What Is Tilling Turf?

Definition

• Tilling is a simple process. Practically speaking, it is the growth of new shoots from a single parent stem. It is a process of “branching” out from a single stem, with more shoots coming from it as the light and soil composition allows. It is a sign that the soil is healthy, the grass is getting enough light and there is sufficient moisture in the air to permit the process to continue.

Elements

• Tilling turf can refer to the sort of soil needed for healthy tilling -- essentially grass “reproduction.” The soil basically requires moisture and nitrates. Nitrate levels govern how much of the other needed elements, like potassium, are required. Healthy nitrate levels -- levels differ for different types of grass and locations -- minimize the need for other minerals. Potassium levels, for example, can be low with good nitrate levels. Without good nitrates, potassium levels will not matter.

Light

• The grass itself requires light and moisture. Most grasses do best with the redder light at the end of the day, and this is when a disproportionate amount of tilling occurs. Even a small amount of shading during the day will harm the amount of natural tilling the grass will accomplish. Therefore, grass, in the summer, in the open under the sun, tills the fastest and the best. If the grass gets high and begins to shade its parent stems, tilling will gradually lessen. This is a sort of natural equilibrium as grass grows and thickens.

  Regardless of the grass or the nature of the soil, light governs the level, speed and intensity of the tilling process. Low light, or a light that is shaded some of the time, can encourage a more horizontal tilling, where the grass grows closer to the soil. The more intense the light, the more vertical it grows.

Temperature

• Temperatures are of varied importance. Different types of grasses respond to cooler temperatures hovering around 70, while certain grasses, especially in the American South, till at their normal rate only when temperatures move into the 90s, with substantial air moisture moving into the 60 and 70 percent range.