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

[bikermike]

Well, at least you didn't accuse me of floccinaucinihilipilification...


(A real-ish word)

[Mr Bones]

We took on a 500sq metre allotment of bind weed, couch and brambles. Most of it was dug over followed by annual rotovating. Couldn't put sufficient manure back into the ground and before many seasons the soil began to suffer.
Now the plot's in its fourth year of no dig, some beds are under compost while others are under part-rotted wood chips and the soil looks really healthy. There's a high population of worms and other critters, weeding is minimal and watering less frequent.

[treepixie]

Well, at least you didn't accuse me of floccinaucinihilipilification...


(A real-ish word)

Too many big words i had to goggle, but at least I have learnt something

[Chestnut]

Getting back on topic, I mix and match dig and no dig, and everything in between.

The new territories, unearthed from years under multiple layers of thick plastic and carpets, was hard to get the spade into the ground (clay) so I invested �15 in a truckload of farm manure, harvested a couple of dozen barrowloads of fallen leaves from nearby streets, cardboard from a friend moving house, and the contents of two compost bins, and made 3 proper no dig beds. I will find out later this year if they grow good crops ;-)

On the main part of the plot, I dug the whole lot when I started (some with cardboard light suppression for a few months first), and dig when I plant/harvest spuds, as well as on any vacant patch of ground when I need to let off steam...

[Jay-ell]

If you think about it, the first growing season it's whatever you put on top of the cardboard that's the growing medium whilst the cardboard weeds and roots break down.

It's the second season that you would get the nice soil where the roots have broken down but if you've built the bed on grass that's not going to be too deep.

Below that will depend on the crops you grow to push a root down far enough and then leave that root to break down to increase the depth of the good soil. Using a green manure like field beans or fodder radish will give you a mulch for the top of the bed and tap roots that can punch down below.

[SarrissUK]

I went up to my plot after work today, as I was really worried about the handful of tomato plants I'd put in the greenhouse 10 days ago. The greenhouse had been moved a few weeks ago, when the hard ground was so dry it was cracking.

When I planted the tomatoes, I watered them in with lots and lots of water, not just on them, but all around the greenhouse. All internal space had been covered with thick cardboard no more than a couple of weeks earlier, and it has about 6 inches of well rotted horse manure on top.

Still, considering we have had some sun in the last ten days, and the tomatoes are completely out of rain's reach, I was expecting them to be dead. But low and behold, they were absolutely fine, and positively thriving! Goes to show how much moisture no dig holds in. I was very pleased indeed

[Gillykat]

Well, at least you didn't accuse me of floccinaucinihilipilification...

I actually googled that and it DOES have a proper meaning!

For once though I shall go with the 'using lots of words' rather than trying to pronounce that muckle big one!

[Gillykat]

But to get back to the original question......

The chap who had the plot before me had it 15 years and was, according to my neighbour Tony, a double-digger who did it religiously each year.

For the first couple of years I did dig it over - only the once with a fork and removing weeds as I went....did double digging years ago in 1994 when I worked as a gardener and it was a joyless task The past two years have been bad 'uns with me leaving it later and later then getting discouraged at the weeds taking over and the ground being too hard to dig but this year I'm taking it all back under control! This week I've started pulling and clearing weeds and will dig it all over thoroughly so it's completely clear as Neil has decided he IS pulling down the old tunnel beds after all

Once that's done I'm going to try no-dig. Or go with VC's method! Any digging will be from my chickens once I get them

[B Porcupine]

I dug when I first got my garden 18 years ago, as I was told it was necessary to double-dig clay soil. It was very unloved area and it was HARD work. About 4 years ago, I heard about no dig and emptied my compost onto the beds in October. I really thought it would be a waste of the compost, but it has been great - no going out in the icy cold doing back breaking work and my veg have never grown so well.

I can't see that I will ever go back to digging- no advantage for us and no back ache/ blistered hands. And if my compost is not perfect, the worms take care of it over the winter.

Disclosure: I have a large garden and have 5 compost bins and this allows me to do this. I can understand if you don't have enough compost it is difficult. But I have so much waste (garden, paper, grass, kitchen), I am thinking of getting another bin set up...maybe try a Hotbin or a Green Johanna.

[Snoop Puss]

Below that will depend on the crops you grow to push a root down far enough and then leave that root to break down to increase the depth of the good soil. Using a green manure like field beans or fodder radish will give you a mulch for the top of the bed and tap roots that can punch down below.

I've also seen Daikon radish recommended for the same use. I'm hoping to sow some this year, some we'll eat, some I'll just leave to bust open the soil and then rot away and add organic matter well below any depth I'm likely to want to dig down to.

[burnie]

I am a mix and match at the moment, my raised beds are no dig, but my other section, fenced off to keep the rabbits out(and it's worked so far) is still turned over as I am struggling to generate enough compost to do completely no dig, my soil is very light and sandy and there's not many worms in it as yet.

[bikermike]

Do you gain anything by digging sandy soil?

My parents are on very sandy soil (Surrey greensand) and their soil is always very loose and light, whereas clay tends to compact and be really heavy - so I can see the idea of digging clay to break it up/add in organic material through the soil to lighten it. But what do you gain by digging sandy soil?

[Thelma Sanders]

When I lived near the beach, it was best just to leave any compost/manure/cut foliage on the surface. It disappeared into the soil quite quickly, without ever digging it

That's why I think the dig/no dig discussion really just depends on which type of soil you have to start with. You can only try different methods and see what works for you and your soil.

Could be that raised beds would work best, could be deeply composted/mulched no-dig Or could be really claggy soil, which really does respond to deep cultivation, at least to start with, or could be something in between that manages nicely with gentle/little cultivation and moderate additions of compost/natural fertiliser.
Horses for courses I believe

[Teds Mum]

I'm a lazy digger, I only dig when I have to, like when planting potatoes for example. I also like to encourage others to do the digging for me!
I want to be a tidy gardener as my plot neighbour is really good at it and I envy the neat rows of veggies he grows. I've not quite managed to reach his standards yet (sigh)