If I were breaking new sod for a garden, I'd plow it with my horse in the
winter and again in spring. Lacking a horse, I'd consider using a rototiller but
only to a depth of 4" or so to destroy the growing points of the sod. I
think a tiller churns up the ground too much and destroys its structure.
I've gardened with methods of preparing the ground all the way from a
rear-tine counter rotating rototiller churning the living b'jesus out of the soil to
the no-till (at all) method of just adding compost to the surface. My very
clear conclusion is that a somewhat-till method is best. Now of days I turn the
top 8" or so of each bed with a shovel, just gently turn the soil over a bit,
and then rake the top 2" of that with a rake.
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