What You Need To Know Before You Cultivate or Till Your Soil

7 years ago

2 minutes

Your soil should be just slightly damp for optimum cultivation. Tilling very wet soil is a waste of time and you will probably get bogged down before very long. Tilling hard dry land is just not going to work so, if the ground is very dry, try watering a few days before you actually work it.
Make sure your tiller or cultivator is clean and in full working order before you start. Keep the oil topped up and make sure the blades/tines are sharp and in good condition.
Pull up any weeds or vegetation that could become entangled with your tiller or cultivator’s blades.
Inspect your plot or bed for large stones, large roots half-bricks – or anything else that could damage the tiller or cause problems – and remove.
Have a good rake through your patch or bed before you start. This will get rid of a high percentage of detritus, organic or otherwise, that gets caught in the machine.
If you are tilling up, or down, a hill, remember to keep in low gear and keep your movement and operation steady and controlled.
If you have any problems with the machine, if it bucks or feels like it is running away, in fact if in any wayyou lose control of it, immediately switch it off. A runaway tiller is not a happy prospect.
If your tiller has a depth adjuster, remember to set it correctly. Use a shallow setting for really hard ground with a higher setting for looser, more moist soil.