What is No Dig Gardening?
No dig gardening is a method of growing that minimises soil disturbance and feeds the soil by applying compost, manure or other organic materials directly to the surface. It is a gardening technique that has become increasingly popular over the last few years as we have learnt more about the important role that soil life plays in creating fertility, and the detrimental impact that digging and tillage has on that life and on the structure of the soil.
Until relatively recently, books on vegetable growing and gardening would routinely recommend annual digging of beds to remove weeds, aerate the soil, and incorporate compost and manure. Some older books even suggest double digging (digging to two spades depths) to prepare a bed for potatoes and root vegetables! All this digging is not only time consuming and exhausting it also has a detrimental effect on the soil and the life within it. The most obvious impact of digging on soil life might be when you find half a worm on the end of your spade, but that worm and the other visible creatures are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to soil life. Soil is teeming with microbes, invertebrates, fungi and billions of other creatures, in fact there are more creatures in a teaspoon of healthy soil than there are humans on the planet! These creatures decompose organic matter, providing fertility to the soil, break down rock to release minerals, and aerate the soil which allows it to hold water. Soil life does everything that we set out to achieve through digging, only it is much more effective than we could ever be.

How does it work?

Benefits of No Dig
