No-Till Gardening: 4 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Started

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Instead of relying on tilling or plowing, a no-till gardening approach encourages beneficial soil life to take up residence and improve your soil’s tilth and fertility. Feed the fungi, microbes, worms, and other decomposers with layers of compost and natural mulch instead of disturbing their habitat, and they’ll do a lot of that heavy work for you.

I could nerd out about soil biology and the complex science behind no-till methods all day long. Since I’ve been gardening with this approach, though, I’ve also learned some more practical lessons about what can go wrong and how to make a no-till system run smoothly.

These four things aren’t discussed nearly as much as the neat soil science part of it. But had I known them from the beginning, it would’ve saved me a heck of a lot of trouble!

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1. That Lawn Will Come Back if Not Removed

Many of you folks will probably be starting from a grass lawn when converting part of the yard into an in-ground garden space. If you think maintaining nice-looking grass is a lot of work, just wait until you try to get rid of it!

I’ve seen the suggestion tossed around that you can just cover the proposed no-till garden space with compost and mulch, and it’ll smother out the grass. This is what the grass wants you to think. Don’t be fooled.

Since we moved the garden to the homeplace, we’ve been gradually expanding it and adding new beds and spaces each fall. Most of those are hügelkultur and in-ground no-till beds we’ve built up with compost and deep mulching. We removed as much grass and thatch as we could from those, since we discovered with our first no-till garden that grass doesn’t give a hoot about mulch.

In addition to those no-till beds, we also added three fairly shallow raised beds for certain root veggies and other things that don’t perform their best in our clay-heavy native soil. We thought we could get by without ripping up the grass underneath the raised beds. Surely a layer of cardboard followed by ten inches of soil and compost would smother it, right?    

Not a chance. Of all the problematic weeds we deal with in our homeplace garden, “zombie grass” constantly popping up in the raised beds is one of the most annoying. If I don’t stay on top of it, it’ll take a whole bed over within a few weeks during rainy spells. I’d say I’ve probably yanked three wheelbarrows full of grass out of those raised beds, just this season.   

We’ve also had grass grow back through a double layer of cardboard and a six-inch layer of woodchip mulch. I’ve heard other no-till gardeners say they had it grow back through TWELVE inches of mulch. It probably depends on the type of grass you have, but I wouldn’t take chances!

The Solution: Yank the Grass

To prevent a nonstop battle with grass, it pays to do the extra work and pull the grass out by the roots when you first start your garden. We use a garden claw hand cultivator to twist it loose one clump at a time. Removing all the thatch and loosening any compacted topsoil a few inches down also helps the organic matter you’ll put down start to work faster.

Sometimes, removing all the grass and roots can create a bit of a “sink” in your garden area, since some soil will inevitably come out with it. If you’d rather not buy enough compost to fill it in, you can put some of the grass clumps back with the roots facing up. Then, make sure it’s well-covered with your compost/mulch layers. The grass and roots should decompose. We’ve done this without any problems, but some kinds of grass might re-grow anyway.

I won’t sugarcoat it: removing grass like this is a big job, but it’s a one-time job. The easiest way to get it done without wearing yourself out is to do it a little at a time. Mark off your proposed garden spot and remove the grass section by section, as you have the time and energy. Grass will pull a lot easier when the ground is good and damp, so wait until after you’ve had some decent rain.

If you really don’t want to take the hands on approach to ripping the grass out, you can try using solarization to kill it at the roots. To solarize, you’ll place some silage tarps or plastic sheeting (like plastic painter’s drop cloths) over the grass for a few weeks during the hottest part of the year. Grass is highly resilient, though, so I’ve always hesitated to try this method.   

If you’re in my situation and you’ve already got a grass problem in an existing garden spot, don’t let it get ahead of you. It’s a lot harder to remove if you let the little sprigs turn into big, deep-rooted clumps, and it can quickly become overwhelming. Getting out there often and pulling new shoots as they pop up beats spending hours removing stubborn thickets.

Dealing With Spreading Grasses

Some kinds of grass may spread by sending out runners or stolons, such as the infamous Bermuda grass. That means it can easily creep back into your garden from the edges even if you’ve completely removed it from the plot.

If you have a creeping type of grass in your lawn, you’ll probably need to establish a firm boundary to keep it out. I’ve heard that some folks have luck digging a small (~6 inches deep and wide) trench around the garden and filling it with gravel. This is another one of those cases in which some one-time tough labor beats having a continual problem to deal with.

2. Invading Roots Can Be a Surprisingly Big Problem

Our previous garden was sort of on a plateau at the top of a sloping pasture, without any trees or larger shrubs nearby. However, the newer garden at the homeplace is situated above a bank that has a wild little hedge growing on it. We didn’t clear the hedge because it prevents erosion and gives us some privacy from the main highway that runs past the property.

The second year of gardening at the homeplace, we had a mystery issue with our spring cabbages planted at the edge of the garden. The cabbage seedlings on one side of the bed quickly grew to twice the size of those in the row beside it (the ones closest to the hedge) even though they were all transplanted at the same time.  

The stunted cabbages never took off, even with extra fish emulsion fertilizer. Eventually, I dug one up to see if we had a root pest. Instead of a root pest, though, I found….roots. Not cabbage roots. Turns out, the roots from the hedge were infiltrating the garden and stealing resources from our cabbages.

When we first prepped the garden beds, we’d loosened the first several inches of hard clay soil in that area, and that dense network of roots I found wasn’t there! It was wild to me that they decided to spread that far to access that rich compost and regular moisture in our garden soil.

Most roots don’t spread five or six feet and establish a new area in one season, which is why they aren’t much of a problem if you till regularly. Our no-till methods allowed them to get a sneaky foothold over a couple years, though. Thankfully, the cabbages were the canary in the coal mine, so we were aware of the problem before planting a bunch of summer crops in the other beds bordering that side of the fence.

The Solution: Locate the Garden Away from Trees/Shrubs or Install a Root Barrier

If you’re still in the process of picking out a site for a new garden, it’s much easier to put it thirty feet or so away from the closest hedge or wood line to avoid invading roots.

At our place, the spot we chose above the hedge was the only flat, sunny spot that was big enough for our garden plans. If you’re in the same pinch, all hope is not lost. Just know roots will come surprising distances to reach nutrients and water in the garden, so you’ll need a plan to keep them out.  

We dug a trench a little over a foot deep between the fence and the garden beds, cutting through all the roots that were already there. Then, we buried some strips of old roofing tin we had in the trenches to block them from coming back. How long will the tin keep the roots out? Time will tell.

Depending on what kind of roots you’re dealing with, your barrier may need to be deeper. You’ll be able to see how deep the root zone goes when you start digging. You can also buy root barrier material specifically designed for this purpose.

Another option is to simply re-dig the trench to cut the roots back once per year. It probably gets easier once you’ve dug it the first time. I really don’t like piling more repeat chores onto my schedule, though! 

3. Heavy Mulch Delays Soil Warming in Spring

If you get hot weather, heavy rains, lots of snow, or all of the above, keeping the ground covered is a must in a no-till system. That’s especially the case if you leave the garden empty over winter. Mulch prevents the soil from compacting in the elements, retains moisture, and regulates soil temperature to keep both plants’ roots and soil organisms healthy. It also adds nutrients and organic matter to the soil as it breaks down.

We’re trying to recreate nature with no-till methods, and fertile soil in the wild is never left bare. Without either mulch or a cover crop, a fallow (empty) garden spot will compact and get invaded by weeds in no time flat.

The first year we did a no-till strategy, we prepared the beds in the fall with compost and heavy mulch. Come early May, and we couldn’t figure out why our warm-seasons seedlings got the worst case of transplant shock ever. Our peppers, squash, and cucumbers turned yellow, the tomato seedlings turned completely purple, and all refused to grow for over two weeks.

We’d been having warm weather during the last half of April (highs pushing 80 F). From prior experience, the soil should’ve been plenty warm enough to plant. When we did some reading on it, we learned that mulch can significantly delay soil warming. The insulation it provides is a benefit during hot weather, but it can work against you in early spring.

The Solution: Pull it Back or Plant Later

To keep the mulch from blocking heat, you can temporarily rake it back a couple weeks before you want to plant so the sun and ambient warmth can soak into the soil.

If your growing season allows for it, you can also just delay planting for an extra week or two. Warmer days will eventually raise the soil temperature under the mulch; it just takes a bit longer.

We’ve learned it’s best not to get in a hurry to plant our summer crops, anyway. Our mountainous area is prone to erratic late frosts, so we now wait until after the wild blackberries finish blooming to plant cold-sensitive veggies. According to old-fashioned wisdom, their blooming period, called “blackberry winter,” is often accompanied by a late-season frost or cold snap.  

Regardless of how you address the mulch issue, it pays to check the soil temperature with a soil or kitchen thermometer before planting any sensitive transplants. For heat-loving crops like tomatoes, peppers, and squash, anything below 60 F will cause trouble.

4. Aerating the Soil is Important

Highly compacted soil, like the clay that’s underneath many of our lawns in the eastern US, will take a while to get better if all you’re doing is putting organic matter on the surface. It’ll take years for any of the good stuff to make its way beneath the first hard layer.

If you’re starting a new garden on hard, compacted ground, both some shallow cultivating and deep aeration before you put down your amendments will really speed up the time it takes to see the payoff from no-till methods.

Shallow Cultivating

Breaking up the top layer of compacted soil with a hand cultivator will give your compost and other amendments some traction and allow things to mix up a bit. Otherwise, most of your worms, microbes, and other decomposers will just hang out in that nice layer of organic matter you put down, instead of working on the problem area.

You don’t need to turn the soil deeply; we aim for just the top several inches beneath the grass and thatch.

Some no-till folks will say you’re not really no-till, if you break the soil to start with. I don’t listen to this type of sentiment. No-till is a mindset when it comes to soil management, not a rulebook. I’m more interested in growing food than having the bragging rights that I’ve never touched my soil with a digging tool.

Deep Aerating

In addition to shallow cultivating, we’ve learned that some deeper aeration does a lot for soil structure. Deep aerating without plowing or tilling involves making small, deep holes in the compacted zone. The holes allow moisture, organic matter, and beneficial soil life to work their way into the hard layers more quickly.  

The soil in my general area is basically impenetrable a few inches down beneath the thatch layer. I’ve tried aerating new garden beds with a digging fork (essentially a heavy-duty pitchfork) and couldn’t get the tines in more than an inch with all my weight on the thing.

Right around the time we started the new garden at the homeplace, I heard tale of how helpful broadforks were for no-till soil improvement. I was skeptical it’d be any different than the other tools I’d tried to stab that soil with, but I was intrigued enough I ordered one.

Turns out, the broadfork magic is REAL. The super sharp, flat tines pierce easily into very hard soil without much effort. Using the broadfork, I can aerate one of our approximately 4 x 12 garden beds in about three minutes flat! If you’re dealing with hard, clay-heavy soil in your garden spot, a broadfork does wonders for loosening the soil with minimal disturbance to friendly soil life and soil stability.

Aerating Soil with a Broadfork

To aerate and loosen soil with a broadfork, all you need to do it step on the bar and use your weight to push the tines down into the soil. Then, you can rock it back and forth a bit to widen the aeration holes. It doesn’t take much force. I’m not very heavy, and I don’t have any trouble working with it even in parts of our highly-compacted ground I haven’t cultivated before.  

We use the broadfork on all our beds in fall and spring to freshen them up and loosen any compaction that may have happened during the growing season or over winter.

That’s a wrap, for now, but I’m sure I’ll find some more things to add to this list before long. To read more about getting started with a no-till system, see these posts:

Gardening in Heavy Clay: How a No-Till Strategy Can Transform Tough Soil

The Truth About No-Till Gardening: What Every Beginner Should Know

5 No-Till Gardening Strategies to Try (+ Tips to Make No-Till Work for You)

Turning a Neglected Lawn Into a Productive Garden With No-Till Methods