Urban/Suburban EcoliteracyRemember…nature bats last.

Are you one of those property owners who tills? Why do you till? More importantly, what do you believe that tillage achieves?

Maybe you think that the soil needs more oxygen. I’ll grant that soil life, including the plants, needs a combination of moisture and oxygen to survive, but soil with good texture already has oxygen in it! Soil that isn’t compacted from constant foot or vehicular traffic is just fine as it is.

Imagine a clear plastic or glass container filled with ball bearings. If you shake that container, the ball bearings will settle into an arrangement that minimizes the spaces between the bearings. This is what soil compaction would look like if you could magnify soil particles. But soil isn’t composed of only one particle size! The magical stuff that is soil is composed of varying particle sizes. If you go back to the image of the container with the ball bearings, now picture those ball bearings mixed in with kumquats, ping pong balls, tennis balls, and the occasional basketball. Those varying particle sizes allow for air and water to infiltrate the soil.

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