Soggy, uneven beds that didn't get dug before winter... dig them now?

[dilettante]

Hi all. This is my first season on my first allotment, and I had been of a mind to get plenty of cardboard and compost and do no dig on the weediest of beds, which were also the most uneven. It's not really feasible now for me to buy as much compost as that will require this year, so I need to dig them and sort them out, however they are in part of my plot that is just refusing to dry out. I tried today to just remove the parts of the bed that were highest, and driest, but I've made a right mess of it and now I have a sort of mini mountain terrain. I need to dig and rake the whole thing, but it's just too wet. I should have dug it over in late autumn as was suggested, specifically because of the waterlogging, but noooooo. I wanted to do no dig.

Some of my other beds, are lovely, flat, and relatively weed free, just wet beneath the surface.

Is it worth digging, if I've got no OM to add, and considering that frosts might be very rare, as we've not had many round here this winter anyway, any clumps may not get broken down?

I'm trying to lay things out with slightly mounded beds 3-4 foot across, and paths between, so that I won't be treading on the beds anyway. Do you think I can get away with not digging the rest of the plot this season at this point, and adding compost on top as a mulch later in the year? I was thinking maybe if I used the largest of the undug beds for brassicas, they would appreciate the firm soil, and I can top dress them to make sure they're well fed.

Admittedly this is a plan partially aimed at reducing the need to dig in horrible wet clay, but does it sound viable?

[lolie]

What brown stuff do you have access to? Shredded cardboard? Paper? Dry glass clippings?

A garden bed itself is pretty much a giant compost heap. Brown stuff still soak up a lot of the moisture and should help with improving the clay overall.

Coconut coir is another thing which will both soak up moisture and improve the structure of your soil. It's usually extremely cheap compared to compost and you can plant straight into it.

If it were me, I'd continue layering. You're going to have to feed anyway so worry more about stuff which will help with drainage and soil structure than anything else.

[muddled]

I think you should stay off of the claggy wet beds completely for now.
If one bed is pretty reasonable, start there.
By the time that one is all sorted, another one might have dried off a bit.
Mucking about with wet clay is miserable work and it makes the soil structure even worse.

No-one gets their whole allotment sorted in their first season...well, except snadger, but he's got super powers and masochistic tendencies....and many who try to do too much too soon get overwhelmed and give up altogether.

So give yourself and your allotment time to get in the swing of things.
Use the time to find your local stables and see if they'll give free, well rotted manure.
Two or three days with a strong easterly wind can really dry out a bed so have a little patience; stay off the wet clay.

[WendyC]

It will dry out. With unworked clay you need to keep an eye on it, before it dries to concrete! When that perfect moment comes it will break up beautifully. I would then cover it to stop it becoming concrete.

[bario1]

I think if it is prone to waterlogging and full of perennial weeds, it's worth spending some time and energy preparing it properly before going no-dig. You need to open up the structure once it's workable, and maybe sort out any drainage issues by digging trenches etc. Get the worst of the weeds/roots out now, otherwise they'll continue to spread under your mulch.