Plowing a garden soil: A gardener's handy guide

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As a vegetable garden enthusiast, I know how challenging it can be to grow fruits and vegetables in unsuitable soil. 

Before even starting a vegetable garden, I need to prepare the ground and loosen the soil.

Loosened soil helps the roots grow, allows water to penetrate better, and naturally aids in fertilisation.

On the other hand, I often find myself questioning the environmental impact of digging and wondering how to turn the soil properly to optimise my garden’s growth.

Here is what we gonna talk about today :

Why should I plough the soil?

Why should I turn the soil in my garden? It seems time-consuming and tough on the back!

Ploughing is an age-old technique that makes cultivating and maintaining my vegetable garden easier. It makes sense when I think about it: the soil is aerated, mineralisation speeds up, nitrogen loss is reduced, and loose soil allows roots to thrive more easily.

In short, I’m preparing the soil to welcome my new plants!

However, ploughing is increasingly debated, with some arguing that it might harm the ecosystem’s balance.

In the end, some are for it, and others are against it.

Should I turn the soil? The pros and cons

With our growing scientific knowledge, I’m learning more each day about our ecosystem and how it functions.

It turns out that ploughing the soil is increasingly questioned. Before I dive into how to properly turn my garden’s soil, it’s important to understand both the advantages and disadvantages.

The benefits of ploughing:

The benefits of ploughing are pretty clear: it’s hard to grow plants if the soil isn’t loosened… the roots will struggle to take hold.

The soil is aerated and revitalised, which promotes the creation of essential micro-organisms for my plants’ healthy development. Weeds are eliminated, and I can improve my soil’s fertilisation.

Loosening the soil is therefore crucial for starting a vegetable garden and giving it the best chance of success, but is it truly necessary?

The drawbacks of ploughing:

Loosening the soil is certainly useful, but if it’s done poorly, the consequences for your garden’s ecosystem could be disastrous. Even worse, harmful effects on your crops could emerge, ultimately making the process counterproductive.

Since ploughing occurs at around 20cm deep, all the flora is completely destroyed. Fungi die off, leading to soil acidification, the humus layer is entirely wiped out, and the micro-organisms it contains disappear.

As for the fauna, their habitat is entirely disrupted. This is especially true for worms and earthworms, whose tunnels are essential for maintaining healthy, naturally loosened soil.

Moreover, ploughing increases the risks of soil erosion, groundwater pollution, and encourages the regrowth of weeds.

Conclusion: Avoid turning the soil too often and opt instead for gentle loosening. Turn the soil the first time when you create your vegetable garden, and then use a hoe to simply aerate the surface layer.

Not only will you be doing your soil a favour, but you'll also be supporting the entire ecosystem it hosts.

Which tool should I use to turn my garden soil?

Before getting started with soil work, I need to find the right tool to loosen my soil without disrupting its ecosystem.

Here’s an overview of manual tools and machines for turning the soil, along with their uses.

Manual tools for plowing the soil

Got a small garden? On a tight budget? Not a fan of the smell of petrol? Here are some tools I recommend:

A spade

A digging fork

The louchet: for clay soils

The louchet is similar to a spade, but longer. It serves the same purpose but makes turning heavy, sticky clay soils much easier.

It’s also a great tool if I need to dig deeper into the soil to remove and transplant a plant.

A hoe

The hand cultivator: for weeding

Another essential tool in my kit is the hand cultivator, which allows me to weed before loosening the soil and prevents moss formation. This step is crucial for preparing the soil before turning it.

A broadfork

Machines for easy soil ploughing

Does manual work hurt your back too much? Don't have much time to spend on gardening? Then consider a machine that can turn your garden soil in no time.

The rototiller: for large areas

The rototiller will do the work of all the manual tools in a fraction of the time. Its main job is to plough the soil, meaning it will thoroughly turn the soil along with everything in the ecosystem below!

It’s an effective solution if you have a large area and manually loosening the soil is just too difficult.

However, be aware that with a price tag around £1,000, a rototiller is a significant investment and might not be cost-effective for every gardener.

The cultivator: for surface work

The cultivator is much less powerful than the rototiller because its job is to aerate the surface of the soil. In short, it’s a machine that does the same job as a manual tool, but much faster.

And for those of us who are environmentally conscious, there are electric cultivators available. It’s a worthwhile investment as the price is quite reasonable, with models available for around £150.

Just keep in mind that the cultivator isn’t really suited for large areas.

Now that I know which tools to use, let’s explore how to do it together.

How to loosen garden soil: the guide

If nothing’s growing in your garden, it’s time to properly prepare the ground by loosening the soil.

Here, I’ll explain when to turn your garden soil and how to do it depending on your soil type: hard or clay.

When should I plough the soil?

Ploughing the soil is an art form. 

For example, did you know that it’s not recommended to dig when the soil is too dry, too wet, or when it’s too cold?

That’s why it’s often advised to dig once a year at the end of autumn or the very beginning of winter. The soil is in perfect condition, and all I need to do in spring is a quick pass with a broadfork to ensure a healthy vegetable garden.

If I prefer not to turn the soil completely to avoid disrupting my garden’s ecosystem, I can always opt for regular hoeing. There are two rules I follow to know when to hoe:

• Just before sowing or planting

• Whenever a crust forms or weeds start accumulating.

The goal of hoeing is to make the soil more permeable so that rainwater can reach the deepest roots.

How do I loosen clay soil?

The advantage of clay soil is that it’s easy to work with. All I need is a digging fork or a louchet, and here’s what I do:

• Stand at the far end of my vegetable garden

• Place the tool vertically on the ground and push it in with my foot

• Use my body weight to lift the clod

• Turn it over and break it up with the spade to crumble it.

• Take a step back and repeat

Once I’ve finished one row, I go back to the end of the garden and start the whole process again. 

There’s no need to dig too deep with the spade—the goal is to loosen the soil for aeration.

I also don’t need to turn the soil every year; I can simply loosen it with a broadfork once a year. I do this in autumn when the soil is dry, usually 2-3 days after a rain.

I push the broadfork’s tines halfway in, and if the soil barely sticks to the tines, I know it’s time to start loosening the soil.

How do I dig hard soil?

It’s well known that working the soil is no easy task, but when the soil is hard, I know I’m in for some sore muscles the next day. Sometimes, the soil is so hard that loosening it feels almost impossible.

Here are a few tips to make the job easier:

If the weather is mild, I break the top layer and water the soil for several evenings. I then let it dry for two to three days, or until the broadfork becomes easier to handle.

If I have more time, I can also plant green manure in autumn. Repeating this process every year will improve the quality of the soil, making it much easier to turn when the time comes.

How to dig your garden without getting exhausted

As I mentioned earlier, digging is a tiring task that can strain your back. The trick I use is to rely on my legs as much as possible—not just to push the spade in but also to create a lever effect. This way, I can avoid using my back and keep it straight as an arrow.

But the best tip? Letting someone else handle the tough manual labour... and that’s where Yoojo comes in to help!

Plus, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the prices offered by Yoojo gardeners

Ask for a ploughing service

How much does it cost to have a garden plowed?

As we’ve discussed throughout this article, loosening the soil in your vegetable garden can offer many benefits. However, digging your garden comes with a few challenges:

• It’s very physically demanding

• It takes a lot of time

• The equipment is expensive (especially the machines)

Fortunately, Yoojo has got you covered by selecting the best gardeners near you :

Equipment, experience, client ratings… by clicking on a profile, you can easily see if a gardener is right for you.

Even better, if you want to know how much a ploughing service costs, there is nothing easier:

• post an ad for free on Yoojo
• our algorithm will connect you with the gardener in your area that are competent and available for the job
• the gardeners will give you their prices to do the job you asked for

Then you can decide to book someone or not... you don't pay anything for the matchmaking with Yoojo

Feel free to talk with the gardners too, it's also free :

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