I was first draw tono - gibe gardeningfor one dim-witted understanding : It ’s well-off ! And while the practices may seem like lazy gardening , there ’s meaningful science behind what we do n’t do in ano - till garden . And when I consider with my own eyes the results touted by so many book and inquiry papers , I became hooked .
I love talking and share aboutno - dig gardeningbecause it aid us shift our thoughts fromhow we gardentohow nature grow best . And so far , taking cues from nature has always proved the correct decision .
What to Know About No-Dig
In many waysno - digsimply way building the soil up or else of dig down . We need to impart the ground microbes and all their immeasurably web relationship intact . So the less digging we do , the better .
At the end of the mature season , no - digaffects how we harvest and how we clean up the garden for its dormant season of rest .
Harvesting, Not Pulling
Ripping out plants with all their beginning can be satisfying . But this clarification method acting can too well lay waste to entire community of fungus kingdom and bacterium that have been work with all the plant root that get jerk out .
Those living microorganisms must find another way to have themselves , so they go elsewhere . So much for all the nourishing mining and resource sharing that slowly germinate over the growing season !
The same sweeping displacement of dirt liveliness communities befall with tilling and twofold digging . Did you fuck you may findan estimated 1 billion microbes in a teaspoon of soil?Looking at thing this way also helps us understand the benefits of growing more perennials .
So , what do soil aliveness - loving gardener do ? We snip stems at soil level and leave the theme intact . These root will slowly feed in the microbes . It really is that prosperous . Compost the top piece of the industrial plant and go away the stem . I also have proficient hazard with “ bequeath the leaves ” of most trees ( except walnut and bombastic total of oak ) .
3 Tips to Get You Started
First , definitely plan to leave behind the bean and pea plant roots . These likely have nodules of fixed nitrogen ( thanks to bacteria ) that will help eat your plants next year , so long as you provide them in place . It would be like extracting nitrogen from your filth if you take away these .
Next , design to leave marigold antecedent in place . As these plants decompose , they unloose a chemical in the base that helps to suppress plague nematodes and clams worms .
Finally , you could ahead and rip out any diseased plant roots , which usually includes tomato plant and cucurbits ( any of the cucumber , melon , squash family ) . Powdery mildew and blights overwinter in the territory , and we do n’t need to save disease .
Cover the Soil
One of the basic concepts of building healthy stain is keep it covered . After your last harvest time of the time of year , your soil will be happiest with a blanket . You could add a couple inches of fresh compost or organic mulch . descend natural spring , the black compost will warm up quicker than a short straw - color in mulch ( but folio mould is big for a darker mulch ) .
Another favorite option is sowingcover cropseeds . Cover crops are grown to fee the soil life while nothing else is growing . These kinds of crops typically only command five or so weeks of growth to make a prescribed impact on the territory . They also sum organic people with more roots and leaves produced that will persist in situation after they die back or are chopped at stain level .
Cover crop are often formulated to supply nitrogen and leave behind a beautiful organic layer of mulch to implant into the undermentioned spring . I like a mix of oat , peas and radish for my vegetable garden .
make out spring , your seedlings and succeeding harvests will give thanks you !
— Michelle Bruhn , Forks in the filth
