How to Create a No Dig Garden

If you lack the space for a large traditional garden or have low soil quality that doesn't support the strong growth of your vegetables, you may want to consider a no dig garden. No dig gardens consist of layering organic materials either directly on top of the soil or inside a raised garden box and can be enjoyed by anyone in virtually any environment.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sunny location
• Weed-cloth
• Border material (two-by-fours, bricks, rocks and the like)
• Newspaper
• Straw
• Compost
• Straw

1. Choose your no dig garden location. Make sure your no dig garden is in a sunny location away from the roots of large trees and bushes which will cast shade and compete for ground water.

2. Lay out a weed-cloth on the ground where you will plant your no-dig garden. Weed-cloth can be purchased at your local hardware store or nursery and should be cut slightly larger than your garden box, so that the border holds the cloth down tight.

3. Build your garden bed. It is best to design a garden bed which is narrow enough that you do not need to step inside to work, You can simply join four 2x4's to create a box, or use bricks, rocks or paving stones to create the border.

4. Cover the bottom of your no dig garden bed with at least ten layers of newspaper. The newspaper not only prevents weeds from germinating from below, it will also help to retain moisture and warmth in your garden.

5. Fill the bottom third of your garden box with clean straw. Any kind of straw will do, as long as it is not covered in mud or worse, mold. Mix one part compost with two parts soil and fill your no dig garden, increasing the amount of compost if you wish.

6. Plant your vegetable garden and watch it grow.

[dianasalloverit]

on 5/9/2009 we did this layered, no-dig garden this year, only a bit different. We put the newspaper down without the weedcloth, then we layered 4 inches of alfa-alfa hay, sprinkle with bone and blood meal, 4 inches organic mushroom compost, 8 inches of straw, top off with mushroom compost. Water between each layer and then plant your veggies, you can put some straw around the plants to retain more water. This is an awesome system, every single plant we put in is doing great. It only took a few hours to build the beds.