To dig or not to dig!

[Aberdeenplotter]

I'd love to let the worms get on with it but unfortunately my plot has the dreaded New Zealand Flatworm

[Snadger]

I'd love to let the worms get on with it but unfortunately my plot has the dreaded New Zealand Flatworm

Well hopefully the NZ winters aren't as bad as ours and they will all be killed off.

Curios............... but if the flatworms have killed off all the roundworms how do the flatworms survive?

[binley100]

Apparently they eat slugs as well and you know you can never kill all the slugs..........( I've been goggling them )

[ilex]

You wanna put the manure under the tarp
Better still, put down a layer of cardboard or whole wet newspapers, then cover with manure. It can all be dug in in the spring

Haha yes I know I wrote that order a little bit wrong! Thinking about it I think the newspaper or cardboard is a better idea, and potentially cheaper

Well as of about 2am this morning my allotment, car and garden is COVERED in snow!!

[Aberdeenplotter]

it seems to be cyclical. The flatworms kill the earthworms and then naturally decline in numbers themselves. To reintroduce earthworms it is recommended to dig in loads and loads of fym

[Snadger]

Apparently they eat slugs as well and you know you can never kill all the slugs..........( I've been goggling them )

Shme there's not a species that ONLY eats slugs and leaves the earthworms alone!
Having said that slugs are part of the natural cycle and help breakdown detritus
Everything has its place in nature and to do away with just one species could have immeasurable consequences!

[gojiberry]

I have read a couple of articles recently that I found more enlightening than the ones advocating either a dig or a no dig. They have put forward the idea that neither one is right and that a middle ground is probably a way forward for most of us. I have a serious problem with mares tail and find that it is almost impossible to eradicate this plant with mulches no matter how thick the mulch, so usually I have to dig once a year just to reduce down the amount of roots in the bed. Out of a bed 6ft wide and 30ft long I will get a least a couple of barrow loads of mares tail roots if I leave the bed for a year in between digs.
On things like raspberry beds I use weed fabric and cardboard but the stuff still grows.

Ian

[Flummery]

I have read a couple of articles recently that I found more enlightening than the ones advocating either a dig or a no dig. They have put forward the idea that neither one is right and that a middle ground is probably a way forward for most of us. I have a serious problem with mares tail and find that it is almost impossible to eradicate this plant with mulches no matter how thick the mulch, so usually I have to dig once a year just to reduce down the amount of roots in the bed. Out of a bed 6ft wide and 30ft long I will get a least a couple of barrow loads of mares tail roots if I leave the bed for a year in between digs.
On things like raspberry beds I use weed fabric and cardboard but the stuff still grows.

Ian

Quite right. I feel in gardening that there are so many 'right ways' to do things that you need to pick the best and most practical for you.