I tried enriching our garden plots last year with compost and manure and organic fertilizer and had incredibly unsuccessful results. Meanwhile I put a no-dig on the front lawn and it proceeded to wow the neighbourhood. I realised that my garden plots (inherited when we moved here) were tired and had no more life to give, so I planned to revitalise them with a few years of no dig planting on top.

The year got away on me and the plots went to weed, but I did maintain one raised bed with my own no dig recipe. It has been a kick ass garden that has produced amazing plants with long periods of being nearly ignored, except to add water.

So this weekend I have begun turning the beds into no-dig gardens, starting with a 3 × 2 m section that had to be enlarged because my Geisha Girls, who donate to the household mulch twice a year, provided me with enough for 3 × 3 m of base bed.

Here’s what I intend to use:

Newspaper/cardboard layer sprinkled with lime and watered
Mulch layer, mixture of brown and green clippings + fertilizer, probably some organic kickalong that I have already
Dry leaves layer, not that thick as I don’t have a lot + lime
Horse/stable manure from local stables
Compost
Naytura mulch

I don’t have a lot of cash to hand this year so everything is coming from what I have around or can get really cheap (the manure will cost me $10, for example and is the only thing I have to buy).

I also believe in using as much local as possible, hence the horse manure over another type. I don’t even have to make a separate trip for it as it is sold on the side of the road on the route we take the kids to school.

I love the results of no dig and although I am aching from pruning and mulching yesterday and it will probably take another weekend yet to finish it, I am excited to see these beds get some life.