You really can build a garden anywhere
and if you've got a reasonable amount of sun about six hours a day
You can have a vegie garden even on an old gravel driveway like this.
(MILLIE) Hey Squiddie!
What I want to build today is a no-dig garden
basically you convert all of these waste materials
into a productive garden... in no time
and it's perfect for a really wasted space.
If you've got a bit a lawn that you're not using
maybe a concrete car space that you never park a car on
or like this, a big gravel driveway that's not being used.
I've actually excavated the gravel out of this area to about 200ml which is gonna do two jobs.
One, it's leveling off this gravel on this side,
but two, it's actually going to retain the pile of materials.
But if you didn't have a hole to dig you can always retain them with some bricks,
some logs or even a few bits of timber.
To construct a no-dig garden, all you need is organic matter.
The more diverse the materials the better.
Use things you've already got in the garden and scrounge the rest wherever you can.
I'm actually gonna start this garden bed by using a layer of woody material.
In this case rotten logs and prunings.
It does a couple of things - it'll help with the drainage of the bed
and if you're in a concrete surface, that's really important,
but also rotting timber acts like a sponge.
It soaks up water, nutrients that leach through...
and of course, it harbors all that fantastic fungi
that helps convert those nutrients into stuff the plants can eat.
To create even more of a sponge I'm gonna use this woody mulch as a layer on the bottom
Of course, you should be able to pick this up for free or cheap as wood chips from your local council.
Building a no-dig bed is a lot like building a good compost.
You need a balance of materials, so the carbon and the nitrogen.
The carbon material is the brown stuff, so it's things like the woody mulch,
you've got dried leaves, or even bales of straw and they make up the bulk of the bed.
Add to that your nitrogen - so leafy green material like these lawn clippings..
you got fruit and veg waste, I got that from the local green grocers...
or manures - I'm gonna use some of my chook manure cos that's the best stuff
Newspaper has been in the bottom of the chook coop too, so that's going in
and of course just like building a compost
it's really important that you wet the piles down as you go
because all of the organisms that are going to turn all this good stuff into nutrients for the plants
well they need a drink too.
Keep layering materials into the bed, whatever you can get your hands on.
This layer is going to be some garden waste including some canna stems, old herbs and some oak leaves.
Just in case you're wondering... gum leaves?
You bet you can! Anything organic in moderation.
Just a bit of fruit and veg...
Of course horse poo is something you can pick up for free almost anywhere
but it can contain some weed seeds,
so I'm gonna bury it nice and deep.
It's also mixed with a little bit of sawdust, in this case the bedding material, but that's okay here
it's all gonna break down and make a really rich mix.
As I go, I'm gonna add some of this it's the magic ingredient.
It's just soil - it contains worm eggs, bacteria, fungi
all of the things that I need to get this bed going.
It looks like I can put the water in can away mother nature's gonna do that for me.
As all of this organic matter breaks down, it is quite acidic
so it's a good idea to sprinkle some lime on as you go
or in this case, I've got the next best thing.
It's wood ash from the fire.
It'll help to sweeten the load and get everything working away.
One waste product that I absolutely know you can find are coffee grounds.
I've seen some wicked compost made out of his stuff,
so it's going on the pile.
Continue to add materials
thick layers of brown, followed by thinner layers of green.
Go as high as you like,
remembering it'll rot down by about 50%.
Of course you could let that rot down for a few weeks,
four or six weeks before you started planting,
everything will start mingling together.
But I'm nowhere near that patient and if I can get a crop in I will.
It's way too rich with all of that manure for anything like a root crop or even peas or beans
But I reckon these leafy greens are gonna rocket away.
So that's what I'm gonna plant.
To plant into the no-dig garden
all you need to do is make a little pocket into the leaves
fill it with a handful of compost and put your seedling in.
As time goes on this garden bed will actually get better and better.
As it breaks down you just continue to add layers on top every season.
You don't ever dig
and that's gonna improve the fertility of the soil
and of course the soil structure, which is so important.
This is a great way to use what was a gravel driveway.
It's now a really productive space.
So if you've got a spare spot, why don't give it a go.