What Do Lawn Tillers Do?

Spreading Organic Matter

• Organic matter, like old leaves, compost and other raw materials, infuses soil with minerals and nutrients. Lawn tillers make quick work of spreading it throughout a garden. Cover crops, which also improve soil quality, can also be seeded with a tiller as it blankets the seeds in a layer of soil, working them into the garden bed with little effort. Tillers also blend batches of compost quickly, stirring everything together into a mass of nutrient-rich, natural fertilizer.

Seedbed Prep

• Even the heartiest of seeds need a well-prepared bed to grow in, and lawn tillers help make a patch of land ready for planting. Running a tiller over a plot of soil helps break up dirt clods, giving the soil a loosely packed texture ideal for seeds. A tiller will also slice through bits of vegetation in the ground, like old roots, to further improve soil texture, according to Louisiana State University. It may take several goes with a tiller for ideal results.

Weeding

• Pulling up weeds one-by-one is hard work, but a lawn tiller can remove unwanted gardens guests quickly and easily. Some tillers benefit from specially designed attachments that allow them to rip weeds from the ground more effectively and small-sized tillers are ideal for use in gardens, where they can slip into nooks and crannies and along narrow borders. When using a tiller to weed, exercise caution to avoid uprooting wanted plants and flowers.

Making Raised Beds

• Instead of wasting time and effort with hand-held garden tools, use a lawn tiller to quickly make raised garden beds. Small tillers can be used to created raised beds, according to Blue Grass Gardens, and larger ones, outfitted with a middlebuster attachment, will also take care of the job. The middlebuster creates a furrow and can be swept over the area a couple more times to make raised beds, which can then be leveled and sprinkled with seeds.