Using a 3-prong tiller on heavy clay soil…

[Rhys]

Charles

I’ve been following your advice on hoeing/raking as a means of creating a tilth, but where I’ve not grown potatoes the London clay soil is still fairly compact and less amenable to spring hoeing/raking to date.

Would a gentle manual use of a 3-prong tiller do damage to the soil structure, or will this help to create a finer topsoil tilth until a few years of no-dig and composting have brought the soil into good heart?

[charles]

Hard to say Rhys without seeing the soil but if you put compost on last year I am surprised the surface is now hard clay? There is no rush to make a tilth and it looks like many frosts over the coming month so that will help loosen the surface.

[Rhys]

Maybe I’m just being impatient in wanting to prepare beds early….a fork goes into full depth without needing to use your foot, so the overall structure is OK, but hoeing doesn’t yet allow the usual surface tilth to be ruffled.

Could just be that the ground is still fairly wet – compost was put down prior to planting out leeks, corn and swede between end of May – mid June, but none was put down in autumn as the composting operation was not yet generating stuff all year round – I now have quite a bit ready to apply this spring, so I will be putting stuff down before planting out the spinach, pea shoots and turnip tops.

Where I had the potatoes last year, everything already hoes and rakes beautifully, even if the soil is still quite damp.

[charles]

I have not touched most of my beds yet, no rush, just waiting until I see weeds germinating!

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