What is no-dig gardening and should I do it?

The claim that dug soil is ruined is overstated, and the claim that no-dig needs no effort is too — it needs a steady supply of compost. What is well supported is that not disturbing soil preserves its structure and fungal networks, and that not turning weed seed up means far fewer weeds.

What you'll need

• Compost or well-rotted manure
• Cardboard (optional)
• Rake

Step by step

1. Understand what changes.You stop digging, forking over and rotavating. You add a 50mm layer of compost to the surface once a year, usually in autumn or late winter, and plant straight into it.
2. Set up beds you never walk on.This is the part that makes it work. Beds no wider than about 1.2m, with paths between, so the soil is never compacted and never needs loosening.
3. Start over grass or weeds with cardboard.Lay plain brown cardboard directly over the ground, overlapping generously, wet it, then 100 to 150mm of compost on top. Plant into the compost immediately. The cardboard rots within months and the grass dies underneath it.
4. Deal with perennial weeds first.Bindweed, couch grass, ground elder and mare's tail come through cardboard. Dig those out or exhaust them under a light-excluding cover for a full season before starting.
5. Plant straight into the surface layer.Make a hole in the compost with a trowel or dibber. Seed drills are drawn in the compost. Nothing needs to be turned.
6. Weed by cutting, not pulling.A sharp hoe skimmed just under the surface kills seedlings without disturbing the soil. Pulling brings soil and buried seed up.
7. Top up annually.Another 25 to 50mm of compost each year. This is the ongoing cost of the method, and on a large plot it is significant.
8. Expect the weeding to fall away.The first year is much like any other. From the second year the reduction in annual weeds is dramatic, because you have stopped bringing up new seed.
9. Keep digging where it is genuinely needed.Removing a perennial weed root, planting a tree, or breaking into severe compaction from building work all justify a spade. No-dig is a default, not a prohibition.

Tips

• The weed reduction is the real benefit, and it arrives in year two.
• Cardboard plus compost turns a patch of lawn into a productive bed in one afternoon.
• If you cannot source enough compost, no-dig on a big plot becomes expensive rather than easy.

Common mistakes

• Starting a no-dig bed over bindweed or ground elder — Perennial roots grow straight through cardboard and compost and are then harder to remove because you cannot dig. Clear them first.
• Using unrotted manure or woody material as the surface layer — It locks up nitrogen at the surface and seedlings go pale and stall. The top layer must be properly rotted compost that you could sow into.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask