no more than 5 cm. Digging and plowing are prohibited. If you dig up the soil for 2-3 years, you will notice its enrichment with oxygen. The activity of microorganisms is manifested, the root system of plants extracts nutrients more easily. But then a decline occurs, and the soil becomes poorer: the amount of humus decreases and its structure changes
- Carrying out mulching. Beneficial microorganisms and worms are activated under a layer of mulch, moisture is retained, a soil crust does not form, and the earth does not overheat on hot days.
- Revitalizing the earth by feeding living fauna with compost, green manure, and organic compounds that penetrate into the deep layers during watering, nourishing the roots of plants. For irrigation, trenches are dug along the beds.
- During gardening work, the introduction of preparations containing microorganisms. This technology was developed by Japanese scientists and has been successfully used for 15 years. Beneficial microbes and fungi introduced into the soil begin to actively divide, suppressing pathogenic microflora and bringing organic matter into a form accessible to plants. Effective microorganisms significantly increase yield. It's easier than waiting for them to gradually reproduce
- Crop rotation is important so that part of the land is “fallow”, and in other areas there is a change of crops. This is necessary to avoid the accumulation of pests and diseases in the soil that parasitize a specific plant family.
Organic farming
Organic farming involves slight loosening of the soil. This is necessary to enrich it with oxygen, trim weeds and prepare it for planting. The rest of the work is completed by worms and microorganisms: they loosen and process nutrients, converting them into a form accessible to plants.
Flat-cutting as a soil care option
Loosening the soil with a flat cutter
In organic farming, a shovel is not needed; a flat cutter is used, which goes underground and loosens it without digging up. This tool is needed not only in spring. It is perfect for killing weeds throughout the season.
A sharp flat cutter is used:
- with surface tillage to a depth of 5 cm
- when creating beds
- for destroying excess shoots and raspberry cuttings
- while hilling potatoes
- for removing strawberry whiskers
- when cutting furrows for sowing seeds
- for thinning densely sprouted seedlings
The miracle flat cutter will help loosen the soil under cucumbers that have a shallow root system. But it is impossible to dig up an overgrown area that has not been cultivated for a long time and the turf has already formed.
A dull flat cutter is recommended for land plots overgrown with weeds. Weeds caught under the blade of the tool are not only cut, but also uprooted. At the same time, the soil ecosystem remains intact and does not suffer from external interference. Flat-cut weed removal is carried out throughout the summer. It won't do any harm at the dacha in the fall.
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Correct technique
You need to dig correctly if only to make the whole process much easier and faster.
As a child, many people saw how to use a shovel
The basic movements remain the same, but you need to pay attention to one main point - you cannot lift the instrument from the ground using your wrists. You need to try to hook the end of the handle with your elbow, thereby giving an additional impulse, which will reduce the load on the person’s back and joints
By following this simple rule, you can dig up a large vegetable garden without any problems.
The position of the leading hand can be alternately changed while maintaining the necessary balance.
This technique becomes especially useful and necessary during large-scale and lengthy work, for example, when it is necessary to dig up a garden or remove large volumes of snow in the winter season.
Correct “marking” of the site
An important role in the formation of an “uncultivated” vegetable garden is played by the number of beds and paths between them. To begin with, you should make a level path along the perimeter of the garden so that you can drive up with a wheelbarrow to any point. Then you should outline the direction of the beds and begin to “conquer” the garden space using a flat cutter.
Having formed several beds, you should level their surface with a small rake, leaving low sides. It may seem that the soil in new beds dries out instantly, but this is only true for the surface 3-5 cm layer. At greater depths, moisture remains, which makes it possible to grow carrots, onions and many other crops.
It is easier to create your own microclimate on an area divided into zones
In the first year after harvesting, you need to sow green manure (mustard, phacelia or fenugreek) so that a nutritious “cover” is formed on the soil for the winter. Already next spring the soil will “breathe deeply” and become soft and pliable.
Perhaps such methods will seem unacceptable to some: they are not suitable for all climatic zones. But one thing is obvious - deep plowing of lands over time leads to their impoverishment and degeneration. So you need to manage wisely!
