Tilling refers to digging up and turning over the soil. I’ve used a double-tilling method many times to create new garden beds out of lawn or field. If you’re blessed with fertile, loamy soil, you may not need to till. But for compacted soils that are relatively infertile, tilling at the outset of a garden’s formation will yield dramatic results for decades to come. Tilling is an easy way to incorporate large amounts of organic matter into the soil and increase soil porosity.
Fall or early spring is an ideal time for tillage, because grass and other existing plants are less likely to sprout up from roots. If you can prepare your garden in fall, consider planting a fall cover crop—a planting designed to protect the soil
