About No Dig

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*The information contained in this pack has been taken from Modules 1 and 2 of my online course, No Dig Gardening, so if you have purchased this course, or just Modules 1 and 2, you will already have the information. For any queries, please email anna@charlesdowding.co.uk

Please note, this is a digital product and only accessible via the website. It is not downloadable.*

This knowledge pack explains how no dig is a simple and easy approach.

Two facets

1. Soil is undisturbed, allowing its organisms to work and multiply. You build on top of the existing network of life. Occasionally you need to disturb soil by digging a hole to plant a tree, or when harvesting potatoes, but these are exceptions.
2. Organisms are fed with organic matter on the surface. Nature works in this way and soil organisms are adapted to find food at the surface, from where they take it down.

Why so little known until recently?

No dig has been around for millennia, in different formats. Yet only recently, and particularly thanks to my work and social media, has it gained recognition and been widely practised.

I look at the recent history, and what we can learn from the reasons why it did not reach a wider audience until the last 10 years.

Simple and universal

Using any kind of compost, not necessarily perfect in texture, speeds up soil organisms’ access to food, and boosts fertility. Sometimes this is referred to as feeding soil but, strictly speaking, we feed the life in the soil.

Surface mulching, with compost in particular, is effective on all soil types. I give examples from my four market gardens, the first of which was on stony soil, then there was clay, and now silt.

Learn how no dig makes it easy to manage soil differences. Largely because you don’t get too involved with any soil work. Instead, encourage the life in soil to do that through surface mulching with organic matter.

Trial results

There is a lot of information in the 10 years of results from my two bed trial.

A striking conclusion is that for the same amount of compost, no dig gives more weight of harvest. This highlights how you don’t actually need a huge amount of compost / organic matter to grow no dig.

Less need for rotation

When soil is super healthy, there is less disease and more nutrition. I explain my three-strip trial – growing plants of the same vegetable family in the same soil every year since 2014.

Therefore 2022 was the eighth consecutive year of potatoes in the same beds, and plant health was excellent. The yield was higher than in any of the previous years, with 58kg / 128lb from 7.8m² / 84ft² – see this page of my website.

Myths and misunderstandings

There are so many of these in mainstream gardening. A lot of what you have been advised as necessary to do, is not!  When you understand why, you can save yourself time, effort and money.

In this section of the pack, I highlight a few of the common misconceptions that confuse many people.

My information is about giving you clarity to truly understand what you are doing. You will be more confident and successful as a result.

Knowledge pack contents – includes text, photos and video:

• Advantages and recent history of no dig
• Simple, time saving, productive
• No dig on different soil types  
• Comparing dig and no dig for 13 years – what the differences reveal
• A three strip trial and continuous cropping
• Myths – what you don’t need to do

Compost

*The information contained in this pack has been taken from Module 5 of my online course, No Dig Gardening, so if you have purchased this course, or just Module 5 , you will already have the information. For any queries, please email anna@charlesdowding.co.uk

Please note, this is a digital product and only accessible via the website. It is not downloadable.*

This knowledge pack explains what compost is, how to make it and how best to use it. We look closely at three related, different, and often confused words: fertility, compost, and soil. These terms have a meaning that varies with context. I give you the definitions that matter for no dig. They are simple and straightforward.

Soil and compost behave so differently, but they are both important for fertility.

Make your own compost

Homemade compost has abundant life, and I show how to increase the microbes and organisms. Everybody’s heaps and additions are different; once you have a grasp of the principles, you can create a process that works in your space.

You’ll learn how to make your own enclosures, and about ones that you can purchase. Also why it’s good to use a heap size that relates to your growing area, neither too large nor too small. I explain simple ways of building heaps with materials that always vary, according to your space and the time of year. How to judge maturity, and why you can use compost that is not perfect-looking!

What is fertility?

Fertility is often equated to nutrients feeding plants, yet true and long-term fertility is about so much more than this. I explain how easy it is to grow great plants when you know surprisingly little about nutrient supply and uptake.

You need green fingers and a biological approach, rather than calculations and spreadsheets!  Learn how important are life processes in soil and compost, for ensuring that plants have sufficient food and moisture. Always in undisturbed soil.

Comparing soil and compost: a trial

I had a fun comment on Instagram, from a self-appointed ‘professional horticulturist’. He declared that soil and compost are the same thing! I show you how they are not. And why it helps your gardening when you understand the differences.

Soil’s physical characteristics are important, and govern growth to some extent. Particularly in terms of how much food and moisture can be held. However, the most important thing is that you establish good life in your soil, through mostly leaving it alone! Just feed the organisms you rarely see, through surface mulching.

Types of compost and trial results

The one word ‘compost’ covers so many products and possibilities. We look at composts that you can buy, or source for free. We compare some growth results with composts you might mature and make at home, and  I give explanations of four different compost types. We then compare the results of the same vegetables grown in each of them. I help you to understand what you can learn from different patterns of growth.

Knowledge pack contents – includes text, photos and video:

• Make your own compost
• What compost offers, when to apply, and amounts needed
• Understanding soil, and comparing it with compost
• Types of compost

Weeds

*The information contained in this pack has been taken from Module 4 of my online course, No Dig Gardening, so if you have purchased this course, or just Module 4 , you will already have the information. For any queries, please email anna@charlesdowding.co.uk

Please note, this is a digital product and only accessible via the website. It is not downloadable.*

This is huge and important knowledge pack which will save you much time and effort, particularly if you have a weedy site when starting out. Appropriate mulching in year one enables you to experience the joy of weed-free soil. Not 100% weed free for sure, but highly manageable, and I show you how.

Identify your main weeds to know better how to mulch, what types of mulch to use, and how to stay weed free all the time.

Two types of weeds

Learn the important differences between two main types of weeds, and details of the most common weeds. In particular, I explain the characteristics and differences of annual and perennial weeds.

It helps to name and understand each weed. That informs you whether it’s best to mulch or to remove the ones you find, and how urgently. Understand how their growth tendencies affect what you need to do, in order to achieve clean soil for easy growing.

Going weed free with organic mulches

Eliminating perennial weeds is possible with no dig, and here is the how-to, using mulches of organic matter only. I explain why it’s so successful in eliminating what are often seen as difficult, if not impossible, weeds.

For example, if you attempt to dig out the roots of perennial weeds, there are always a few roots that regrow. With no dig, 100% elimination is possible.

Going weed free with non-organic mulches

Non-organic mulches, plastic of various kinds, do not look nice. However they may have a use in year one, mainly for reducing and eliminating perennial weeds. You can also reuse the same plastic, several times if needed, on different areas of difficult weeds.

I show how to use plastic covers in conjunction with organic matter underneath. This improves soil at the same time as clearing weeds, and growing a harvest. Three wins.

Staying weed free

Be aware of how weeds can recolonise soil. You need to react to them when seen – does that sound stressful? Actually, no dig takes the pressure out of this. I explain how weeding can be enjoyable, because there is so little of it. I share tips on how to stay weed free in this lovely scenario. Such as hoeing your weeds before you see them!

Knowledge pack contents – includes text, photos and video:

• Know your weeds – the two types
• Organic mulches
• Non-organic mulches
• Staying weed free