What's your style, dig, no dig and why

[mrbadexample]

I am trying to be an ex-digger. An initial dig to create the beds and hopefully no more. We'll see how it goes - I'm not afraid to have a dig if I feel I need to, but I can think of other ways to fill the time.

[Jimny14]

I dug my patch when I created it, skimmer turf, dug trenches for edging and dug out some soil from centre, laid turf grass side down in bottom and placed the removed soil on top. I then used compost left by previous home owner to increase the level in the bed. Since then it's only been dug to plant or harvest crops. I chop off non root crops at soil level and leave roots to rot away (especially beans). I add manure, compost and leaf mould when I have it, I have chosen this method as it is quicker and I get crops from it. My life is busy with work and a toddler so I don't get a huge amount of time to be doing tasks which I enjoy (planting, harvesting, etc) let alone tasks that need doing like mowing and weeding so not digging saves me time.

[Penellype]

I'm a bit of both. At the allotment I have to dig out the horsetail roots unless I want a jungle. The plan is eventually to be able to be no dig there, but that is going to be some time off yet.

At home and at my friend's I have been no dig for several years, and I'm finding it less attractive than it was. The first few years worked very well and it definitely keeps the weeds down and saves work. however I am finding (contrary to what appears to be the general consensus) that the ground is becoming very compacted. I have not walked on it, but its got to the point where attempting to dig a hole big enough to plant a bedding plug plant with a trowel takes considerable effort, and I also noticed last year that the bedding plants were very poor, and when I pulled them up most had not spread their roots into the soil. Therefore this year I have lightly forked over my flower bed before planting the bedding plants, and I am doing the same with compacted areas where I am growing veg.

[Jay-ell]

Whats interesting about no-dig pioneers Ruth Stout and Paul Gautschi is that they developed their methods after they had been digging the garden for years so that when they started their methods the soil had already went through years of tillage.

I'm not sure about the history of CDs market garden - what it was when he took over and if it had been tilled/plowerd/dug before he started with his method.

[treepixie]

I am no dig, mainly because of health issues I am unable to dig, so it’s mulch for me, with what ever I have

[Chippy Minton]

I'm no-dig, because I'm lazy. Why have worms and dig yourself?

However for clarification that's no double digging, just forking over to loosen the soil and hoeing (discovered the joy of hoeing a couple of years ago) to hopefully enhance the incorporation of the compost I spread over the top (not to the CD method either for the same reason as others - I don't have access t those volumes).

[bario1]

Much the same here, I use my culti-weeder to uproot the weeds and break up the surface of my beds before i plant them up, so maybe to a depth of 4-6"? As I don't have access to tons of free manure/compost, i usually add chicken manure pellets at this point to give the fertility a boost. The only areas I properly dig with a fork/spade/pickaxe are previously uncultivated areas, and I'm almost out of those now.

[toomanytommytoes]

No dig, but not using the amounts of compost/manure that Charles does. We only have 10 square metres of growing space, all in raised beds. Half to one inch of spent potting mix or rough, unfinished compost spread on top of 2.5 L of coffee grounds per square metre in the autumn. A thick layer of leaves if we can get them (and preferably not sycamore unless you want to spend Spring pulling out seedlings ). Mulch with grass clippings and comfrey throughout the summer. The occasional top dressing of coffee grounds depending on the crop (don't want lettuce to taste like coffee!). Roots are left in the ground after harvesting.

Don't seem to get many weeds but they are easy to nip out since the soil is so fluffy. The high organic matter content and mulch helps the soil retain much more moisture, so the need for watering is reduced. The composting worms have something to feed on all year round, and their castings are potentially helpful in preventing certain plant diseases.

[bikermike]

I've noticed the compaction issue - it's mainly where I haven't put as much compost as CD suggests down. Plenty of worms in it, so I'm hoping it will correct itself.

Also, marestail means lots of spot-digging (one of the problems with the term "no dig" IMO is that it is far too broad. I take "no dig" to mean "no structural/area digging" - otherwise you end with linguistic tergiversations like "trowelling")

Interestingly, the full-on CD beds I have done have done what is promised in terms of lack of weeds and ease of removing the ones that do appear.

[Bacchus]

I was a digger of a kind (by necessity) but from now on it will be no dig.

As I have a lot of raised beds build on rock they needed to be filled to be useful, ie, disturbed soil for quite a depth - however I'm more of a skimmer and compost dresser than a digger - I normally skim off the top layer of weeds and general detritus and build that back up with compost.. My biggest beef with digging is the weeds. that absolutely love that freshly turned soil to really get going. My common weeds are chickweed, thistles, dandelions, nettles, coutch grass and some sort of flat star shaped weed that grows everywhere. The chickweed (I home that's a common term?) seems to be able to grow about a foot a week - but at least it's easy to pull.

On the lower part of the garden (with soil) I'm planning to trial no-dig once I build up the compost - hence the large composting bins and the lack of cardboard boxes for a 3 mile radius...

[Stan79]

We dug and weeded at the start to clear the area when we setup the plot initially and then rotavated to break the soil up.

Now I just weed, hoe, etc as needed and keep it as simple as possible.

Compost dumped onto the plot in the autumn and loosely raked level. The soil level inside the fenced off plot is now considerably higher than the level outside.

Weed control fabric over the winter until I’m ready to plant in the spring.

Mulch, hoe, hand weed.

Repeat.


I’ve now got a couple of raised beds and can see myself gradually building a few more and filling with home made compost as they do seem pretty productive! (And they’re neat!)

[Snadger]

I've noticed the compaction issue - it's mainly where I haven't put as much compost as CD suggests down. Plenty of worms in it, so I'm hoping it will correct itself.

Also, marestail means lots of spot-digging (one of the problems with the term "no dig" IMO is that it is far too broad. I take "no dig" to mean "no structural/area digging" - otherwise you end with linguistic tergiversations like "trowelling")

Interestingly, the full-on CD beds I have done have done what is promised in terms of lack of weeds and ease of removing the ones that do appear.

"linguistic tergiversations" Flippin eck, have you been using dictionary pages for mulching.

[SelkirkAlex]

I don't dig, these days because I only use raised beds, that were filled with enriched soil some 4 years ago, so effectively virgin beds,bit of hand weeding seems to cope with any invaders I do top with compost/leaf mould every year and use a thing called a weasel, a mini rotavator on a pole that turns the top inch or so of soil, I do this once a year then cover the ground to help prevent wind blown seeds, I used to use that heavy duty woven black synthetic but now use the cardboard mulch sheeting and just plant through it and every year use my weasel to dig in last years mulch along with the compost etc. may seem a bit extreme but I have severe mobility problems as well as being a lazy sod.

[nickdub]

"linguistic tergiversations" Flippin eck, have you been using dictionary pages for mulching.

probably a sesquipedalian :-)

[Snadger]

probably a sesquipedalian :-)

Like it.

It reminds me of the thimble definition. "A diminutive truncated metal cone with a convex apex semi perforated by a plethora of indentations "