No-dig gardening
No-dig gardening is a non-cultivation method used by some
This technique recognizes that micro- and macro-biotic organisms constitute a "
History
The origins of no-dig gardening are unclear, and may be based on pre-industrial or nineteenth-century farming techniques.
Two pioneers of the method in the twentieth century included F. C. King, Head Gardener at Levens Hall, South Westmorland, in the Lake District of England, who wrote the book "Is Digging Necessary?" in 1946, and a gardener from Middlecliffe in the UK, A. Guest, who in 1948 published the book "Gardening Without Digging". The work of these gardeners was supported by the Good Gardeners Association in the UK.[3] No-dig gardening was also promoted by Australian Esther Deans in the 1970s, and American gardener Ruth Stout advocated a "permanent" garden mulching technique in Gardening Without Work and no-dig methods in the 1950s and 1960s.[5]
Purpose
Historically, the reasons for tilling the soil are to remove weeds, loosen and aerate the soil, and incorporate organic matter such as compost or manure into lower soil layers. In areas with thin soil and high erosion, there is a strong case against digging, which argues that in the long term it can be detrimental to the food web in the fragile topsoil.
While digging is an effective way of removing
Methods
No-dig methods allow nature to carry out cultivation operations. Organic matter such as well rotted manure, compost,
Another no-dig method is sheet mulching wherein a garden area is covered with wetted paper or cardboard, compost and topped off with landscape mulch. This technique is also called lasagna gardening.[8]
A no-dig system is considered easier than digging.[9] It is a long term process, and is reliant upon having plentiful organic matter to provide mulch material. It is also helpful to remove any perennial weed roots from the area beforehand, although their hold can be weakened by applying a light-excluding surface layer such as large sheets of cardboard or several thicknesses of spread out newspaper before adding the compost mulch. The newspaper or cardboard should be thoroughly wet to help it lie flat and keep it from blowing away until the overlying material is added.
Practice
Australia
Esther Deans wrote the books No-Dig Gardening and Leaves of Life. She actively travelled to teach about this gardening method, cooking and promoting raised gardens for those with special needs. She also taught about the necessity to maintain excellent water quality. Deans continued gardening until the age of 95. Around this time, Harper Collins publishers held a special honorary event for her in their Ryde offices, as Esther had become Australia's most published author. As Deans grew older, she was assisted by Lucinda Bartram who helped her carry on the tradition of teaching no-dig gardening methods to others. Between the mid 1990s and 2009 Bartram, from Bondi and then Randwick, helped Deans reach the public and maintained the prolific 'no-dig' flowerbeds kept by Deans around her nursing apartment in the northern Sydney suburb of Waitara. The women shared many years co-teaching 'no-dig' gardening techniques to school children and freely sharing their knowledge together at garden fairs until 2009.
Esther Deans inspired many famous gardeners, including Bill Mollison of the permaculture movement, although she said "it is not quite how I would do it", implying she did not allow nature to take over, but retained formality with strict garden edges and more annuals.
Gardens fashioned on Esther Deans' no dig gardening principles include Randwick Community Organic Garden (RCOG), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
UK
Since 1982 Charles Dowding has been practising no dig in his market gardens, on areas ranging from a quarter to seven acres. He has written eleven books on gardening organically and without digging, and gives regular talks and courses on the subject. His methods centre on using compost as a mulch, rather than unrotted organic matter which tends to accumulate slugs in the damp, British climate. He encourages gardeners to be adaptable in their approach, according to local soil, conditions and crops grown. His own speciality is salad leaves for sale to local outlets and the plants grow well in undisturbed soil.[10]
See also
- Aquaponics
- Broadfork: A tool to aerate the soil without overturning
- No-till farming
- Vegan organic gardening(Veganic gardening)
References
- ^ "Soil Borne Diseases". soilhealth.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ "Michael Rothman, Building Fertile Soil". www.motherearthnews.com. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ a b "A Brief History of No-Dig Gardening Through the Years". empressofdirt.net. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ "Resource: The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming". oceanofpdf.com. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ "Ruth Stouts permanent mulch system". goveganic.net. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
- ^ "Soil Science". soils.usda.gov. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ "Preston Sullivan, NCAT Agriculture Specialist, Sustainable Soil Management". Archived from the original on 2009-03-05. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
- ^ "Gardening: Doing the ground work". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
- ^ Ruth Stout. "Gardening Without Work". www.nortoncreekpress.com. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ "The No Dig Approach". No Dig. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
Bibliography
- King, F. C. (1946). Is Digging Necessary?. New Times. http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/135484
- Guest, A. (1948). Gardening without Digging. Wigfield.
- Deans, Esther (1977). Esther Deans' Gardening Book: Growing Without Digging. Harper & Row.
- Deans, Esther (1994). No-Dig Gardening & Leaves of Life. ISBN 0-7322-7099-5.
- Gillbert, Allan (2003). No-Dig Gardening. ISBN 0-7333-0941-0.
- Stout, Ruth (2011). Gardening Without Work. Norton Creek Press. ISBN 978-0-9819284-6-3.
- Dowding, Charles (2013). Organic Gardening the Natural No Dig Way. Green Books. ISBN 978-0-85784-089-9.
- Dowding, Charles (2014). Veg Journal, Expert No-Dig Advice, Month by Month. Green Books. ISBN 978-0-7112-3526-7.