Tilling the garden at the end of the year.

Question

My dad has always tilled the garden at the end of the growing season, and therefore I have as well. But today I want to ask this group a simple question, is there really a benefit to tilling at the end of the season?

Answer 1

If what's been growing and will be growing again next year are vegetable crops, then yes, there's an advantage, but only if you live somewhere with frosty winters. Turning the soil over in Fall and leaving it in clods on the surface over winter means the frost and cold will break them down, so by spring, the soil is loose and friable, and thus easier for planting.

If you mean the soil is tilled around permanent amenity plants like ornamental shrubs, perennials and the like, no, it's not useful - it's unnecessary because it disrupts and destroys the soil, along with the ecosystem of fungal mycorrhizae and microscopic life forms within it which are essential to plant health.