|
|
 |
No-Dig Gardening
The idea of no-dig gardening was developed in Japan by natural gardening pioneer Masanobu Fukuoka in the 1930s, and was first introduced to Australia by conservationist Esther Deans in the 1970s. Rather than dig up the soil of your garden to plant your seeds, you put layers of straw or other suitable material down on top of the ground and plant your seeds into that.
Advocates of no-dig gardening argue this is less harmful to the soil. And it has the great attraction of avoiding the back-breaking work involved in digging up soil to plant seeds. The key to success with a no-dig garden is getting a good mixture of nutrients by using good compost, carbon in the straw and manure to add nitrogen. Worms and micro-organisms must also be enticed up from the soil to fertilise and aerate the no-dig layers.
How to create a no-dig garden
Creating a no-dig garden basically involves putting down layers of mulch on the ground. "Mulch" is organic matter - you can use straw, hay, fallen leaves, even old cardboard or newspapers. This is then enriched with manure, compost and organic fertiliser and left for a while to allow worms and other micro-organisms to find their way up from the earth to break it down. You can then plant your seeds directly into what is by now a mound of organic matter.
No-dig garden beds are usually planted in patterns that make it easy to reach everything, such as a horseshoe. You can also edge your no-dig garden by surrounding it with a border of, for instance, bricks or wood or even old tyres. No-dig gardening is sometimes known as “lasagne gardening”, because you build it up layer by layer like a lasagne.
Step-by-step guide
1. Pull out any obvious weeds you can see in the area to be covered.
2. Put down a layer of cardboard and newspaper, and water it to help it decompose. Make sure this layer is quite thick (5mm or so). Overlap the sheets of cardboard or paper well so there are no gaps. This will help starve any weeds remaining in the soil below of sunlight, to kill them off. Avoid using glossy paper.
3. Add layers of mulch, such as straw or lucerne hay. Water each layer lightly to help it rot down.
4. Put some organic fertiliser on each layer of straw or hay. Chicken manure is a good nitrogen-rich fertiliser, as is blood and bones. You can add a small amount of sulphate of potash to provide potassium.
5. Keep checking for any weeds coming through, and pull them out.
6. After laying down three or four layers, cover with some good compost. Plant your seeds into this and water them in. With a new no-dig garden it is better to plant established seedlings and shallow-rooted plants such as lettuce. Once your no-dig garden is established and has broken down completely, you can plant deeper-rooted crops and sow from seeds.
Why is no-dig gardening good for the environment?
It is gentler on the soil than conventional gardening, which over years can drain the earth of nutrients. This is particularly significant in Australia, which typically has poor, thin topsoil lacking nutrients to begin with. The layer of mulch also retains moisture, reducing the amount of water you need to use - again, significant in Australia's drought-prone climate. No-dig gardens are also claimed to be freer of disease and pests.
Why is no-dig gardening good for you?
The most obvious benefit of no-dig gardening is it removes the back-breaking work of digging up the soil. Another is that you create a productive no-dig garden even in areas of very poor, sandy or rocky soil. For that matter, you can lay no-dig garden beds down over lawns, concrete or cement. You could even use it to build a rooftop garden, although you will need to make sure there is correct drainage.
Printer Friendly Version
References
Related Categories
Garden Designer
Garden Maintenance