- No-dig is the single biggest revolution
in recent gardening history and in this video,
I wanna give you a concise but informative snapshot
into this incredible growing technique.
The goal of no-dig is simple
and that's to disturb the soil in the least possible way.
This means no forks
unless you're really trying to get out a massive parsnip.
Whoa!
And also no spades.
Instead of digging or mixing organic matter into the soil,
it is simply laid over the top.
Popular gardening no-dig techniques include:
Ruth Stout's hay mulch,
Paul Gautschi's Back to Eden method,
and of course, the compost method of no-dig,
which from my research was initially pioneered
by F. C. King, author of Gardening with Compost in 1944,
and also Albert Guest,
author of Gardening Without Digging in 1948.
However, Charles Dowding is the most recent pioneer
and thanks to his work, the popularity of no-dig compost
has surged into the gardening mainstream.
For wetter climates like here in the UK,
compost is the go-to medium of choice
because things like hay mulch are definitely a slug magnet.
But that being said,
I haven't actually had any serious slug problems
or issues with wood chip, but that is for another video.
The goal is to annually apply
an approximately three-centimetre layer of compost
over the surface of raised beds.
Some gardeners do a little less, others do a little more.
Now the usual times for doing this
is kind of mid-to-late autumn
when much of the garden is starting to empty.
Also, kind of a month before the start
of the growing season.
And if you can't do that,
you can actually apply it any time when most convenient.
There's a huge range of benefits when it comes to no-dig
and one of the best ones of course is time saving
because all you're doing
is spreading organic material over the surface.
And because you're building up layers of organic matter,
you're also helping to improve drought resilience
by capturing more water and reducing evaporation.
The huge benefit of no-dig
is a great reduction in weed numbers.
If you ever see a weed,
you can either just pull it out there and then,
or very lightly hoe the surface of the soil,
being careful to not go too deep.
And honestly, the lack of weeds alone
makes no-dig worth it for me.
No-dig also leads to cleaner harvests
which is a real blessing
'cause you're not having to spend ages
scrubbing off mud-coated carrots or other root vegetables.
No-dig allows you to maintain a really good soil structure
and by doing this, you're allowing the microbes and fungi
to do what they do best, which is decomposition
and making nutrients plant-available.
I will do
a Soil Health Explained in Five Minutes later in autumn,
but what will say
is that plant roots actually have a limited surface area
in which they can uptake and absorb nutrients.
Many of the nutrients in the soil are not plant-available,
so bacteria actually help the digestive function of plants
by surrounding their roots
and then breaking down larger molecules
into smaller molecules
that the plants can then uptake and absorb.
For many plants,
fungi offer the opportunity to extend their root system
and fungi do this by sending out their hyphi
into much smaller gaps in the soil
to reach nutrients and water
that plant roots are simply big to reach.
And so fungi form a mutually-beneficial relationship
with plant roots where a nutrient trade exchange happens.
And what plants do
is they actually send out simple sugars from photosynthesis
and other root exudates out into the soil,
both to trade with fungi but also with bacteria
because bacteria, their main food source are simple sugars.
So you can see that plant health
is synonymous with soil health.
By not digging, you're allowing plants and soil life
to work together in harmony.
But as soon as you damage the soil
from digging or forking it,
suddenly, this collaboration falls apart
and plants suddenly become a lot more reliant
on things like' fertilizers, excessive amounts of compost,
and then things like pesticides.
The other thing about no-dig
is that you're allowing
all the tunnels created by earthworms to stay intact,
and these tunnels provide a great passageway
for water and oxygen,
but also for fungal hyphi and plant roots to travel down
and make the most of all of the nutrient-rich castings
left behind by these great little guys.
As with everything, there's always going to be downsides
and the biggest downside for no-dig is that first year
just because you'll need extra amount of composted material.
So for these new beds, we used a 10-centimetre layer,
when they were brand new,
of compost, which is a more premium product
than something like manure
which you can dig or fork in over winter.
If you're wanting to transition your beds into no-dig,
the first year,
you'll need around a five-to-seven-centimetre layer.
That being said, once the no-dig beds have been established,
it's a myth that no-dig requires more compost
than traditional methods.
Very often, it's the same amount.
In some cases, it's actually less compost needed.
And I think we have to be honest here.
Whether we're digging or not digging,
it's really hard to make enough compost
without having to bring in external supplies.
I do think the true potential of no-dig
has yet been realized.
For example, I think that there's a big future
and a big space for wood chip to play an essential role
in the future of no-dig here in the UK.
And the other thing is I think we should experiment more
with applying two smaller applications a year,
rather than one bigger application in one go.
And the other great thing about no-dig
is you can supplement it with other methods
that promote plant and soil health.
For example, chop and drop, Korean Natural Farming,
and also green manures that can be hoed off.
And if you wanna find out more about this,
then watch this video here
about why I'm moving beyond no-dig vegetable gardening.