Things everyone with a no-dig garden should know
So, you've finally gotten some gardening advice from Rural Sprout and are putting that hoe or rototiller down for a nap. What now? Your questioning and calculating mind may be wondering when do I sow the seeds and how I plant them. In the mulch, on top of the soil, in the soil, where? What about irrigation? Why are the weeds still coming? Let me tell you right here and now that the first season of no-dig gardening can be very difficult. It's not just the physical challenges you have to face when starting a garden, it's also the mental ones.
Although no-dig gardens are becoming more popular, they still face resistance in society because people don't see enough examples of them working.
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1. No-dig gardening is easier than conventional gardening.
If you've ever moved heavy clay soil, whether it's dry or wet, you know that digging can be backbreaking work. Now imagine that patch is a garden-sized plot. How many hours will it take to break the soil in a garden 20 x 33 feet (6 x 10 meters)? Rather than putting down hay or straw, that's for sure. It is unnecessary to use cardboard, newspaper, or any other weed barrier to start a no-dig garden.
But that's just the beginning. As you dig the soil in your garden each year, the biodiversity decreases, but the amount of hours you dig remains the same. Once a no-dig garden is established, it becomes easier and easier to manage. Often all you need to do is add another layer of mulch to keep weeds at bay, creating more soil as you grow. It sounds too good to be true. You need to understand that the key to all of this is mulch.
2. Mulch is essential.
What Kind of Mulch Can You Use in a No-Dig Garden?
Hay, straw, leaves, leaf mold, compost, well-rotted compost, seaweed, and grass clippings immediately come to mind. If you have access to any or all of these, you're well on your way to creating an amazing garden.
Some mulches have more benefits than others, but I would like to add that the most effective mulches are readily available. In our garden, hay is very valuable because the land grows here in the mountains. Not only does it cost extra money to bring hay from far away, but it can also bring some non-natural ingredients into our organic garden. Something to keep in mind when using hay in your garden, especially if you use hay bales to grow food.
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3. Some vegetables grow better than others in a no-dig garden.
Over time, you'll find that some vegetables grow better than others in your no-dig garden. You'll notice that some grow well in a certain area of the garden and less than five feet away. I think every garden is the same. A lot depends on the quality of your soil. In the case of no-dig gardening, your soil should improve on its own each year with little input on your part. Like I said, no-dig gardening is easier and easier. By mid-summer, you can spend a couple of hours a week doing light garden maintenance, pruning plants, light weeding (mulch is not ideal) and watering during droughts.
I've read before that parsnips, carrots and other root vegetables grow beautifully in a no-dig garden, including heavy clay soil. In our garden, this is not true. They are very difficult things to grow.
4. A no-dig garden allows for perennials.
Now that you've stopped digging your garden, you can treat it as land that doesn't need to be disturbed. This is great news for many years!
Garden-wise, you can have dedicated beds where annuals, biennials, and perennials all share the same space. It provides a kind of permanence that gives your garden character throughout the year.
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5. Weeds come and go.
You might mistakenly think that a no-dig garden is weed-free. I'm afraid weeds will always find a way through the mulch, improperly composted manure, compost, or soil. Weed seeds are able to survive for long periods of time because they remain dormant in the soil for years.
The best way to deal with this is to know your weeds. Find out what is growing in your garden and determine if they are edible weeds. If they are, there's no reason why they can't coexist with your garden vegetables. In fact, our garden plays host to more beneficial insects than one might think; Given the worldwide decline of insects, their own flowers are not ready for us to pluck from them. If you think of your garden as an ark or haven for wildlife, leave as many wild plants as possible for insects and bees. Many of them are edible or medicinal.
6. Don't start big.
Just because a no-dig garden looks easy to manage doesn't mean it doesn't require any work. And the bigger the garden, the more likely you are to fail, especially when it feels overwhelming at once. A no-dig garden can start at any size, really. Add some mulch, pull it back to plant a zucchini seed, and there you have the smallest and most productive garden you can imagine. If you're really ambitious, it could fill up half your backyard, especially when you're looking for a home-cooked meal.
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