I just started using using no dig last year, and so far I love it! I live in a dry desert area, where we rely on irrigation to water our crops. The wood chips hold the moisture so well and really keep down about 90 percent of the weeds! So much less work, and my plants love it, too!
How long in advance should I put down the cardboard/compost/mulch before the growing season? How long does the cardboard take to decompose? We still have snow covered grounds here and I still have to take a lawn mower to the ground before I can add the cardboard. So I'm wondering if I will have time this year or if I have to wait until next year?
No dig is superb. It’s all about good compost. I’ve a few videos on my channel showing some of my no dig beds and how and what I compost. Usually I hot compost but not always.
I like this an do not till or dig much. What is your system of not to dig a carrot bed? My experience is that carrot seed needs very fine soil to germinate = who do you prep the soil?
I started using the no dig method this Winter, it was too time consuming trying to build my raised beds the “traditional” way especially with all of the overgrown weeds that I inherited on my plot. I use layers of cardboard, leaves, manure, garden compost and regular compost
Love the video and the information that you have given. I am do a no dig garden this year for the first time. I have heard many good things about it and watch a couple of youtube vidoes on it. From what I have seen it makes a lot of sense to do it this way. Hoping for a great organic harvest in the fall.
Tried this a few years ago. It worked fairly well the first year. Then Horsetail rush, Comfrey and varmints like gophers and moles moved in. Nothing kills Horsetail and it grows up penetrating through about anything I could put down as a weed barrier. Comfrey's just about as bad. The moles were worse as they were attracted to my rich soil and heavy crop of earthworms. I eventually had to switch to a modified boxed raised bed system with heavy metal grid under it. I was working harder keeping the no dig system going than I had with tilling and turning the soil. If you don't have the pests then this system is awesome. Not so much where you do.
When I harvest my veggies the roots usually don't all come out. I have had such a thick bed of roots I had a noticeably smaller crop the following season. What do you do about roots that compact the soil and affect the next planting of veggies?
I live in the Pacific Northwest and want to do no-till gardening. Out here we have giant slugs, little slugs, and invasive species of grey snails. Mulching is an attractant for all those slimy vegetable loving critters. To make no-till work requires mulching. How can I address these issues?? By the way, I do raise a few ducks and they do help some with the sluggers.
I have problems with fire ants (Coastal North Carolina) invading my raised beds, even though I put cardboard, then landscape fabric down inside my beds before filling them with soil and compost. I don't want to use chemical controls, but I'm thinking I should treat new areas of my yard with fire ant poison first, let them die off, then move my beds to those new areas. Might this work? (Of course, the ants just move underground and new hills pop up elsewhere in the yard.) Any suggestions would be be appreciated!
If you are interested in the no dig approach, be sure to check out the excellent videos by Charles Dowding. I discovered then by accident, but they are wonderful! He also has some great books.
I have a small suburban plot. The hay mulch I put down seems to attract squirrels and racoons who like to dig around in it, making it nearly impossible to plant anything. Part of my yard was turned into a racoon latrine, creating the danger of roundworms.
I stumbled upon this method kind of by accident in 2000! In 1999, I had tried to create a garden by tilling and the weeds came with a vengeance. That fall, I smothered all the weeds with cardboard and then because I thought the cardboard looked untidy, I covered the cardboard with a thick layer of wood chips. In the Spring of 2000, I was shocked to discover that the cardboard had rotted and there was a nice layer of rich soil under the thinning layer of wood chips. Weeds came out so easily. So, I started just adding more mulch every year.
I’ve been using the Back to Eden method & love it! Love the effects on my plants as well as on the environment- above and below. Plus, the need to water is pretty much non existent:) I have a question for everyone though – I’ve noticed my yard is full of underground action – moles or voles…. is there any correlation???
Thanks for that! I just put a raised garden bed in and we put horse manure in the bottom and veggie soil on top dad said should we mix it in but I said no and I had a feeling I was going to regret it but no it worked out perfectly I also mulched the top with sugar cane mulch.
hi love the video, i'm just starting out. can I use bracken to mulch, does it need to be green bracken or old winter bracken, did I read somewhere that it's dangerous to inhale the spores. our local saw mill has wood chip but some weeks it's from oak and others it's from pine, are they both o.k. to use round plants. thanks for any comments
I’m going on my third year of using the back to eden method. The soil gets looser and the weeds come up easier. The plants look better each year and I water a lot less.
I've been no-till for over a decade. The only drawback I've encountered is the slug population! The straw & leaf mulch seems to provide an ideal breeding ground for them. Any suggestions as to how to control these free-loading pests?
Love your videos! Ideally the first layer of woodchips/mulch must be half-rotted, and not fresh, to mimic the Back To Eden gardening method. It's great that you did mention not to mix the layers of soil, compost and mulch. Sometimes failures arise from mixing the half-rotted mulch with the other layers. Thank you!
No-till is great, but it's only fair to mention the drawbacks. It means constantly getting mulch to cover the ground with, which (depending on your local resources) will probably cost more money than a spade. It likely means frequent drives to pick up mulches (with all the fuel consumption/cost/pollution that involves), and is less practical for a large garden or a farm than mechanized tilling. Finally, the constantly increasing ground level can change water run-off. No-till is best for small gardens that have free mulch available nearby.
Last year I put down cardboard and mulched with wheat straw but I am confused on what to do this year. do I just repeat the process over top of last years or what? Thank you for any advice.
I do 'no till' with a modified system of Hugelkultur in my 3 ft tall raised beds. I have enough beds so that I only have to disturb the soil on 5 year rotations.
Thanks for sharing the video! We are in a very cold climate; growing Zone 2. I have used cardboard covering thin layer of manure over lawn, covered with wood chips and plant through to the soil below for perennial crops. This is very effective! We also use black plastic for the annual crops, planting seeds or seedlings through small holes in the black plastic. The black plastic sheeting heats up the beds, keeps moisture in, and acts like a barrier to most slugs and pests. I get super growth from the vegetables this way! We lift the black plastic annually in the fall to use a broadfork, not to turn soil but to aerate, then add a thin layer of manure, and replace the black plastic. It is a very simple and effective method, for a cold climate, and far less labour then roto-tilling or spading the garden in our heavy clay soil which is what I used to do.
I have used no-dig for some years and I am a keen follower of Charles Dowding. I was told many years ago that double digging was invented by head gardeners to keep journeymen busy in the Winter – sorry if I have quoted this before but it is a favourite of mine. I plot extends to 1.25 acres but most of it is covered by brambles, bracken and birch trees. I am in the fortunate position of being able to produce about 20 cubic yards of compost each year – the bracken being a major contributor. I also shred a lot of paper and branches etc. which all make a contribution.
"Mother Nature" DOES use tillers! Animals. Duh. ?? That being said, tilling every year is terrible for soil health definitely. This is exactly how I garden. Thx for the vid!
Well since you asked I will share. But first I want to thank you for your video they are wonderful. I got tired of tilling a few years ago. Where I now live I came up with this system and to me it works beautifully. I made a raised bed about six with a few smaller ones. Since we have clay here I planted all my vining plants like Luffa sponges in pots and lined them up along my fence. Got bumper crops. Now for the raised beds: After putting in quality compost I lined the walkways with lots of free chips I put over heavy plastic so I didn't have weeds.. I had the best crop this year. The chips break down all winter and some look like soil already. Just before the season I scrape the chips and tossed them in the raised beds or in the new ones. This year I was lucky to find free 6 bales of hay I will disperse on top to give a good layer. Thank you for removing the guilt I feel for not turning over the soil.
Nicely done and well explained. I use the Square Foot Gardening method which incorporates similar principles. I will share this link with all my gardening friends!
I heard this video 'No dig gardening' with interest and would like to try it in my established garden which has lots of rhododendrons and other shrubs that have surface feeding roots. I am advised not to cover the earth around these shrubs so how do I use 'no dig' method by spreading organic matter without smothering surface feeders??
Believe it or not, I just continually throw all my uncut vegan kitchen scraps, shredded paper and organic matter into the compost of 40 cm black containers and allow the worms to drag it all down under the surface as nature takes its course. I plant directly into the soil.
I'd be interested to hear about issues with voles (and slugs, as well as other pests), which seems to be my only complaint with my no-till garden. It seems there is a network of tunnels under my garden beds that I am not aware of until I happen across it sowing seeds or harvesting roots.
I just started using using no dig last year, and so far I love it! I live in a dry desert area, where we rely on irrigation to water our crops. The wood chips hold the moisture so well and really keep down about 90 percent of the weeds! So much less work, and my plants love it, too!
How long in advance should I put down the cardboard/compost/mulch before the growing season? How long does the cardboard take to decompose? We still have snow covered grounds here and I still have to take a lawn mower to the ground before I can add the cardboard. So I'm wondering if I will have time this year or if I have to wait until next year?
No dig is superb. It’s all about good compost. I’ve a few videos on my channel showing some of my no dig beds and how and what I compost. Usually I hot compost but not always.
charles dowding is a god at no dig
What time of year do you do this?
Fantastic video, wonderful information. I use BTE, chop n drop, square foot, and poly-culture.
I like this an do not till or dig much. What is your system of not to dig a carrot bed? My experience is that carrot seed needs very fine soil to germinate = who do you prep the soil?
I started using the no dig method this Winter, it was too time consuming trying to build my raised beds the “traditional” way especially with all of the overgrown weeds that I inherited on my plot. I use layers of cardboard, leaves, manure, garden compost and regular compost
I love You!
Love the video and the information that you have given. I am do a no dig garden this year for the first time. I have heard many good things about it and watch a couple of youtube vidoes on it. From what I have seen it makes a lot of sense to do it this way. Hoping for a great organic harvest in the fall.
Tried this a few years ago. It worked fairly well the first year. Then Horsetail rush, Comfrey and varmints like gophers and moles moved in. Nothing kills Horsetail and it grows up penetrating through about anything I could put down as a weed barrier. Comfrey's just about as bad. The moles were worse as they were attracted to my rich soil and heavy crop of earthworms. I eventually had to switch to a modified boxed raised bed system with heavy metal grid under it. I was working harder keeping the no dig system going than I had with tilling and turning the soil. If you don't have the pests then this system is awesome. Not so much where you do.
Stopped tilling in Spring and saw my first earthworm in the garden the next year. There were never any before.
Beautiful video. There should be more of these essentials for us who still learn and wish to start.
When I harvest my veggies the roots usually don't all come out. I have had such a thick bed of roots I had a noticeably smaller crop the following season. What do you do about roots that compact the soil and affect the next planting of veggies?
I live in the Pacific Northwest and want to do no-till gardening. Out here we have giant slugs, little slugs, and invasive species of grey snails. Mulching is an attractant for all those slimy vegetable loving critters. To make no-till work requires mulching. How can I address these issues?? By the way, I do raise a few ducks and they do help some with the sluggers.
I think, straw instead of hay. Unless you want the seeds in hay to germinate.
I have problems with fire ants (Coastal North Carolina) invading my raised beds, even though I put cardboard, then landscape fabric down inside my beds before filling them with soil and compost. I don't want to use chemical controls, but I'm thinking I should treat new areas of my yard with fire ant poison first, let them die off, then move my beds to those new areas. Might this work? (Of course, the ants just move underground and new hills pop up elsewhere in the yard.) Any suggestions would be be appreciated!
If you are interested in the no dig approach, be sure to check out the excellent videos by Charles Dowding. I discovered then by accident, but they are wonderful! He also has some great books.
I have a small suburban plot. The hay mulch I put down seems to attract squirrels and racoons who like to dig around in it, making it nearly impossible to plant anything. Part of my yard was turned into a racoon latrine, creating the danger of roundworms.
I stumbled upon this method kind of by accident in 2000! In 1999, I had tried to create a garden by tilling and the weeds came with a vengeance. That fall, I smothered all the weeds with cardboard and then because I thought the cardboard looked untidy, I covered the cardboard with a thick layer of wood chips. In the Spring of 2000, I was shocked to discover that the cardboard had rotted and there was a nice layer of rich soil under the thinning layer of wood chips. Weeds came out so easily. So, I started just adding more mulch every year.
Haven't dug a garden for 40years I just spread seaweed ,manure and used compost with a little fish blood and bone
I’ve been using the Back to Eden method & love it! Love the effects on my plants as well as on the environment- above and below. Plus, the need to water is pretty much non existent:)
I have a question for everyone though – I’ve noticed my yard is full of underground action – moles or voles…. is there any correlation???
Thanks for that! I just put a raised garden bed in and we put horse manure in the bottom and veggie soil on top dad said should we mix it in but I said no and I had a feeling I was going to regret it but no it worked out perfectly I also mulched the top with sugar cane mulch.
hi love the video, i'm just starting out. can I use bracken to mulch, does it need to be green bracken or old winter bracken, did I read somewhere that it's dangerous to inhale the spores. our local saw mill has wood chip but some weeks it's from oak and others it's from pine, are they both o.k. to use round plants. thanks for any comments
I’m going on my third year of using the back to eden method. The soil gets looser and the weeds come up easier. The plants look better each year and I water a lot less.
I've been no-till for over a decade. The only drawback I've encountered is the slug population! The straw & leaf mulch seems to provide an ideal breeding ground for them. Any suggestions as to how to control these free-loading pests?
Great video as always. 🙂
In fact I would say its the best video on No-Dig Ive seen, right to the point.
Love your videos! Ideally the first layer of woodchips/mulch must be half-rotted, and not fresh, to mimic the Back To Eden gardening method. It's great that you did mention not to mix the layers of soil, compost and mulch. Sometimes failures arise from mixing the half-rotted mulch with the other layers. Thank you!
Sometimes, grubs and cutting worms are attracted to the mulch!
No-till is great, but it's only fair to mention the drawbacks. It means constantly getting mulch to cover the ground with, which (depending on your local resources) will probably cost more money than a spade. It likely means frequent drives to pick up mulches (with all the fuel consumption/cost/pollution that involves), and is less practical for a large garden or a farm than mechanized tilling. Finally, the constantly increasing ground level can change water run-off. No-till is best for small gardens that have free mulch available nearby.
Last year I put down cardboard and mulched with wheat straw but I am confused on what to do this year. do I just repeat the process over top of last years or what? Thank you for any advice.
I do 'no till' with a modified system of Hugelkultur in my 3 ft tall raised beds. I have enough beds so that I only have to disturb the soil on 5 year rotations.
Thanks for sharing the video! We are in a very cold climate; growing Zone 2.
I have used cardboard covering thin layer of manure over lawn, covered with wood chips and plant through to the soil below for perennial crops. This is very effective!
We also use black plastic for the annual crops, planting seeds or seedlings through small holes in the black plastic. The black plastic sheeting heats up the beds, keeps moisture in, and acts like a barrier to most slugs and pests. I get super growth from the vegetables this way! We lift the black plastic annually in the fall to use a broadfork, not to turn soil but to aerate, then add a thin layer of manure, and replace the black plastic. It is a very simple and effective method, for a cold climate, and far less labour then roto-tilling or spading the garden in our heavy clay soil which is what I used to do.
I have used no-dig for some years and I am a keen follower of Charles Dowding. I was told many years ago that double digging was invented by head gardeners to keep journeymen busy in the Winter – sorry if I have quoted this before but it is a favourite of mine. I plot extends to 1.25 acres but most of it is covered by brambles, bracken and birch trees. I am in the fortunate position of being able to produce about 20 cubic yards of compost each year – the bracken being a major contributor. I also shred a lot of paper and branches etc. which all make a contribution.
??
Thank you for saving me a few hundred dollars I had planned to spend on a tiller.
"Mother Nature" DOES use tillers! Animals. Duh. ?? That being said, tilling every year is terrible for soil health definitely. This is exactly how I garden. Thx for the vid!
Well since you asked I will share. But first I want to thank you for your video they are wonderful. I got tired of tilling a few years ago. Where I now live I came up with this system and to me it works beautifully. I made a raised bed about six with a few smaller ones. Since we have clay here I planted all my vining plants like Luffa sponges in pots and lined them up along my fence. Got bumper crops. Now for the raised beds: After putting in quality compost I lined the walkways with lots of free chips I put over heavy plastic so I didn't have weeds.. I had the best crop this year. The chips break down all winter and some look like soil already. Just before the season I scrape the chips and tossed them in the raised beds or in the new ones. This year I was lucky to find free 6 bales of hay I will disperse on top to give a good layer. Thank you for removing the guilt I feel for not turning over the soil.
Nicely done and well explained. I use the Square Foot Gardening method which incorporates similar principles. I will share this link with all my gardening friends!
I heard this video 'No dig gardening' with interest and would like to try it in my established garden which has lots of rhododendrons and other shrubs that have surface feeding roots. I am advised not to cover the earth around these shrubs so how do I use 'no dig' method by spreading organic matter without smothering surface feeders??
Believe it or not, I just continually throw all my uncut vegan kitchen scraps, shredded paper and organic matter into the compost of 40 cm black containers and allow the worms to drag it all down under the surface as nature takes its course. I plant directly into the soil.
But isn't necessary to do it at least once?
finally a nodig approach in GrowVeg! Great vid guys!
I'd be interested to hear about issues with voles (and slugs, as well as other pests), which seems to be my only complaint with my no-till garden. It seems there is a network of tunnels under my garden beds that I am not aware of until I happen across it sowing seeds or harvesting roots.