Wow, I never knew that. Thank you!

That's terrific until the plant gets past the compost in the hole and hits the surrounding soil, which may or may not be hospitable.
Here in central NYS we have heavy clay (as do most parts of the south) and without the trusty tiller and loads of compost and gypsum we'd never get great garden results.
I respect and admire the application of non-invasive and non-disturbing practices but it's not always the most practical approach.
Depends on the local soil.

Ben is very sexy.

Agreeing with Veslabeachgirl -- all depends on the soil. If you don't have a local population of worms and beetles and such, compost should be worked into the soil. That's what it's for: adding organic matter to dirt that doesn't have much, if any at all. If you already have nutrient rich soil with lots of critters to aerate and poop for you, then compost is merely fertilizer.

I am get so very very disgusted with Apartment Therapy's un-researched and uninformed "editorials". But here I am, still reading....

This Master Gardener was taught to add compost in a layer over the soil. Delicate microbial relationships are less disturbed and the worms and critters gradually take it down further. If your soil is so bad that you must first amend it by tilling, try to leave it afterwards and allow the soil web to recover by adding it to the surface only.

I have to agree with many of you. If you have hard clay soil, your newly planted plants are going to have a hard time establishing a root system, without tilling and amending it. However, I think this is a great tutorial for established beds. Like Mulchmaid, I usually add compost in layers over the soil. I have never added it as plugs, but it is something to try.

I think the concept of the soil as a web is new to most of us--in the Southwest we used to amend a lot, but the prevailing wisdom nowadays is to plant native plants (surprise surprise) that will readily adapt to existing conditions, without the large hole and considerable amendments. I found this very helpful, since I have compost ready but no garden at the moment and haven't been sure how to handle it.

Not to be negative, Medusa12120, but that simply doesn't work in clay soil. Clay is so packed that the pH won't change anywhere but in the top micro inches of the immediate layer of soil.
Amending and tilling is the only thing that will create a wonderful microbe web. With clay there's virtually no web so creating one is ideal. Adding compost or mulch to the surface thereafter will help sustain the delicate balance.
When tilling and adding compost in heavy clay be sure to add gypsum. This has an effect on the ions and will help keep them from clumping together again.
Creating happy soil conditions is what I did in my landscape garden design business for over 15 years.
Twice a year we added 4" of either compost or finely ground bark mulch as a top dressing, after cultivating the top 4" to break up the crust.
We had a nearly 98% success rate with the plants.

:) thanks! easier way indeed.