Does no dig gardening really work?

[Oliver Buckle]

I remember reading a woman years ago who bought bales of hay. She covered her garden in hay, when she wanted to plant something she parted the hay to expose a little patch of bare ground and planted in that, Then brought the hay back around the plant as it grew. When she got weeds she pushed them down and put a handful of hay on top of them. I don't know how productive it was, but I remember thinking it must have been a garden well sheltered from wind.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I am giving a neighbor a bag of sugar hidden as a secret soil enhancer with formulas and everything ! Merry Christmas! 15 mL per L!

 

[Meadowlark]

Does "No Dig" work?

My results indicate at least a 3 to 1 reduction in production from "No Dig". That does not work in my book...but perhaps it does in yours.

Type	Planting Date	Production No Dig	Production Organic	Production HK Container
​	​	​	​	​
Sarpo Mira potatoes	Aug. 29	38​	73​	98​
Lieutenant broccoli	Aug. 28	22​	97​	56​
Swiss Chard	Aug. 29	1.9​	34​	64​
Prizm kale	Aug. 29	3​	8​	12​
Early Wakefield Cabbage	Sept. 1	6​	87​	28​
Sprouting Broc	Sept. 1	​	8.1​	8.3​
radish white	7-Sep​	35​	40​	40​
Radish red	Sept. 4	12​	23​	40​
Lettuce	Sept. 4	2.5​	5​	6​
Sweet Peas	Sept. 4	1.8​	4​	3.9​
Red Cabbage	Sept. 7	2​	5.5​	7.5​
total ounces	​	124.2​	384.6​	363.7​

 

[redback]

My results indicate at least a 3 to 1 reduction in production from "No Dig". That does not work in my book...but perhaps it does in yours.

But "no-dig" has many different forms. Perhaps the most common nowadays is the raised bed.

 

[redback]

I'm not a 'no-dig' fan though.
I dig as much as I need to, particularly when planting potatoes. But even when I do add to the topsoil and plant into the introduced soil, I still use a trowel to dig a hole deeper than the topping and so does everyone else. So 'no-dig ' is a name and not much else.
The raised bed is a major exercise in building. Shifting soil is a necessity, both to flatten the site and to fill the beds.

 

[gary350]

I put baled hay in my garden once. That was the biggest mistake I ever made. Baled hay is baled weeds it contains billions of weed seeds, it too me 7 years to finally kill all those weeds.