24th September 2017 - No Dig Gardening

As many of you know I've often talked about no-dig gardening but I don't know that I've ever really explained why I decided to use the method.  Charles Dowding is a pioneer in no-dig gardening and his website is very helpful.

https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/no-dig-growing/why-no-dig/

There were a few things that really struck a chord with me.  First was that building fertility from the top and allowing the worms and bugs to draw it down is more natural than digging it in.  In the woods etc., organic matter always lands on top and is drawn down.  Secondly, I am gardening on clay and need to add plenty of organic matter; after only 2 seasons on this plot my soil is already significantly better and much easier to work.  Finally, whilst I enjoy working at the allotment, I find it very difficult to dig (especially in the clay) for any length of time and so the idea that I might be able to have a very nice plot without the need to dig was very appealing.

I've heard many people say that they can't have no-dig because their plots are full of couch grass, bindweed or horsetail.  When I took my plot it had all three (as well as the usual perennial suspects).  I used a strimmer to get it all cut down to the ground, marked out my beds and began.  I laid a good layer of cardboard at the base of my beds and then filled them with a mix of compost, manure and topsoil.  I did not dig into the beds before I covered them, I did not remove any roots or the top layer of grass.  I simply added on top of it.  In the first season I pulled up any perennial weeds that appeared; including the couch grass, bindweed and horsetail.  All of them poked their way through at some point.  The horsetail was particularly in my rotation beds.  As soon as I saw the slightest tip of it I pulled it up with as long a piece of root as I could manage.  The bindweed was making its way up through the raspberries and again, I just pulled it out as it appeared.  The couch grass appears all over the place and - up it comes!

Now at the end of the 2nd year, I get very little bindweed and horsetail.  The horsetail especially is very leggy and weedy.  I actually haven't seen any bindweed in my raspberries this year but it does appear from next door which is very frustrating.  The couch grass does still appear all over but I don't know if that's coming through from underneath or blowing in from other parts of the site.  

In terms of crops, I'm sure you've seen the photographs in the last few weeks showing my harvests.  I have been so happy, particularly with my root crops.  Interestingly Charles Dowding talks about root crops coming out cleaner and I've certainly seen that both with my carrots and potatoes this year. I mentioned the other week that Beechgrove Garden had done a dig / no-dig comparison and they found that the crops in the no-dig beds were significantly better in terms of yield.

http://www.beechgrove.co.uk/module_uploads/2/Factsheet_2017_-_Prog_18.pdf

Even though the results were extremely compelling, it did appear that George was recommending the no-dig mainly on the basis that if you can't dig any more you should try this.  I hope that my observations (and if you see the results from Beechgrove) that you'll realise that no-dig is better that digging for many many reasons and not just for people who are struggling with digging.