One great way to have a very productive organic garden is to use the 'no-dig' method. It sounds too good to be true, but the no-dig garden is a reality and it works.
A great solution on heavy clay or very poor, silty soils, the no-dig garden makes a wonderfully productive potager in a small inner city plot, and can be practised according to the strictest organic regime or not as you wish. The planting season can be extended with early and late crops made possible, as the raised soil is warmer than ordinary garden beds.
The principle of the no-dig garden is that the high concentration of compost and mulching materials gives high nutrient levels, few weed seeds and, because it is raised above ground level, the normal headaches of drainage on heavy soils or rapid drying out of light soils are overcome.
Just like a big 'sandbox'
Best of all it's easy. Basically it is gardening inside a big-sandbox type frame of wood or other permanent material. The box is filled with a recipe that includes lots of compost. It has to work!
Paths are best covered with a mulching material such as gravel or paved with brick, to give dry access and reduce the maintenance - i.e. you don't need to mow or weed.
In a small city courtyard garden the raised bed 'no-dig' garden is a brilliant solution to growing a range of crops in a small space. Remember to use crop rotation to reduce the incidence of soil-borne diseases and soil exhaustion.
Courgettes grown in a No-Dig garden
Because the bed is raised you will find that the soils warms much earlier in the season and you can start salad and other crops very early. You can extend this even further by using cloches to raise the air temperature around the plants. Similarly, you can continue to crop a raised bed- no-dig garden after the conventional garden has become too cool for growth. In fact these gardens are so wonderful for stimulating growth many have been converted into cutting beds and lost to the vegetable gardener!
Woven willow holds early crops
If, after three to five years, you find that the intensive cropping has reduced the soil nutrients to the extent that plants are not doing as well, you can simple empty the bed, and refill with a new recipe of newspaper through to compost!
No-Dig Gardening
Step-by-step 'No-Dig' Gardening
Choose the position of your no-dig garden. For vegetables it is best in full sun and away from the roots of large trees or towering hedges that create shade and compete for moisture.
Build beds that you can work without walking on, giving more space to cultivation. Especially for vegetable production, two smaller beds are better than one huge one. About 1.2m is about the right width, with paths of 30-40 cm between each raised bed. Mark out your beds and determine how much timber or edging material you will need. A height of 30cm minimum is best. Higher is not necessarily better, and sides of 40-45 cm are probably as high as you wish to go. To be strong enough the boards need to be at least 1.5cm thick.
You can make the sides of the beds with timber, brick or concrete blocks. Some wonderful raised beds have been made using woven willow. Timber needs to be ground-treated or a timber, such as cedar, that is rot-resistant. Start by marking out the corners of the bed and clear away any vegetation.
It can be worthwhile to use a weed-cloth under your path and you will find it more effective if this is fixed under the sides of the beds, so lay it out now before the next step.
Fix a stake firmly into the ground. If you have long, rectangular beds, consider an additional stake halfway along the longest spans. Fix the boards to the stake making a 'sandbox' style of box.
In the bottom of the bed, lay several thick layers of old newspaper. Not just two or three sheets but two or three 'sections' thick. This prevents weed seeds germinating and emerging triumphantly in the midst of your salad greens!
Add a layer of straw: meadow hay, pea straw, or any straw that is clean and weed free is suitable. This layer should be about one third of the depth of your raised bed.
Next, on a weed sheet or tarpaulin, mix mushroom or other compost with good garden loam, again ensuring that it is weed free. Use a minimum of one-third compost to two-thirds soil. Increase the amount compost, as you desire. This is your new garden soil so the effort required here is truly worth it.
Resources
Wooden planks and pegs
Or Bricks
Or Concrete blocks
Old newspapers
Straw
Compost or well-rotted organic material
Garden soil
Companion Planting We have all heard the line that 'roses love garlic', possibly the most famous of all companion planting associations.
