There is some good sense beyond the modern push toward no-till gardening methods.
One of the best arguments I’ve found is that no-till gardening and farming doesn’t disturb the soil ecosystem.
You may not think of a patch of ground as a huge web of living creatures, but it is. And those creatures do a lot of hard work, all day, day and night.
Check out this time-lapse video showing how soil fauna break down fallen leaves:
Impressive, isn’t it?
When you rototill an area, you kill off a lot of the useful creatures in the soil, both macroscopic and microscopic.
On a forest floor or a healthy patch of prairie, these creatures break down debris and turn it into the soil, bringing plants the good stuff they need to thrive.
Read More: “Improve Soil Fertility With Autumn’s Gift”
One of the reasons I don’t use pesticides and herbicides (with the exception of the occasional nicotine spray to kill pesky cucumber beetles) is because I do not want to kill soil life.
Just because you can’t see what’s happening beneath your feet doesn’t mean you should ignore it.
Tread lightly and nature will do a lot of good work for your garden. Most bugs and worms are not our enemies.
*h/t PermieFlix for finding this video.
David The Good is a Grow Network Change Maker, a gardening expert, and the author of five books you can find on Amazon: Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting, Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening, Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening, Create Your Own Florida Food Forest, and Push the Zone: The Good Guide to Growing Tropical Plants Beyond the Tropics. Find fresh gardening inspiration at his website TheSurvivalGardener.com and be sure to follow his popular YouTube channel.
COMMENTS(4)
Very interesting, and really confirmed my suspicion and feeling that gathering leaves and hauling them away for the sake of a pretty lawn isn’t necessarily the right or brightest thing to do. Hauling them to a garden area, however, might just be the bees’ knees!
Still learning. Thanks.
David this is mind blowing. Many years ago when I used to work for municipal parks we would compost leaves and it seemed to take forever compared to grass.
Have you ever tried shredding the leaves to compare the time scale ?
warmest regards Paul B – UK
Loved this. Great video. Mesmerizing. Before I was an aggressive composter, I never raked up my leaves. They were always gone by time to mow in spring, and the yard was healthier for it.
Hi is this the same principle for a backyard compost bin? Do you think its better not to turn the contents with a compost turner?