Topic: To dig or not to dig?

[Borderers1951]

I have always been a confirmed digger as far as plot preparation is concerned..  On my neighbours' plots there seem to be those like myself who dig muck in and those who leave it on the surface.  The non-diggers seem again divided between those who spread the muck and tread it down and those who just leave it as it falls.  Again there is further division between those who cover with black polythene and those who don't.

Although in my late 60s, I hope I am not too old to learn and I may try the non-dig option this autumn.   So, to tread and cover?  To leave as it falls and cover?  To tread and leave uncovered?  To  leave as it falls and leave uncovered?  What do you think?

[Plot 18]

If you are going to try to go no-dig, then no treading. You need the soil to stay as loose/ uncompacted as possible. So don't walk where you are going to grow.

If you have a weedy plot, like mine, then it's worth covering over just to stop weeds from growing over winter.

No-dig works on part of my plot, but the part that has a lot of clay still seems better with some digging for drainage. See how yours works out ;)

[Tee Gee]

I am a traditional "Digger" although I can see the relative pros and cons of each system.


Being a little older than you my advice would be not to put all your eggs in one basket!


Do as plot 18 does try a 50-50 approach then you can monitor the situation in the same season rather than trying something this year and something else next year.

At least this way the weather will be the same in the comparison, whereas it might not be two years running!

Then you will have to consider (again for a fair comparison) going 50-50 on root crops and 50-50 on transplants, rather than say doing root crops the 'dig' way and the transplants the 'no dig' way.

Not as easy as you thought is it?   

ps I am now  too old to change, but I am not to old to learn so keep us informed how you go on!

[Borderers1951]

I am a traditional "Digger" although I can see the relative pros and cons of each system.


Being a little older than you my advice would be not to put all your eggs in one basket!


Do as plot 18 does try a 50-50 approach then you can monitor the situation in the same season rather than trying something this year and something else next year.

At least this way the weather will be the same in the comparison, whereas it might not be two years running!

Then you will have to consider (again for a fair comparison) going 50-50 on root crops and 50-50 on transplants, rather than say doing root crops the 'dig' way and the transplants the 'no dig' way.

Not as easy as you thought is it?   

ps I am now  too old to change, but I am not to old to learn so keep us informed how you go on!

I have come to a similar conclusion re trying different things for comparison.  I have divided the veg part of my plot into three for rotation.  I have just cleared my peas and spread that part thickly with cow muck.  I shall cover it tomorrow and let it stew until it is time for the next planting in spring 2018.  The second part I will dig the muck in and cover - my usual way.  The third part I will cover with a layer of muck and leave open.  The results should be interesting.

[Tee Gee]

I have divided the veg part of my plot into three for rotation.

I am not as rigid as that for the simple reason if I have say a crop failure or something such as that I want my rotation plan to be a bit more flexible than that.

For example: My plots are laid out in beds and basically each bed fits into my rotation system rather than saying something like:

The top third of the plot is for this, the middle is for that and the bottom is for other stuff.

With my bed system one half of the bed can be treated differently from the other half and it in itself can be rotated in the short term.


Like me you obviously have a computer so in order to monitor any changes I use a "Spread Sheet" where one column is a bed and each row in the column is a row of plants.

At the beginning of each season I print off a copy of my plan and pin it up in my greenhouse, then if I need to make a sudden change in my plan I can look back my previous plans to see what was planted where then change things that fit in with my overall rotation plan.

Sounds complicated but it is actually quite easy to do once you get into a routine.


Have a look here on how I use my computer to plan my crops:

http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Computers/Computers%20and%20Gardening.htm

This is a typical layout of my plot showing my beds which are 30ft long and 5'-6" wide.

[Plot 18]

Pesky Photobucket means we can't see your plot layaout Tee Gee :(

They spoiled so much 

[Tee Gee]

Try this.



Does not show the beds as good as the Photobucket did but it should suffice to get my point over.

[johhnyco15]

I've been trying a sort of no dig for the past 2 seasons i originally dug the whole plot then put 4" of well rotted manure then another 3"  of leaf mould then covered it with weed membrane and planted through its worked really well so will do the same on my third plot this year to come the only time i dig is to trench all my green wastes from the plots tomato pumpkin sweetcorn butternut all spent foliage goes in the trench the trenches are around 4ft wide 2ft deep  then blinded by manure then leaf mould then covered with fabric i get roughly 3 trenches a year i started at one end and one plot has now been completely trenched so i go back to the start crops have really improved hope this helps