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GARDENING NEWS 059 Fun for free! Do you dig it?
Is it best to leave “digging” to Mother Nature?, let the little ones have fun outside, plus jobs to do
Caroline Knight
– and certainly not, if you happen to be a follower of the ‘no dig’ system of gardening. It is, as it sounds, a form of gardening without digging. Instead of disturbing the soil, the ‘no dig’ system saves time and effort by encouraging natural processes to perform to your advantage. Given a little time,
G
undisturbed soil develops a healthy aerated structure, which enables plants to grow easily.
The fertility of a
‘no dig’ soil system for growing vegetables and other plants is built from the top down. This mimics an entirely natural process whereby animal excretion and vegetable matter is deposited on the surface and gradually works its way downwards. Worms and soil fauna do the job of forks – they aerate the soil as they pull down the goodness from the top
arden forks and spades are made for digging, and soil is there to be turned over, right? Not necessarily
and because they are making very little disturbance, the soil doesn’t lose moisture as it does when wrestled by a fork. This is not rocket science, more like a return to the roots of soil management.
Beneficial mycorrhizal fungi and
WORMS AND SOIL FAUNA DO THE JOB OF FORKS
bacteria are prolific in a ‘no dig’ system and these help plant roots to find nutrients and moisture. It can be seen as a way for plants to immediately plug into a well-established, healthy community of living organisms in the soil, all of which are beneficial to each other. There are many more advantages too, not least
in output. Vegetables tend to grow more strongly and are healthier, while root vegetables come out of the ground more cleanly. Harvests are greater, carbon is left undisturbed in the soil and there are enormous time savings. What’s more, gardening takes far
less effort and there are fewer weeds! What’s not to love about deciding not to dig?
Summer in the garden at home is free! There’s so much entertainment to be found for children outdoors and garden fun is a great way to inspire the budding horticulturalists and garden enthusiasts of tomorrow. What can you do with your little ones in your own space this summer? Here are a few ideas to generate some happy smiles: • Make a miniature garden in a seed tray or shallow box. Use plants with tiny leaves that become giant trees in a miniature garden. • Organise a treasure hunt. Hide clues outdoors, each one leading to the next. • Find a pond to go pond-dipping. Take a bucket and see what you can fi nd and identify. • Do some giant bubble blowing. • Make a garden den out of old sheets draped over some shrubs.
4 things to do
IN THE GARDEN this month
1. Going on holiday? Do an exchange ‘watering regime’ with neighbours so that all the gardens are watered and cared for when someone is away. 2. Move your houseplants away from the windows while you are away. They will stay cooler and require less water. 3. Support branches of fruit trees that are heavy with fruit – particularly plums. The weight of the fruit can so easily split and damage the branch. 4. Plant bulbs for Christmas. Yes, really! If you plant hyacinths in containers this month they should be blooming in December.
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