Before planting your vegetable garden in the spring, it is a good idea to work the soil. Spring tilling is especially important if you grew a cover crop over winter or didn’t till in the fall. Tilling gives you a chance to work-in soil amendments like compost, and loosens the soil so it is easier to plant.
When To Till
You’ll want to work the soil early in the spring before you’re ready to start planting the garden. For early cool-season crops like lettuce and snap peas, it’s best to have worked the soil the fall before so you can plant early. You might want to set aside part of the garden for these crops so they can be planted early, then work the rest of the soil in the spring.
Soil that is too moist will just clump together when you’re tilling the garden. To test if the soil is dry enough for tilling, grab a handful of soil and squeeze it. If the soil crumbles when you let it go or when you poke it, it’s ready to till. If the clump of soil you picked up sticks together, wait until the soil is dryer. Soil should also be at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit before you start tilling.
Tillers for Small Gardens
For small gardens that measure about 1,000 square feet or less, all you’ll need to work the soil is a mini-tiller like the Honda FG110 Tiller or Echo TC-210 Tiller. These small tillers are also useful for working in tight spaces around plants in larger gardens.
For a more versatile tool, consider investing in the Stihl MM 55 Yard Boss for your mini-tiller. When you’re done tilling, you also have the option to use it as a lawn aerator, dethatcher, bed edger, trimmer, or bristle brush broom using a variety of available attachments.
Tilling Large Gardens
When you’re working with larger gardens, using a mid-size or a rear-tine model tiller saves time. Mid-size tillers are less expensive and easier to store than rear-tine models, but if your garden is larger than about 10,000 square feet you might want to invest in a large tiller so you can work the garden more easily.
Two of the mid-size tillers offered by Richardson Saw and Lawnmower are the Honda F220 and Honda FC600. The F220 is adjustable for a 12-inch or 21-inch tilling width, making it useful for working a medium-size garden in the spring and also for working in tight places later in the growing season. The FC600 has a 26.4-inch tilling width and tines with a 14-inch diameter so you can use it to work the soil deeply.
For large gardens, you’ll want a rear-tine tiller like the Honda FRC800. It has a 20-inch tilling width and tines with a 12-inch diameter. One of its biggest advantages for a large garden is that this tiller is self-propelled. It has three forward speeds, so you can choose one and walk at a comfortable pace that won’t tire you out as much as working with a smaller tiller.