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To dig or not to dig?

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  • #1

    To dig or not to dig?

    My veg plot is pretty weed free at the minute. Usually i dig it all over with a spade/fork just before i start putting stuff in but i was just wondering, does it really need digging over?

    I wondered if lightly forking in some BFB would be all it needed?
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  • #2
    It's maybe quicker with one of those little tiller things, they bring nice soil to a fine crumb very easily. My OH did a few small beds with one last year for me.
    It's less effort certainly when someone else is doing it for you.

    I've dug a few beds over yesterday - I could have just raked where the plants will be going but I think they benefited from having the soil broken up a bit more.
    On the big beds I go as no dig as possible - especially where potatoes are concerned.

    When I say dug - I mean I use a fork. A spade is a lot more hard work and the fork is easy to use to give the soil a rake with too.
    Last edited by alldigging; 12-03-2016, 09:12 AM.

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    • #3
      A light forking over is all mine ever get nowadays - except for the potato bed. So as the spuds rotate, I guess they get dug every four years or so.

      It works ok here.

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      • #4
        I think it depends on soil type for one thing? My soil is heavy clay and i'll need to keep turning it to expose the saturated layer underneath to the air and sun for it to dry out and crumble. I also like to do it to expose slugs and other grubs that are lurking further down, hopefully they'll get picked off by the birds or killed off by the cold. I'll also turn in some slug pellets and fertilisers if needed and generally turn it to oxygenate the soil.
        Having said all that, if you are confident that are no perennial weeds and the soil is usable then I dont see why not carry on as you mentioned.

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        • #5
          I don't dig unless I need to to get perennial roots or root crops out. I don't walk on my beds at all and I just cover them with a mulch of used compost and plant into that.

          Weed seeds need to be near the surface to germinate. If you dig each year, the ones you dug into the soil in previous years are all brought to the surface where they germinate. You therefore have fewer weeds if you don't dig.

          I've been reading this book Gardening Myths and Misconceptions (Wise Words): Amazon.co.uk: Charles Dowding: 9780857842046: Books in which the author is adamant that digging is unnecessary and possibly even harmful.
          A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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          • #6
            I just give it a little forking before I plant,not brussels sprouts though,they like solid ground! I chop & drop over my beds so that's rotted down now,I only had a couple of weeds the other day. If I disturb the soil now I imagine weeds would take over...
            Location : Essex

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            • #7
              I know this might sound odd, but I actually enjoy digging, but unfortunately my ongoing shoulder problems mean that I'm being forced into using no dig methods this year.
              What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?
              Pumpkin pi.

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              • #8
                My principle is why have worms and dig yourself. Others call it lazy, but I can't be bothered to argue...

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                • #9
                  I would actually walk all over the brassica sections and flatten them down before planting. Fluffy brassica beds are what cause most of the bolting and wind rock associated with this genus.
                  I never dig the brassica beds just a quick hand weed and rake.
                  My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
                  to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

                  Diversify & prosper


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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Snadger View Post
                    I never dig the brassica beds just a quick hand weed and rake.
                    Got arrested for that

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                    • #11
                      I dont dig nowadays, just hoe the top, I once heard a man giving a talk about gardening where he said all the microbes etc. that plants require for growing are in the top four inches of the soil, so if you turn over your soil it takes time for them to re-establish, which is a good reason for not digging, but when I was fit and able I enjoyed digging, and that how you should go, do what You want.
                      it may be a struggle to reach the top, but once your over the hill your problems start.

                      Member of the Nutters Club but I think I am just there to make up the numbers

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                      • #12
                        I'm another none digger, the most my beds get is a hoe over around 3"-4" deep.
                        sigpic“Gorillas are very intelligent, but they don't have to be as delicate as chimps -- they can just smash open the termite nest,”
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                        • #13
                          I dug the entire plot when I first got it, but since then I'm a minimum digger, I just use a fork to get rid of weeds. This means I mostly only disturb the top few inches although I have to go deeper to get docks and dandelions out. Also the soil gets disturbed fairly deeply when growing potatoes.

                          But because I don't walk on the beds I don't need to do proper digging. The worms can take the mulch down for me.
                          My gardening blog: In Spades, last update 30th April 2018.
                          Chrysanthemum notes page here.

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                          • #14
                            The only time I dig is to get potatoes, parsnips or JA's out of the ground it does make life easier
                            Location....East Midlands.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Penellype View Post

                              I've been reading this book Gardening Myths and Misconceptions (Wise Words): Amazon.co.uk: Charles Dowding: 9780857842046: Books in which the author is adamant that digging is unnecessary and possibly even harmful.
                              I went to a talk he gave several years ago - brilliant! Really informative.

                              No dig here, unless the OH uses the rotavator which is generally used on cleared ground that the chickens have compacted.
                              OH digs my spuds out
                              Last edited by Scarlet; 13-03-2016, 09:47 AM.

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