The most popular and efficient way to turn the soil is with a rototiller. It can make short work of breaking new ground, working organic matter into the soil and cultivating, weeding and aerating. Tillers can save time, as well as your back, but they can also cause problems, especially when used too often or at the wrong time.
Each time soil is turned, especially with a rototiller, oxygen is added to it. This causes an explosion of microbial activity that feeds on organic matter in the soil, thereby hastening its decomposition. Each time you till the soil, add a healthy amount of organic matter to maintain a fairly constant percentage (5 to 7 percent) in the soil. If you don't add organic matter each time you till, microorganisms will eventually consume the soil's organic reserves. Without organic matter to feed on, the microorganisms die, and the result is a practically lifeless, sterile soil.
How Often?
Frequent tilling, more than three or four times a year, destroys the soil's texture and structure by pulverizing it into a fine powder. Ideally garden soils should be somewhat coarse, composed of particles of sand, silt, clay and organic matter in varying sizes. Frequent tilling can glaze the soil, creating an impermeable layer just beyond the reach of the tines, usually six inches to one foot down. If you use a rototiller, loosen that layer at least once a year by stabbing a pitchfork or broadfork deep into the soil and rocking gently back and forth. Do not till a garden when the soil is wet because this destroys the texture and structure of the soil, leaving behind big clumps and clods that dry hard as rocks. Once that kind of damage is done, it's not easily undone.
Front-Tine Tillers
This earliest of rototiller designs features tines in front of the engine. These machines do a fine job of tilling the soil, but they can be hard to control because the lack of weight over the tines causes the front end of the tiller to bounce around, especially when you're tilling hard or compacted soils. These machines can also get away from you because they're driven forward by the tines. As a result, many people pull on the handles as they till or switch back between forward and reverse gears. The real trick to keeping these tillers under control is pushing the rear stabilizer bar into the ground as you till (figure A) and letting the tines slowly pull you forward.
Even after you're comfortable with them, front-tine tillers have two distinct drawbacks: you have no choice but to walk behind the area being tilled, which means you compact the very soil you just loosened, and after tilling, the area must be raked smooth to prepare a seed bed.
Rear-Tine Tillers
Rear-tine tillers (figure B) are much easier to operate because the weight of the engine is in front of the tines and the wheels drive the machine. They don't jump, jolt or try to take off by themselves, which means they're also safer to use. In addition, they don't take a toll on the operator, who can walk beside the tiller and avoid compacting the soil. The result is a smooth seed bed that doesn't require additional raking.
Rear-tine tillers are usually more expensive, so expect to pay from $500 for a 3-horsepower model to $2,500 for a top-of-the-line electric-start 11-horsepower model. Attachments available from some manufacturers include bumpers for protecting the engine, hiller-furrowers (figure C) and a dozen blades. Some of the larger machines are equipped with power-takeoff drives (PTOs), which allow log splitters and chippers to be attached.
Several manufacturers have introduced minitillers (figure D), which come in handy when working in tight spots. These tillers don't bust sod or till as deeply as full-sized tillers, but they are easy to handle, and because they weigh only 20 pounds, they don't take their toll on the operator. These minitillers can be equipped with various attachments, from dethatchers and aerators to edgers and hedge clippers. Most models are available for less than $300.
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