Starting no dig method

[Randommoose]

Hi,

I have just recently got an allotment and wondered if anyone could give me advice about starting off the no dig method. The allotment has been cultivated well until this winter.

My allotment seems to have nice soil - it is heavy clay (still wet and sticky with recent floods though). However it is not compacted - if I stand on it, my foot will sink into the ground a few inches. There are a few areas which have previously been pathways which are compacted (soil is much heavier, hard to dig and doesn't sink).



A lot of advice seems to be to start off by digging everything over and then starting mulching etc for no dig. But can I skip the digging? I will be going over the ground with a 3 tine cultivator to rough up the surface and get rid of any capping.

I have worked out where I want beds and am currently edging them. I am being very careful not to stand on those bits of soil. I have 2.5 tons of compost (with more available very cheaply if needed) coming soon. I also have a source of some (maybe not much) cow manure and another for chicken manure and another for leaf mould.

There are very few weeds, no nasty weeds, mainly groundsel and tiny bits of grass. I will be weeding it all.

So can I avoid digging (apart from old paths) provided I roughen the surface?

Thanks,
Moose

[veggiechicken]

I wouldn't dig anything, unless it was to remove weeds or plant - but I'm lazy
If it looks good, and has been cultivated previously I wouldn't bother.
I'm sure others will have a different view though!!

[Maddiesaur]

I've just taken on a plot that has been well worked for, well.. centuries.. bar the last year or two. I've taken on the no dig method AND square foot gardening. Bit of an experimental year.

I am literally not digging anything. Some places will inevitably get a bit of a dig, as borders and edges need cutting in again and so on but that is about it. As the season really kicks in and things start growing, I'll soon see whether or not the ground needs anything special done

[Two_Sheds]

I will be going over the ground with a 3 tine cultivator to rough up the surface and get rid of any capping.

Why do you think it needs roughening?

You are going to expose weed seeds to the light, so they can germinate ~ then you've got a weedy plot again.
I would just start planting (with a trowel) & mulching. Out of interest, how much did all that mulch cost you?

And how big are your beds? Just ensure they aren't so long & wide that you're tempted to short cut around them by walking over them.

[Two_Sheds]

A lot of advice seems to be to start off by digging everything over... can I avoid digging

You need to understand what the digging is for. With a no-dig plot, it's simply done to get rid of perennial weeds (couch grass, bramble, etc) and to loosen any compaction. If you've got out all the perennials, then you have no need to dig the plot over. It's funny how we have all absorbed the information that to be a gardener one must dig.

The compaction is likely to be a "hard pan" under the soil (esp if rotavators have been used relentlessly), not on the surface. Compaction is a different thing to capping (where silt on the surface is made crusty and hard when it rains).

People who love digging do it because they believe it puts air into the soil, which is does, temporarily. No-diggers believe it's better to let the worms do the digging, aerating the soil as they go. Digging destroys worm tunnels

[Randommoose]

Thanks for all the replies!

I don't want to do any digging as I don't want to expose weed seeds or damage the soil structure and there is no remedial digging (perennial weeds, compaction) to do. I was asking as the people at the allotment (even the pro-no-dig one) have said it will need a dig over to 'start off' and to 'loosen' the surface.

In two places there were small standing puddles and the clay surface felt a bit like modelling clay. This is what one person told me would need digging to get rid of. One of those places has now dried up and the ground is starting to have small cracks in (like the rest of the soil), the other place no longer has standing water but is very silty/damp/smooth. You can see it at the bottom of this photo (and yes, I accidently trod on it):


They also said the whole surface of the beds would need digging or roughening up otherwise the nutrients/water/roots wouldn't be able to get through.

VeggieChicken, Maddiesaur and TwoSheds, I far prefer your recommendations! I will not dig it, just remove weeds, cover it with mulch and plant instead. Thank you for helping me out.

And how big are your beds? Just ensure they aren't so long & wide that you're tempted to short cut around them by walking over them.

TwoSheds, beds are four 10m x 1.2m and one 10m x 1.5m (to fit the remaining space). I know that is very long but I may well put a plank path or stepping stones to get over. In the two weeks I have had the plot I have only stepped on the soil twice so far by accident. It will be even easier once I have actual paths in, not just planks to walk on.

how much did all that mulch cost you?

The compost cost £30 for 2.5tons including delivery. It is 3 year old woodchip/leaf/grass etc compost from a friend who is a tree surgeon. Cow, chicken manure and leaf mould would all be free but I need to collect and don't have a trailer so that it more awkward.

The compaction is likely to be a "hard pan" under the soil

Nowhere has felt really hard, just the bit I dug (with a trowel to put edging planks in) where a path used to be was harder than the rest. Could still be dug with a trowel, just took more effort. How do I tell if there is any hard pan?

Thank you so much everyone for the advice and discussion! I'm so grateful to get good information as I don't know very much about all this.
Moose

[Lazgaot]

Thats a good looking plot to start your No Dig. I'm a few years in to my plot now and I would not be digging that plot of yours at all, especially with a rotavator. I'm not even sure edging is worth the effort if I'm totally honest, but I can see the reasoning behind it.

Mark out your paths and beds then clear them of all weeds, looks like you could get away with just a really sharp Dutch hoe. I raised my beds by skimming the surface of the paths and adding this onto the beds, then adding about 3-4" of well rotted compost/manure on to the beds. This raised the level of the beds further and over time they've settled down again. I planted straight into this with a dibber and I just rake and hoe to keep the few weeds seedlings down.

[Kristen]

They also said the whole surface of the beds would need digging or roughening up otherwise the nutrients/water/roots wouldn't be able to get through.

Tosh! particularly if you put a mulch down. If you did absolutely nothing, except just preventing weeds growing (weedkiller or hoeing them off) then the surface would probably become a hard crust, but if you mulch it then the surface is not exposed directly to drying wind and air, moisture will not evaporate as much, as the surface of the soil, rather than the surface of the mulch, will be performing in pretty much ideal conditions. In my opinion

However :

Nowhere has felt really hard, just the bit I dug (with a trowel to put edging planks in) where a path used to be was harder than the rest. Could still be dug with a trowel, just took more effort. How do I tell if there is any hard pan?

It is possible that there is a hard pan lower down. This is more likely on land that has been farmed, where the base of the plough, and the tractor tyres running in the furrow when ploughing, compressed the soil at exact that depth, in exactly that place, year after year. Farmers run devices through their fields periodically to break it up, but I many years ago I moved to a house built on farmland 10 years before I moved in, and take out the top "spit" (spade's depth) and you'd need a pickaxe to get through the pan, even in the middle of winter when the ground was wet & soft, and even 10 years after the land stopped being farmed. plant roots couldn't get through it.

I double dug (two spits deep, not digging it all twice over ) my plot when I started it, to make sure the sub-soil was also broken up, and I haven never dug it since. I think it would be prudent for you to dig a hole, one spade's depth, and then see how hard the soil is under that. if it is nice and soft (probably, given that it has been worked as an allotment for donkey's years) then I'd leave it be and go straight to no-dig. If you have stamina for a one-time starter double-dig then, personally, I think it is worth considering. Getting late in the year to be doing that though, Autumn is better as the land has time to settle and frost to get in and break up the clods (haven't had any frost to speak of this winter, good job you didn't do it last Autumn!!)

I have raised beds on my plot. I never (as in NEVER EVER EVER) walk on them. They are 4' wide (maximum that is easy to reach half-and-half from each side). Now they have nice timber edges and look smart etc., for the first 5 years they were "lazy raised beds" and I just dug out the paths, piled the soil on the beds to raise them a bit, and every year or two picked back up the soil that had slipped down the sides. You do lose some cropping space and you cannot plant right to the edge of the bed if there is nothing to retain that edge, but I didn't find it a big deal - just decided, eventually, that I had enough in the piggy bank to afford the boards

I have heavy clay soil and the raised beds, even by a few inches, improves drainage and makes them much more easy to work, and to get crops planted earlier in the year. It also means that the beds are in a permanent position, so easier to obey Rule #1 - No Walking On The Beds !!

And I do dig them - up to a point. I can't harvest Parsnips without some digging, ditto spuds. But Beans (to take one example) I just cut the tops off, leave the roots behind, mulch in late Autumn with a thick layer of well rotted manure and then plant my Brassica plants direct into that bed the following Spring.

[Two_Sheds]

How do I tell if there is any hard pan?

persistent standing puddles, and stunted plants (if they can't get their roots down far enough).

Follow Kristen's advice & you won't go far wrong

[alldigging]

Dig out dandelions and docks if you feel the urge to dig anything.
Even they'll come out easy enough with some serious mulch over them.

[marchogaeth]

And I do dig them - up to a point. I can't harvest Parsnips without some digging, ditto spuds. But Beans (to take one example) I just cut the tops off, leave the roots behind, mulch in late Autumn with a thick layer of well rotted manure and then plant my Brassica plants direct into that bed the following Spring.

This always bothers me a bit! If I have to do anything like this I try to use a fork on the basis that it is less "smeary" and needs less pressure to get down to the equivalent depth.

I also tend to use small but long handled tools for most of my work in and around the bed for the same reason - less weight-less pressure-less damage.

I also love cardboard as a way of protecting soil from "rain damage". I grew my runner beans through it last year which was really successful - this year I'm going to do them through a green manure. I am going to do my leeks through some surface protection this year - probably cardboard - I just hate looking at their bed after the winter we've had. I am sure it will be fine with a rake but yuck!

What a brilliant thread. I'd ask for it to be stickied but I think there are too many stickies already!

[Kristen]

If I have to do anything like this I try to use a fork on the basis that it is less "smeary" and needs less pressure to get down to the equivalent depth.

For harvesting I use a fork - less chance of slicing through the root / spud than with a spade. For digging I use either - heavy soil here, and in Autumn I just want to turn it to get the frost in, but it is rare for me to dig. Did the herbaceous border last Autumn, once all the annuals / Dahlias etc. were out, as it had got very compacted over the years. Might have rows of raised beds there in future

runner beans ... - this year I'm going to do them through a green manure

Interesting. I wonder if they will compete for moisture? Beans will make their own Nitrogen (as might green manure, depending on what you grow) so I doubt that "food" will be a problem for both crops.

Having said that, lots of people grow Lettuce etc. as a catch-crop at the base of Beans in the early part of their season.

[marchogaeth]

I usually start the beans (lots of things really because it can be so (cold and wet) unpredictable here) in the poly tunnel so they should be quite big when they go out and I can clear an area around their planting hole. I stick borage in the bean bed as an added incentive for bees although it is pretty much growing everywhere in the garden now which is also a sort of advantage of no dig - self sets you want to see!

[Two_Sheds]

Interesting. I wonder if they [beans & green manures] will compete for moisture?

Not so much as you'd think, in fact having a living mulch keeps the soil moist and cool ~ keeping water in the ground instead of evaporating, like it does when the sun hits bare soil.

I leave all my GMs to grow up around & among the crops*, I've never noticed anything failing due to competition.
My best-ever crop of onions was those smothered in a living mulch of chickweed.


* photos in the FB link below

[Kristen]

Had a look at the photos, very interesting thanks. I definitely think if do too much bare-earth-policy hoeing between plants and so on. I mulch heavily in Autumn and plant-through in Spring but by Summer there is soil on show. My Beans particularly, as I don't bother with manure for them.

I read a fascinating, and at the time I expect "controversial", book as a teenager (i.e. A Long Time Ago!) about no-dig / composting where the author moved from composting, once the soil was hale and hearty, to just putting the vegetable waste directly onto the beds. Might still have the book somewhere, I'll have a look, my recollection is that the Author found that there was no Nitrogen debt doing that, and thought that the plants showed better disease resistance and there were fewer pests.

Not seen the abbreviation GM used in that context before - I'm going to nick that!

"Gone over to GM right across the veg plot now, I do think that growing them organically makes all the difference"

My lunch guests will be choking and trying to avoid eating anything - might restrict it to just the ones I don't want to have invite back again!!