If you had asked me a few years ago whether you should roto-till or no-till, I wouldn’t have hesitated to tell you no-till is best.
With the leaves falling in my yard, I once wondered whether they would break down. The answer is leaves vary in their ability to break down, from maple leaves that break down quickly to oak leaves, which break down very slowly.
These leaves need soil insects and worms to break down. The slower they break down, the slower they help your soil. Leaves break down slowly because of the additional wax coating on their surface and their thickness.
I saw a video some time ago that was a time-lapse recording of two pictures of a pile of leaves on two different types of soil. One soil sample looked like beige soil throughout and resembled normal used agricultural soil. Our first soil sample had the leaves resting on this beige soil.
The other soil sample looked like rich black garden soil that has been cared for and strengthened. This sample was different: the level closest to the leaves was almost black and got progressively lighter as you moved toward the bottom of the frame.
The soil levels in both frames were about the same height, as were the leaf piles. This time lapse video bothered me.
As the video progressed, you saw little white, darting flashes of light on one side. From what I could see, the flashes of light could be small soil insects that help break down the soil. I even saw what may have been worms working away.
The comparison between the two leaf piles is that the darting white light kept working on one pile throughout the entire time-lapse video, on only one side. The other video showed no activity.
What mattered to me was that the leaf pile on the side with the darting white light melted down to one-fifth the height or less by the end of the video.
What was terrible was that the leaf pile with the beige soil didn’t change. There was no difference between the beginning and ending frames, even though you could tell the day changed between each video. What we’re seeing is that the black, rich soil had life in it, and the other did not.
This is tough for me to admit, but if there is nothing in the soil to help break down the natural organic material you put on the surface, how can you justify putting material that won’t break down in your garden or field?
If the leaves or other material don’t break down, how does any of it benefit your soil?
This should lead to testing the soil to see if there is any life in it.
Dig a hole in the soil for a bowl, with the lip of the bowl level with the ground, you can trap whatever tries to walk across and stumble into the bowl. You will need some rubbing alcohol in the bottom of the bowl.
In the morning, after you place the bowl in the garden and find nothing in it, or very little, the question is whether your soil has any life in it. I’m not so sure one will find anything.
If you don’t find any tiny soil insects in the bottom of your bowl, you should ask whether you should no-till.
Can you help your garden just by putting leaves out? I’m not really convinced that you do help your garden by putting leaves out if you don’t have any life in the soil. This test should wait until next season.
This has been a concern of mine for years. We don’t really know how we affect soils when we put pesticides or salt-like fertilizers on the soil, and we don’t know the ultimate results of our actions.
My question to all is: Are we helping or harming the soil in our gardens when we use traditional gardening products, or does it make any real difference?
If we don’t find any life in our soil, roto-till. Look for a future column that will address how to improve our soil.
Have a good stroll through your garden and enjoy the fruits of your efforts.
If you have any gardening questions, drop me an e-mail at ericlarson546@yahoo.com, and I’ll do my best to help.