by A W Drake

Created on: March 08, 2009

No matter how experienced you might be as a gardener there will be times on a cold autumn or spring morning when the thought of digging over your vegetable plot deflates your enthusiasm. The expectation of blisters on your hands and those aches that can get into your bones may stop you in your tracks. Not every gardener goes through this rite of passage however; some follow a different path and choose to never dig their garden at all. The name for the technique they use is unsurprisingly known as the no dig method of gardening.

This technique was first explored in the 1930's by Masanobu
Fukuoka in Japan, and later developed in the USA
by Esther Deans. At its most fundamental level the no dig method simply involves not digging over your garden beds and relying instead on organisms within the soil to do the work of cultivating the soil. Manure or compost is added to the bed as mulch at least two or three inches deep and is left to the actions of the worms to incorporate it into the ground. Worms are also left to build up the structure of the soil by naturally aerating and draining it as they tunnel their way through it. By leaving the soil relatively untouched a more natural ecological system is said to develop which in turn allows the correct build up of beneficial organisms.

The process of establishing a no dig bed is straightforward. First collect plenty of old newspapers and cardboard. Clear the bed of any strong perennial weeds and then create an edge to the bed, fitting the newspaper (about eight sheets thick) into this edge. This should be followed by the cardboard. The cardboard is much easier to manage if it is wet, not least because it clings better to the contours of the bed. Now cover the entire bed with the newspaper and cardboard, overlapping it by about ten inches (25 cm). Over all of the newspaper and cardboard add a layer of manure or compost about three inches thick, and leave for about twelve to eighteen months until all of the grass and weeds underneath have died down. This is a long process that requires a lot of patience but the hard work and aching muscles it saves you can more than compensate for this.

Now that the beds have been prepared they should never be walked on to prevent any compaction of the soil. For this reason beds around five feet wide are ideal so all parts can be reached from the sides. During the initial twelve months waiting period the temptation to just plant something in the bed may be gnawing away at you. If you succumb

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