The topic for discussion in our Over The Garden Fence column in the December issue of the magazine is no-dig gardening.
Have you tried this technique? If so we would welcome your views as to whether you think it is better for the soil and your crops as claimed. Or perhaps you found that it simply allowed weeds to get out of hand and made it difficult to incorporate manure and produce a good seed bed.
Is it a great way to save your back or perhaps you enjoy digging and find it relaxing and winter digging is something you actually look forward to?
We'd be grateful as always for your views and will publish as many of them as possible in the December issue of KG.
I don't winter dig ( my late husband loved winter digging) my soil is so light and sandy there is no need for it, in the spring I put homemade compost and BFB on the ground and dig it in just before planting.
That suits me my poor old back complains, I get decent results on most of the crops a few failures. Bren
i have always dug all our vegetable plots. The main reason is that I just love digging, so soothing and so satisfying to see the finished bed! Also, as I usually sow green manure in late summer, this needs digging in, in any case. Our beds are larger than can be used from the paths, so we do walk on them to harvest, hoe and tidy - another reason for digging them up at the end of the season.
Can't get the material for twenty rod worth of ground, especially now that due to Aminopyralid I can't trust any source of horse manure which is pretty much all that's available in my area. Plus the slugs would adore it.
Do not put off thanking people when they have helped you, as they may not be there to thank later.
I started my present veg. garden from scratch five years ago and dug it over initially to get rid of as many stones and perennial weeds as I could. I've been no-dig for the last two years and it works fine for me but I do make a lot of compost and have access to seaweed, both of which are spread generously. Weeds are not a problem if you don't disturb the soil and plant your crops close enough to suppress any weed growth. For this reason a lot of my patch is block planted rather than in rows
I sow very little direct into the ground, most plants being raised in modules so they have a good root ball when they go out.
I think if you go down the no-dig/no tread route you have to ditch quite a few old ideas about how things should be grown. A few neighbours in the village are a bit puzzled by the way I do things but the results speak for themselves.
Interestingly I don't have much trouble with the common garden pests either.
I can't comment on whether it's changed my yields or weed levels. However I've been no dig for a few years.
It was visiting Charles Dowding's market garden that convinced me that digging isn't essential for good results. I'm nowhere near matching his results though!!
See here for his website and here for his excellent book on the subject
I'm a digger. I find it the simplest way to control weeds. My heavy clay allotment has weeds which I could not otherwise control. I also find that both my homemade compost and bought in manure are so full of weed seeds that spreading it on the top as a mulch is a recipe for disaster. I like the aeration, and deeper soil improvement through digging.
Having said all that, I have a plot which was half overgrown, and half used as a turning spot for cars until 3 years ago when I got it. And where I dumped the spent compost from the greenhouse in a heap and left it overwinter, I was pleasantly surprised how improved the soil was. So I would not dismiss a reduced digging approach if and when I have the plot in better condition !
I do very little digging now. I mulch all crops well when planted as much as I can. The soil gets turned over and any perenial weeds dealt with when I take crops out and in the Autumn I cover as much as I can with rotted compost/manure. In the Spring it only needs a light rake over for planting and seed sowing.
I dig. My soil is fairly light but tends to have a hard pan just over a spade depth down. So with more than five feet of annual rainfall I think it is important to lower the water table. I usually dig in the Spring, breaking up the second spit with a fork and adding compost. My compost is rarely the text book quality so I think it is better buried. I always dig for Potatoes, Beans, Peas, Courgettes and Squashes. Never for Brassicas or Onions. Other areas depend on what I think the soil is like and how much compost I have left. Digging is not that hard if you use the correct technique - digging at right angles to the row. When this subject comes up I usually say digging and ploughing were invented by subsistence farmers when they had plenty of other things to do with their time. If it didn't work they wouldn't have done it. It works so stick at it, no-dig is just cashing in on previous good work.
If it didn't work they wouldn't have done it. It works so stick at it, no-dig is just cashing in on previous good work.
I don't think anyone's suggesting that digging doesn't work, just that it isn't as necessary as some people imagine. And saying that digging is not that hard is not much help to me as I have a partially fused spine, two herniated lumbar discs and arthritis in my hips so I'll stick with a no-dig approach.
Like everything in gardening I don't think there is any right or wrong way to dig or not. I think you have to listen to all sides and then at the end of the day decided what will work best for you. And what better place to find as many sides to the story than TKG.
I don't dig, I have raised beds with sloping sides and I cover the beds with a layer of home made compost topped with a thick natural mulch, usually straw, dried weeds that have not seeded, and plant residue after harvesting. I leave roots in the soil to add nutrition, decompose naturally and open drainage channels. I avoid walking on the beds to avoid compaction of the soil. In my experience this method has many advantages.... 1 Helps moderate the soil temperature 2 Enhances the growth of fruit and vegetables which I usually plant in modules of home made compost, but I sometimes seed by moving the mulch and then replacing around the seedlings as they grow 3 Retains moisture during dry weather, reducing the need for watering. 4 Reduces excessive weed growth, any that do make it through the mulch pull out very easily. 5 dried weeds can be add to mulch if not seeding saving a trip to the compost bin 6 Natural mulches improve the structure of the soil, and prevent erosion and leaching during very wet spells. 7 As mulch decays it is taken in by the worms and becomes topsoil adding depth to the soil. 8 Worms love it and come right up to the surface to feed on the mulch aerating the soil for me, 9 ground nesting bees and garden spiders etc are not disturbed so it helps conserve beneficial insects. 10 ploughing and digging releases carbon into the atmosphere, no dig and mulch sequesters more carbon into the soil. 11 Many plants benefit from a symbiotic relationship with a fungi network which gives them greater access to various nutrients and the water in the soil in exchange for carbohydrates the plant gets from the sun. No dig allows this symbiotic relationship to flourish, it is destroyed by digging. 12 Not digging and not using chemicals allows the soil foodweb to function naturally and achieve balance as it does in woodland and forest 13 This method is easier on the back and is less work enabling me to continue gardening well past retirement age quite happily without strain.
Sit down before a fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconcieved notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing. By Thomas Huxley http://www.wildrye.info/reserve/
