No Dig Garden

mzmercedes, Nov 10, 7:10am
I've never tried a no dig garden and contemplating maybe next year.Does anyone know if it MUST be a raised bed or can you do no dig just on an old existing plot!Any information/direction would be appreciated :)
junie2, Nov 10, 8:03am
It's easy-peasy. My best advice would be to get Esther Deans's book from the library. Very simple and straightforward, easy-to-follow, and good photos. Small book - but full of good oil. In short though - you can build a no-dig on concrete even.
mzmercedes, Nov 10, 10:35am
concrete! wow. hey thanks junie, will look for book
lythande1, Nov 10, 6:14pm
No dig can be done on an existing garden. Why would you think it must be raised! The current fashion for raised gardens!
junie2, Nov 11, 1:08am
I didn't gather that OP thought a no-dig MUST be raised. She simply asked if that was so. Asking is theway to find out after all.
mzmercedes, Nov 11, 7:02am
Actually Junie you were right, I did think it had to be raised (though why that should be was a mystery to me hence the question). because I'd googled or something that came up with building it in a raised bed.Thats all good but couldnt see why it must be you see.

As for current fashion/raised beds. in my case I've been keen on the idea solely because Im getting a bit wonky at the knees now and sure a reasonably good height would take care of that ie. using the wall to lean again or sit on but in anycase, no raised beds yet lol. fashionable! I spose so though the kitset beds look way to low to be of interest to me lol.Obviously best to build your own to suit but then again, Im not exactly a halfway decent handyman so guessing I'd make a right botch up of it all lol
samanya, Nov 11, 8:39pm
I've used Esther Deans method many times to create a new garden & it's most successful.
There are many 'variations' on what to use but as Junie says, the book is the way to go as Esther Dean's was the original method.
I'm not sure how it would go in a higher raised garden as it's based on layers of newspaper, lucerne, chook poo, barley straw & compost .unless you half filled the bed with soil & then did the 'no dig' bit on the top portion.
It's brilliant for the leafy crops, especially.
junie2, Nov 11, 10:09pm
One of ED's tricks is to make the no-dig on a bed wire ( as in set-up ready to sleep in!) I think you would just cover the wire with boards , or whatever, for support, then line with black plastic, an old pool liner or whatever you have, That would be good for creaky knees. I have a lot of supermarket polystryene boxes for the same reason. Like samanya implies - ED's is a very flexible system. Mine is very bucolic, but extremely bountiful too. Good luck nzmerc.
junie2, Nov 11, 10:12pm
PS - I see you are in L/Hutt. My dear old mum had the best no-dig in the valley , backing on to the R'way line on Oxford Tce. Sadly she popped her clogs in 2005 - I often wonder what the new owner did withall that wonderful soil.
lindylambchops1, Nov 12, 2:26am
Check this out for the basics of ED's No dig Gardening.

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s867068.htm
lythande1, Nov 12, 2:47am
I don't have anything against them. Nor a preference really.

I have 6 garden plots, 2 are raised.
I find it a bit of a hassle actually, you kind of have to get in it,sort of. I guess that depends how big they are too, one of mine I really do have to get in, the other is smaller but still necessary to kind of lean over quite a bit.
They were here already, edging is those concrete blocks, so pretty permanent and solid.
If they weren't already here, then there would be the expense of creating it versus a patch in the ground which costs nothing to start.

The largest in ground one we have, I did put a brick path through the middle. I sit and garden - arthritis in various bits of me now.The path is handy for that as well as walking through and it looks prettier.

However you want them, you can still do the no-dig.

My largest raised one became no dig, cause it was a weed infested nightmare when I got here, a major to try and dig over so I didn't. I ripped out the mess and top layers of bark and weed mat and no-digged it from there on. It's doing extremely well now.
samanya, Nov 12, 6:35am
lythande1 .pretty much the same here.
I bought an almost 1.5 acre garden that was formerly magnificent BUT the last owners had not been gardeners .the 'bones' were great,but the weeds were even greater, professionally designed but general maintenance had been almost non existent, apart from lawn mowing but of course, excluding edges!
fat hen in the vege garden taller than me & I'm no shorty. so in some areas I did the hard yards & worked myself ragged to restore & in others, I plonked down the newspaper (& Esther Dean's method) & bingo! .in less than 6 months the place is nearly back to it's former glory.
mzmercedes, Nov 12, 7:13pm
hey, you all rock peeps :) lots of good information and comments I'll take on board.Mind you though. Im new (kind of) to gardening and only got interested again last year.Talk about leaving it to the last minute before I pop m'clogs too lol.Anyway, I think maybe no dig might be the way to go for next season, I've put down my veg garden again in its usual spot and so very proud of it.Only little but it looks so pretty - 4 small plots with grassed bordered paths between them (and middle strips between the paths, currently have peas there) - really pretty with lavender bang in the middle to make it all interesting.Also mariogolds amongst the veg supposedly good companions but again, very pretty when sitting outside feeling smug.Sadly even the smallish 4 main plots I think will be too much for me in a couple of years but for now I enjoy :)
johnhb67, Nov 26, 7:31am
I dont like raised beds as they dry out, just mulch your existing plot
sonnya, Nov 28, 6:48am
I am at in that position now. A hugh lovely old garden with good bones but lots of weeds. Totally at a lost as to what to do. Have coved some of the back garden with carboard with the idea that by the time i get to it it will be ready to go. Any advice would be great.
punkinthefirst, Nov 28, 7:12am
Normally, I'd agree with you, but No Dig gardens are pretty much all mulch with just a bit of soil around each plant. I used them when we were farming and I had a large vege garden on pure pumice. Water was always an issue in the rest of the garden, but not in the no dig area. I was VERY impressed at how easy it all was. but I also had access to almost unlimited supplies of rotten hay and cow manure.
samanya, Nov 28, 7:49am
Hi there, I did the 'no dig' bit for expanding the vege garden, aparagus bed, raspberries etc, (stuff I'd shifted from my previous home) I also did it in a hot house & a white butterfly proof cage.
The flower beds I just used hard graft & roundup, as there was a lot of 'twitch' right through them . that's an ongoing task & I doubt that I'll ever be completely rid of the$*^#&% stuff!
Good luck, it's a good start to use the cardboard or newspapers to suppress more weeds.
If it takes a while, no worries as you'll be discovering heaps of things about your new garden, as you go.
sonnya, Nov 29, 2:27am
We have had some very old type plants flower that i have not seen in yrs and some i have never seen. Every day there is something new popping up amoung the weeds. Which is better cardboard or newspaper.I also have access to the calves bedding that has been sitting there for a month not being used. Is it a good idea to put on top of the carboard/paper!
punkinthefirst, Nov 26, 3:06pm
If you haven't been there long, its a good idea just to keep the weeds down for a year and see what comes up. You don't want to kill some precious treasure because you don't know it's there.
Calves bedding makes a GREAT mulch. I miss all that sort of stuff now I'm in town. Cardboard and non-shiny paper are both useful as well.