For some, a garden is an opportunity to provide their family with tasty and natural products, for others it is an interesting hobby, and for some it is even a real means of survival. In any case, cultivating the land when cultivating a vegetable garden is the most significant and labor-intensive part of all work. Digging up a garden with a shovel is not so easy in some cases, but in small areas this method is still one of the main ones for cultivating the land.
Choosing the right tool
However, with the development of modern technologies, many improvements to the ordinary shovel have long been invented. They allow you to speed up the process in some places, and simplify it in others so that digging the ground by hand is not so difficult, and the consequences of physical activity do not have such a strong impact on your overall well-being.
Pitchfork
One of the most ancient devices, which is often used to dig up a vegetable garden, is an ordinary pitchfork. However, forks are traditionally used to dig up soil. They differ from ordinary forks in having more powerful and shorter teeth, which in their cross-section are more reminiscent of a trapezoid. Most often they are not welded, but forged.
A pitchfork is a much more convenient tool for cultivating land than even a shovel. It is not for nothing that many subsequent modern improved devices were made precisely on the principle of a pitchfork. After all, they allow you to simultaneously lift layers of soil and loosen them without cutting the roots of weeds. At the same time, the overall load on the body is significantly reduced due to the fact that a significant part of the soil passes through the teeth, and there is no need to tear it off the ground.
As a result, the forks are particularly well suited for digging up particularly wet and heavy soil, which can stick too intensely to the metal parts of the products. Therefore, they are most often used to dig up clay or rocky soils.
In addition, the use of a fork is more than justified to easily dig up an area of the garden that is overgrown with grass. Because sharp teeth are much easier to penetrate through the grassy turf of a garden than the solid blade of a shovel. At the same time, they do not cut the roots of perennial weeds, but pull them to the surface of the earth in their entirety. This allows you to get rid of weeds more effectively later. After all, many weeds, such as wheatgrass, can easily germinate even from small pieces of rhizomes left in the ground.
Forks are also indispensable when digging a site on two levels, when it is necessary to loosen the second, lowest layer of soil with their help.
To dig up a garden with a pitchfork, you only need to apply a minimal amount of effort. But for large areas of land, even more labor-saving devices were invented, which will be discussed below.
Shovel
A shovel, of course, is an unsurpassed tool in its versatility of use, since with its help you can not only dig up almost any area, but also dig a hole or trench of almost any size. With a shovel you can dig up annually cultivated garden beds, flower beds, and virgin plots of land overgrown with perennial weeds that have not been cultivated for several years. Of the hand tools, perhaps only a shovel can fully cope with virgin soil. A pitchfork can serve as a good addition, but too dense turf can only be overcome by a well-sharpened shovel.
Attention! The most reliable and durable tool for digging up virgin lands is considered to be a titanium shovel.
To quickly dig up a garden with a shovel with minimal effort, the length of its handle should be such that its end reaches the elbow when the blade is immersed 20-25 cm into the ground. Sometimes a shovel handle with a special grip is used. But digging with it can be less convenient. It is suitable for those whose fingers do not have much strength.
A rounded shovel blade can also make work easier because it goes into the ground easier than a straight blade.
Miracle shovel "Mole"
The constant striving for perfection and facilitating the hard work of digging up soil on a site has led to the emergence of a variety of devices, among which the miracle shovel is the most popular. It has many different modifications, but they are all created according to the same principle.
The miracle shovel Mole is a unit consisting of two counter forks, width from 43 to 55 cm. The number of teeth can vary from 6 to 9. The main working forks are movable and are bolted to the frame on which the counter teeth are located. A foot rest is also attached to it, which allows you to easily drive the shovel into the ground without additional stress on your back. After which the handles of the tool handle are tilted first towards you and then down. In the last action, the working forks push a layer of soil through the counter teeth, freeing the soil from weeds and at the same time loosening it. Digging soil for a garden correctly means trying not to mix the top and bottom layers of soil unnecessarily.
Important! The advantage of digging up the soil with a “mole” compared to an ordinary shovel is that the fertile soil is simply loosened, but does not change its location in space, much less go down.
Despite the significant weight of the miracle mole shovel, about 4.5 kg, it is not difficult to work with. You can only drag it around the area. But most of the effort to penetrate into the ground occurs precisely due to the weight of the tool itself.
In the video you can clearly see how to dig the ground with a miracle shovel:
In addition, thanks to more convenient operation, the process of digging up the garden is accelerated. In 1 hour you can cultivate from 1 to 2 acres of land, depending on its density. At the same time, fatigue, especially in the back and arms, is felt minimally. Therefore, the miracle “mole” shovel is especially popular among women and the elderly, for whom digging up a garden previously seemed almost impossible.
There are also limitations in the operation of the miracle shovel “Mole”. It will be difficult to dig up virgin lands with it; it is more suitable for digging up beds or flower beds in the country, slightly overgrown with weeds.
In addition, due to the rather high handle, it will be difficult to operate in a low greenhouse.
Ripper "Digger"
The principle of using double forks to lift and loosen the earth is used in many designs, particularly in the "digger" ripper. Compared to a mole, the digger has differences in design:
- The forks are mounted at an angle to each other on hinges, and there is no fixed frame.
- The device initially has two handles, which are then connected together in the handle.
- The footrest takes up more space, which allows you to make the tool wider and makes work even easier.
But all these differences are unimportant; in general, the principle of operation of the “Digger” ripper is not much different from the miracle shovel.
Important! Due to their large width, they are quite convenient for digging up large areas of land, for example, preparing a garden for planting potatoes.
But precisely for the same reason, the unit may be unsuitable for narrow beds or flower beds.
Shovel "Tornado"
Tornado is a fairly well-known brand under which many garden tools are produced. The “tornado” shovel, in its design and operating principle, is practically no different from the “mole” miracle shovel.
But there is also a “tornado” ripper, which is a long pin with rounded long handles at one end and sharp teeth twisted clockwise. It allows you to dig up and loosen the soil to a depth of 20 cm. The handle of the tool can easily be adjusted in length to the height of the person working with the “tornado”.
Due to the small size of the tool, it is especially convenient for them to work on small plots of land, under trees or shrubs, in small flower beds or narrow beds. “Tornado” allows you to cultivate even areas of land that are slightly overgrown with grass, but it is of little use for large areas.
Rotating miracle views
A somewhat similar operating principle is used when operating the rotary miracle forks. They consist of a long pin with a T-shaped long handle. The main rod is also adjustable in length in order to maximally adapt to the height of the person working with it.
At the bottom of the rod there are forks attached to it, which are driven into the ground and then turned by the force of a handle used as a lever.
When working with rotating miracle forks, forces towards the back or legs are also eliminated. Naturally, labor productivity also increases. But the tool is poorly suited to working with heavy or rocky soil.
Fokina flat cutter
This amazing instrument was invented not so long ago, at the end of the last century. But it has already gained great popularity due to its lightness and versatility.
Using a Fokin flat cutter you can quite easily carry out the following types of work:
- loosening the soil;
- crushing pieces of earth;
- formation of beds;
- cutting and removing weeds;
- hilling;
- cutting grooves in the ground for sowing different crops.
At the same time, there are several models of flat cutters, differing in blade size. Thus, the flat cutter is suitable for processing relatively large areas of land (up to several hundred square meters), and for narrow places where it is difficult to get to using any other tool.
Hand cultivator
Hand cultivators are a whole class of tools designed to dig up a vegetable garden, loosen and create beds.
There are 3 main types of hand cultivators:
- rotary or star-shaped;
- cultivators-rippers;
- root removers.
Based on the name, in the first type of cultivators, several star-shaped rippers are mounted on the central axis.
By pressing on the handle and simultaneously driving the unit along the ground, the soil is loosened and weeds are simultaneously destroyed. But these models are poorly suited for processing heavy types of soil, especially if they are covered with hardened clay crust.
In the latter cases, it is necessary to seek help from a cultivator-ripper. It has several rather short, but very hard and sharp curved teeth scrolling on its central axis. With their help, this unit, with some effort, is able to cope with fairly dense and heavy soils.
Root removers are ideally suited for spot loosening the soil, removing weeds with powerful and deep rhizomes, as well as for digging holes when planting seedlings of garden crops.
Why do they dig up the ground in the fall?
If the soil is excessively clogged with weeds, it is initially simply loosened. As a result of increased access to oxygen, weeds begin to actively germinate. After just two weeks, they move on to the next stage of digging, during which they remove:
- rhizomes of dandelions and wheatgrass;
- larvae of May beetles and wireworms.
Digging the soil allows you to detect and destroy underground passages of pests and rodent burrows.
This agrotechnical procedure allows you to saturate the soil with useful elements. While digging the beds, summer residents apply organic and mineral fertilizers.
If large pieces of earth form during digging, they do not need to be broken up. They will retain moisture and prevent the soil from compacting.
Weed control
Weeds are the worst enemies of summer residents. They grow quickly, causing significant harm to cultivated plants, taking away a significant portion of their nutrients, shielding them from sunlight. It is for these reasons that no gardener will put up with the presence of weeds in the garden. Several times a month during the season it is necessary to carry out weeding to destroy weeds.
Digging is an agrotechnical procedure that is one of the most effective in the fight against weeds. When carrying out such actions, the roots of the weeds appear on the surface, they are easy to detect, collect and throw away.
Of course, it will not be possible to ensure 100% destruction of weed rhizomes, but when digging, the strength of even the remaining weeds is significantly weakened. In the spring, less unwanted grass will begin to grow in such an area.
Fertilizer application
When deciding whether it is necessary to dig up the soil in the garden in the fall, owners of garden plots receive affirmative answers. Experienced summer residents explain that digging allows you to add nutrients to the soil and contribute to its deoxidation.
Organic and mineral fertilizers act as nutrients.
It is simply wrong to throw fertilizers around the garden. First you need to decide which vegetable or berry crops you plan to plant in specific beds in the spring.
After this, compost or humus is added to the areas where it is planned to grow seedlings, cabbage or cucumbers in the next season.
Mineral fertilizers will not be superfluous for any plants, so they can be distributed throughout the garden.
Change in soil acidity
To reduce the acidity of the soil, it is recommended to add ash to the soil. If you simply sprinkle ash on top, it will be useless to expect any improvements.
The deoxidation effect will be achieved when the ash is mixed with the soil. This can only be achieved by digging up the area.
Minuses
Along with the multiple advantages that accompany the procedure of digging up a site, there are also tangible disadvantages:
- Such work is never easy and one has to experience excessive physical fatigue. Therefore, experienced summer residents recommend a sensible approach to this task, digging up the soil only where there is really a need for it.
- When using the wrong digging technique, soil inhabitants change places, which quite often negatively affects the condition of the soil.
For this reason, when digging, it is recommended not to turn over the extracted layer of earth, but to move it. Carrying out the digging procedure itself in the absence of a target is also not entirely correct.
How deep should you dig the ground?
There are several approaches to cultivating land. Some gardeners believe that the soil must be dug up annually to at least the depth of a spade bayonet, that is, 25-30 cm.
Others, who advocate a more natural, organic approach to growing plants, consider it necessary to only slightly loosen the top layer of soil every year, up to 4-5 cm deep. This should be enough for sowing and for the initial development of seeds. In the future, the roots of the plants make their own way, using natural passages in the soil. True, with the second method it is necessary to annually create a significant layer of organic mulch on the beds, at least 10-15 cm thick.
In any case, if you are dealing with virgin soil, that is, a plot of land densely overgrown with grass, then initially it must be dug up at least once. This is necessary, first of all, to remove the rhizomes of weeds, which will not allow young shoots of cultivated plants to fully develop.
Tips for a beginning gardener: to dig or not to dig?
With the right approach to the land, it does not deplete, supplying the gardener with a harvest
The earth is a breathing substance, saturated with living organisms. Each “inhabitant” of the soil plays its role, working on its structure. It is with this understanding that you need to approach your plot of land. With such thoughts you need to take up a shovel. Consider whether you need to dig up the soil. Weigh the pros and cons.
And don't forget about the following points:
- If the soil is loose, rich in humus (sandy loam), then autumn digging is not necessary. It is enough to clean the area, removing foliage and weeds in which pest larvae or disease spores can overwinter. You'll have to dig up the overgrown area, otherwise you won't be able to deal with the weeds in the spring.
- Spring digging on loose soils is carried out with a flat cutter to a depth of up to 5 cm. Heavy soils are dug with a shovel bayonet without turning the earthen lump over.
- Organic compounds rich in nutrients are added. Poor soils require mineral nutrition, which is added strictly according to instructions.
- To avoid further damaging the top layers by loosening, use mulch or sow green manure. All this will keep the surface layer moist and loose. Mulch creates an excellent environment for the proliferation of microorganisms
- If the soil structure is disturbed (the soil is dusty, cracked, hard), then live preparations containing microorganisms are added along with compost or humus. They quickly divide and begin to “work”, restoring the soil structure
Both natural and synthetic materials can be used as mulch.
Over time, nature restores lost fertility without human help. Empty lands are abundantly populated with weeds. Gradually they die, the tops and foliage rot, providing food for soil microorganisms. They restore the soil structure and its fertility.
Proponents of organic farming approach the issue of tillage with caution. By maintaining its structure, we multiply the harvest and avoid depletion of the fertile layer.
Intensive land cultivation technologies do not take such points into account, so huge areas quickly become unusable. Fertilizers are introduced into them and operation continues. This approach has a basis: feeding a growing humanity is not so easy. But no one has canceled the caring attitude and individual approach.
VIDEO: To dig or not to dig a garden in the fall? Let's look at all the pros and cons
How to quickly and easily dig up a garden
To quickly dig up a garden, it is advisable to adhere to the following technology:
- First, use pegs and a stretched rope to mark the approximate boundaries of the future vegetable garden.
- Then a trench is dug along one of the sides, approximately the depth of a shovel. The width of the trench in this case is also equal to the width of the shovel blade.
- All extracted soil is immediately freed from weed roots and possible mechanical additives (stones, debris).
- The earth from the first trench is put in a separate place so that it can be used later.
- Parallel to the first one, the next trench is dug, the earth from which is used to fill the previous trench.
- According to this scheme, they continue to dig up the ground until the marking of the area prepared for the garden is completed.
- Then the last trench is filled with pre-set earth from the first trench.
Is it necessary to dig up soil in the garden?
If the beds survive the digging procedure, then similar manipulations in the garden can provoke extremely undesirable consequences.
When digging up the trunk circle of any fruit tree, “dew roots”, which are small suction roots, are destroyed. It is their nature that has endowed them with the ability to absorb moisture and absorb nutrients. When digging, the shovel mercilessly destroys them.
For this reason, experienced gardeners do not carry out such manipulations on the eve of winter.
In addition, such agrotechnical treatment is extremely dangerous for stone fruit trees, apple trees and cherries. Their root system is located very close to the soil surface. Any careless movement can cause damage to the roots. It will be difficult for a weakened tree to survive the winter period. In addition, in places where the roots are damaged, shoots will begin to actively grow, taking away the strength of the main tree.
How to quickly dig up virgin soil
Virgin lands are usually called areas of land that have not been cultivated for 10 years or more. They are usually covered with a thick layer of turf, which makes it difficult to both sow and care for garden plants. But in the rested soil, many substances useful for the growth and development of plants have been accumulated, which can serve the benefit of the gardener. It may not be possible to quickly dig up virgin soil at your dacha right away, but the result will be worth the effort.
There are several ways to process virgin soil, but only one can be called fast - creating bulk beds. In this case, the surface of future beds is covered with cardboard or other materials, and the row spaces are treated with herbicides. Then the future beds are covered with pre-prepared fertile soil on top. It is where seeds are sown or seedlings are planted.
This method, despite its speed, is very material-intensive, since the land for planting will have to be specially mined externally. If time allows, you can do differently. Simply cover the areas allocated for the beds with a layer of cardboard, press down with heavy objects and leave the soil to mature for the whole season. In this case, by autumn the entire grassy part of the turf will rot and the soil will be ready for processing using any of the tools described above.
You can dig up virgin soil at your dacha with your own hands by simply turning the cut layers of turf over with the green grass facing down. Potatoes are planted in the resulting gaps, which, after sprouting, are generously mulched with any organic matter.
By autumn, on the former virgin lands, it is possible to harvest a potato crop and obtain land that is quite suitable for further cultivation.
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 properly dig up the soil under a garden bed
There are several basic rules on how to properly dig soil with a shovel so as not to cause much damage to your health:
- You should not try to dig up the entire plot of land at one time, especially if its area is quite significant, and the experience of physical activity after winter is reduced to zero.
- The shovel must be installed vertically in relation to the ground, so that with minimal effort the bayonet can penetrate the ground to its maximum depth.
- You should not put too much soil on the shovel at one time. It is better to make more small but frequent movements.
- There is no need to dig up soil that is still wet from winter or frozen. This can lead to even more compaction of the earth. It is better to wait a little until the soil dries out a little.
- You should not walk on an already dug up piece of land before sowing or planting seedlings, so as not to reduce all the effort spent to zero.
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!
How to dig frozen ground with a shovel
As mentioned above, digging up frozen soil to set up a vegetable garden does not make much sense, since after this procedure the soil can become even more compacted. But if there are some special circumstances that force you to dig frozen ground, then you can use the following techniques:
- Light a fire at the future digging site and, after it burns out, dig into the warm soil.
- Use a jackhammer or pick and only after removing the upper frozen horizon, continue digging with a shovel.
What is good about autumn digging?
It is especially necessary to dig up the garden in the fall for heavy, uncultivated clay soils. At the same time, work is also carried out on other types of soil. Autumn digging of the garden has the following advantages:
- When deep cultivation of the soil in the garden, all pests rise to the top. Colorado potato beetle, wireworm, rodents, cabbage grass, caterpillars - they will all be eaten by birds or die from the cold, wind, and sun.
- At the time of autumn digging, weeds sprout under the still warm daytime sun. Stronger crops then die at the first frost. An ungerminated weed dies from wind and cold while still at the seed stage.
- During autumn digging, the remains of cultivated plants go into the ground. They simultaneously fertilize the soil and work as a leavening agent.
- In well-loosened soil, nitrogen-fixing microorganisms begin their active activity. They enrich the earth with all the forms of nitrogen it needs.
How to dig with a shovel correctly
- When digging your garden in the fall, you create better moisture retention (precipitation in the form of rain and snow). In the spring, such soil, warmed by the sun, will be more convenient for plants. It will create a kind of greenhouse effect for them.
- The ability to add the necessary fertilizers to the soil, which will completely rot and rot over the winter. Most often it is wood ash, green manure, sawdust moistened with urea.
Interesting: Using wood ash in the garden
Important: when digging up your garden in the fall, it is important to remove all fallen leaves from it. It is a mistake to think that it will become a good fertilizer.
Often the foliage can harbor diseases and pests that will begin their harmful activities in the soil.
As a last resort, you can then cover the dug-up garden with fallen leaves. In the spring it will need to be removed from the beds.
And the most important advantage of digging the garden in the fall is that by doing this work on the eve of winter, we make it easier for ourselves to carry out spring tillage before planting. In the warm months, it will be enough to just loosen the soil a little and form beds.
Is it necessary to dig a garden in the fall?
Autumn digging of the earth is especially necessary during the initial development of an overgrown area or virgin land. In this case, it is best to dig up the soil in large layers and leave it in this form until winter. Frost penetrates into the resulting cracks and freezes the weed seeds more reliably, preventing them from developing further in the spring. It is best to dig the ground in the fall while simultaneously adding phosphorus fertilizers to the soil so that by spring they become available to plant roots.
In addition, after autumn digging, the soil is usually well saturated with oxygen.
But if the garden has been developed for quite some time, then there is no particular point in digging it up in the fall. It is better to lay it with an additional layer of mulch, which, having rotted, will serve as a good fertilizer for plants in the spring and summer.
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.
Asphalt or loose soil
There is a belief that cultivated plants should grow on soft feather beds, while wild ones should be able to pierce the asphalt with their heads. In fact, many have seen how delicate dandelions overcome obstacles in the form of sidewalks and pavements, tree shoots do not lag behind, even grass easily destroys tiles and concrete. But these are exceptional conditions that imply a struggle for existence.
All plants prefer to live in comfort on soft, loose soil.
In the normal course of events, all plants prefer to live in comfort on soft, loose soil. But the above does not mean that any soil is suitable, including those that are not fertile. We need soil that is not just plowed, but structured, rich in nutrients and elements.
The plant strives to survive in any conditions, the seed sprouts, and its task is to gain strength and produce offspring. But a healthy adult specimen, fully possessing all the necessary properties, will only be obtained under the right conditions.
What kind of soil do plants need:
- filled with nutrients;
- permeable to air;
- easily absorbs water and gets rid of its excess;
- the soil must be a reliable foundation for the root system, otherwise any bad weather will tear out or wash out the plant.
Recommendations
The process of leveling a summer cottage is considered complex, taking a lot of physical effort and time. Therefore, many land owners prefer to use the services of professionals who do everything quickly and correctly.
If you do the leveling of the territory yourself, then it is important to take into account the following recommendations:
Before starting all work related to adjusting the territory, you should decide in advance on its purpose and the creation of separate zones (choose a place for placing a swimming pool, arranging a garden and for building)
At this stage, it is necessary to carefully study the site plan and consult with a specialist in the field of land surveying, since it is important to analyze the location of groundwater, soil composition and the possibilities for further exploitation of the territory. In addition, the direction of water flow and the slope of the terrain should be determined. Since the entire complex of earthworks is associated with the movement of earth, it is necessary to assess the complexity of this activity, taking into account the area of the site, the topography and the desired result
Some of the work (leveling small areas) can be done manually using shovels and rakes. For other manipulations, the use of special equipment may be necessary.
The removed top fertile layer of soil can be stored for no more than a month, otherwise all aerobic microorganisms may die and the soil will become unusable (it will not be able to be enriched with oxygen).
You need to start leveling the land before starting to build a house, laying out garden paths and installing all communication systems. It is best to do this in the fall, since the winter-spring period can be rich in precipitation, and the soil will sag. In addition, the plot leveled in the fall for a vegetable garden will be well saturated with moisture and fertilizers over the winter, which will have a positive effect on growing crops.
Areas with large areas must be leveled using special equipment that can penetrate to a depth of up to 30 cm. You need to walk along and across the territory with a tractor, this will allow the soil to be well loosened. If there is a need to move a large volume of earth, then it is best to use a bulldozer.
If you plan to allocate an area for a lawn for flowers, then you need to provide it with a perfectly flat surface. To do this, levels are set and a check is made for the presence of curvature. In some places you can remove the top layer of soil, then fill in all the holes and level out the bumps. If the soil is heavy, it is recommended to mix the top layer with peat and sand. To quickly level areas with a slope, you can use the removed topsoil from other areas that are considered unsuitable for planting. First, the slopes are covered with sand, then with earth. It is allowed to leave a slight slope; it is needed to prevent melt and rain water from stagnating. To simplify the process of leveling areas with a slope, the square method will help, for which you need to drive wooden pegs around the perimeter of the territory and then add soil according to their height. When designing landscape design on a site, one should not forget about such a main attribute as steps. They can be arranged in the place where there are slopes on the site. If the territory is located on a hill, then one part of it can be leveled, and the other can be equipped with stairs and railings. Once the area is leveled, fountains, small ponds and statues can be placed on it.
You can see how to properly level the area in the following video.
Using the cultivator
All of the methods described above for digging the earth are based on the use of human muscular strength. If the plot is large, there is a lot of work, but there is money for mechanization of labor, then you can use a cultivator. This machine not only helps a person get the job done faster, but is also versatile in use.
Steam cultivators are designed to dig up the soil before planting. They are equipped with fixed or driven knives. This means they can be used as a plow, lifting layers of soil, or as a loosening agent, mixing the soil.
Row-crop cultivators are designed for processing growing crops. With their help you can:
- loosen the ground;
- destroy weeds;
- hill up crops;
- carry out actions to retain moisture.
With the help of a cultivator you can cultivate large areas in a short period. However, this tool is not suitable for small areas with a large number of small beds and tree and shrub plantings. In such a situation, you will have to make do with manual labor.
How do garden strawberries behave on undug soil?
According to our gardeners, excellent! We don’t dig the bed, but fill it well with humus, add it superficially and lightly cover it with a flat cutter.
The late Gigantella variety grows like a carpet in one place for up to 8 years without any problems and produces sweet and very large berries. I have had this variety for 4 years now. No complaints, only praise. The early variety Mashenka and the middle variety Maryshka bear fruit consistently. They were also planted in undug soil, the rows were covered with cardboard and a layer of humus was added on top. This way the mulch cut off the perennial weeds. Weeding was not particularly annoying. You need to water much less; a layer of humus mulch retains moisture well. What pleased me about the season was the currant harvest. On my young plantation, the record-breaking bush produced 5.5 kg of large, full-fledged berries per bush.
Where does dense soil come from?
Surprisingly, by trying to improve the soil, man himself spoils it. Experts are familiar with the phenomenon of plow sole. This is a dense layer of soil that forms between the plowed soil and the subsoil. Depending on the method of processing the area, the depth of this gap ranges from a couple of tens of centimeters to a meter.
It is impossible to avoid the appearance of arable sole
What is the harm of a plow sole? Impenetrable to roots. Moisture and most useful substances accumulate below the sole, and the roots cannot penetrate to them. Please note that the thickness of this barrier also varies. In the beds it is only 10-15 centimeters, when cultivating the field with heavy equipment - up to 40 centimeters.
It is impossible to avoid the appearance of arable sole. Even working with one shovel is still stressful for the soil. The weight of a person is quite enough to form a seal. In addition, people calmly walk around the site when there are no beds on it yet or no longer. Do you make circles, dragging sacks of potatoes across the field, or do you take shortcuts based on the rule that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line?
Digging the soil
Previously, when I went out to the plot in the spring, I was tormented by the thought: what are we doing wrong if gardening work turns into a constant battle for the harvest and only gives us tedious digging and endless weeding. Initially, I read into any information. I studied the experience of Terenty Maltsev, who developed a no-moldboard soil cultivation system. In the 50s of the last century it was considered innovative. His conclusions were surprising, and the results proved that he was right! But its production scale and the lack of necessary gardening equipment for non-moldboard cultivation led to a dead end.
Six years for a carrot patch
The photo shows a carrot harvest obtained from beds that have not been touched by a shovel, plow, etc. for six years. We do without manure and other humus, adding only green manure and humic acids. Processing – natural loosening during harvesting and easy work with a flat hoe.
Carrots in the garden
