Three No-Dig or Low-Dig Methods to Set Up a Garden Bed

In an attempt to try new and exciting things (and share the experiential knowledge with YOU, internet person), I used three different no dig or low dig methods of creating garden beds this year.

1. Raised Beds

The Blueberry Bed

I used retaining walls to build raised beds, right on top of existing grass. In most cases, doing this requires a barrier placed over the existing grass. A few layers of newspaper works great for this purpose. I decided against it, because I want my garden to undergo a relatively natural succession. Any grass that works its way up through 1.5 feet of soil is welcome with my saskatoon bushes :)

A great way to build hearty, fertile soil fast is to make raised beds on top of existing vegetation, using the 'lasagna' compost method. The lasagna method involves putting layers of compostable material down beneath the soil in which you plan to plant.

I did that for my berry spiral, including layers of partially decomposed grass, compost, and even some partially composted manure from a local field sometimes used by cows.

Which was surprisingly less gross than I expected.

I also used this method for a small, very beautiful blueberry-and-snapping-dragon bed, using old wood as the retaining wall, and then placing some moss-covered, mostly decomposed logs on top of that for artistic effect.

Why This Works: 

While some of the tougher grasses may make their way to the surface of my new, raised beds, most of them will not. Instead, they will compost in place, drawing the rich soil life beneath them up and into my new garden bed.

While digging will disturb the soil ecosystem, possible leading to plant diseases and reduced nutrients, this actually adds nutrients to the soil, and encourages the many creepy-crawlies and critters to expand their territory upwards.

This is one example of working with nature, instead of against her!

The downside of this method is that you have to bring in a bunch of soil.



2. Loosen it up and Plant right in

My blister.

After pulling out any big clumps of grass, I used a pitchfork to loosen the soil in one of my beds. Despite the fact that this didn't include digging, it was really hard! I got a blister.

Once things were loosened up, I added about 2 inches of composted manure on top. Then I planted directly into this. I put some raspberries, strawberries, and then scattered wildflower seeds to fill in the gaps as they grow.

Rocks: the easiest garden decor ever.

Why This (will likely) Work: 

Loosening the soil adds oxygen to parts that often don't get much. This will result in an explosion of soil life, and a dump of nutrients into the soil. My new plants will happily use much of that dump to get established. The reason I didn't dig up all of the plants present in the soil is so that they will be able to use any of the nutrients that my plants can't, meaning that less nutrients will be lost in runoff. I'm also hoping that the addition of manure will assist in a nutrient equilibrium.

Loosening the soil will ultimately make it much easier for my plants to get a foothold in what was a very root-saturated piece of land. When I loosened the soil with my pitchfork, I was causing a disturbance. As a rule, whichever plants get their roots out first after a disturbance have the competitive advantage. I'm hoping that will be the plants I planted, as well as some of the grasses and native herbs that I left behind.



3. Some Digging Required

All three beds in a pretty row. The 'Some Digging Required'
bed is the middle one, strategically hidden behind
a tree.

I'm not sure if this is an actual thing or not, but I had the inspiration to try it anyways, and will certainly keep you posted on how it works out.

I dug up the turf of my proposed garden bed, pulling the swaths of topsoil held by grassroots up and away. These averaged 6 inches in depth. Once I had a 6 inch deep hole, I turned all the topsoil-patties upside down, and put them back in that way.

That left the rich, worm-filled topsoil exposed to the air... and the roots of my waiting plants! I covered the whole, lumpy thing with some composted manure, and planted raspberries, strawberries, sunflowers and wild flowers in it.

Why This (may) Work: 

The main benefit of this exercise was bringing the really rich, black soil held firmly by the roots of grasses to the surface, where my new baby plants could access it; or simply away from the grass roots, where the raspberry bushes I put in could get a foot-hold. It was also not as hard as tilling, and required much less time, too. I didn't have to cart in any soil.

Like the loosening method, a big oxygen dump in that rich dark soil will cause an explosion of nutrients and soil life. I hypothesize that this will be tempered by a) the plants I planted, who will use many of the nutrients before they can be washed away, b) the manure I used as mulch, and c) the grasses that remain in the soil, albeit upside down.

Some of those grasses may find their way to the surface, and if they do, more power to them. As with the raised bed method, however, most of them will die and decompose where they are. As they decompose, they will replenish nutrients and thicken the soil with a layer of rich organic matter.

Huzzah!