One of the original champion of no barb gardening , Charles Dowding is a British nurseryman who started inquire questions and leaning into organic grow practice decade ago . After gardening for many years , trialing novel method on several different farms and listen to the ground and plants , he ’s become the world ’s leadingno digexpert .
The goal of no dig gardening , according to Charles , is to “ mimic nature by touch the territory as little as possible . We can attempt to duplicate nature ’s summons by adding organic issue to the top layer of the soil . ” Bascially , you add mulch to the ground surface to feed the soil spirit without disturbing the territory deeper down , just like a forest floor .
For most northern gardener , compostis a great selection . Leaf mold and straw can work , too , as long as the ground is n’t too wet and inviting slugs to the garden . Charles reminds us to always “ watch what is happening in your garden because each space is dissimilar . ”
Michelle meeting with Charles Dowding this summer.
“ When we incline to the land living by continue them well fed with organic matter to decompose , and impart their home ( the soil ) alone , the grunge microorganisms flourish , ” order Charles . They stay nearby and form more robust connections , in the end being more available to form new relationship with the plant we grow .
So , while we are n’t digging the soil itself , our practice session give much deeper than a spade ever could . As I ’ve show and practiced no digging with direction from Charles , I ’ve found it ’s a mode to tend the territory and permit its tiny inhabitants do their jobs . When we pore on feed the soil and not the plant , we cease up act upon with nature alternatively of against it .
One of Charles ’ main point is that “ gardening the no jab way is simple and well-to-do because nature has already figured it out for you . I reckon the big issuing in favour of no dig is the time it saves and in particular because of the reduced green goddess pressure . ”
Charles Dowding at Homeacres. Image courtesy of https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/
A no dig draw close minimizes green goddess , smothering them with a thickset layer of mulch ( usually compost ) to obstruct out the sunlight gage seeds need to germinate . And that ’s not the only reasy whyno dig gardens battle fewer weed . Charles lend that weeds are less common “ not only because of a smothering effect from compost , but also because undisturbed soil does not require to grow weeds to recover . Weeds get for a reason and part of it is to cure damage done by refinement . Take mouse eared chickweed roots , for example . Chickweed is a common weed to pop up after tilling , which has broken the stain into pieces , and the mouse ear rootage are working to structure it together again . ”
It creates good water retention in soil , reducing the motivation to irrigate as often . No dig also reduces ( eliminates , even ) the need for fertilizers as the food provided by compost are not water soluble .
Did you know that dig up up garden dirt releases carbon into the ambience ? “ In my run beds , ” Charles says , “ the carbon subject this February was appraise at 14 % in the grease from several sample locations in the seam , compared to 18 % carbon copy in the no barb layer next to it . So 4 % has been lose through jab . ”
Charles suggests doubter trial this in their own gardens . Continue tilling part of the garden , while at the same time starting to practice no dig in another part of the garden . Watch what happens after a few years . He ’s been doing a side - by - side trail , growing in both excavation versus no dig gardens for a XII years . The undisputable results?Consistently large harvestsfrom the no dig bed . you could watch a fullYouTube video about that project .
contain out Charles’website , bless up for hisfree emails , pledge to hisYouTubeand follow him onInstagramfor more no dig peak .
PLUS ! Sign up for our No Dig on-line class presented by Michelle Bruhn on September 19 — rregister here : https://mshs.app.neoncrm.com / np / client / mshs / event.jsp?event=604 &
Michelle Bruhnis a gardener , writer , speaker , local food for thought advocate and coauthor of Small - Scale Homesteading ( Skyhorse Press , 2023).forksinthedirt.com|@forksinthedirt
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