i have read in books and on this message board not to till or work wet soil...but why is that?

Nature has built-in processes that reduces soil compaction, including cycles of wetting and drying, freezing and thawing, as well as plant growth and microbial activity.

Tilling on wet soils, eliminating perennial crops from crop rotations, and using heavy equipment contribute to more extensive and deeper compaction of the soil.

If you till the soil, vary tillage depth to minimize the development of a "tillage pan" or compacted zone where the tillage implement shears the soil. Till deeper in dry years when soil fracturing is greatest. Keep tillage shallow in wet years to avoid formation of a deep tillage pan. Shallow pans can be easily fractured with tillage when the soil is dry.

But the absolute best way is to not till at all, and use deep layers of organic matter, 4-6", and let the worms and soil critters do the work for you.

thank you so much...i had no clue about the "tillage pan"...this is the very reason why i really love the message board here!!!

You don't till wet clay soils because that increases the "lock" the clay particles have on each other making the soil even harder to work. Something called aglomaration. Tilling sandy soils wet does little to change the characteristics.
What Sweetpea is talking about is "plow sole".


Message was edited by: KimmSr

"Agglomeration" is a word that means massing things together. When used in the context of soil, it means compaction. It's one of two issues when dealing with tilling wet soil.