No-Dig Gardening for Beginners: Step-by-Step Guide with Cardboard and Compost

The cardboard is only for this stage of smothering weeds - keep them in the dark and they expire! Then you don't need to lay any more cardboard, once there are no weeds.

You can use less compost. Lay thick card on weeds then 2in/5cm compost asap in early spring, and wet the card if it's dry. Then use a trowel to 'cut' potato size holes in the card and a little into the weedy soil below, to pop in a seed potato. This can give some harvest by summer, while killing weeds too, but you must pull any weeds you see :)

If you do not have access to any compost, use old leaves, manure at least half-decomposed - or at limit the one month old you see in this video. Results in year one will be less brilliant than in subsequent years, but you will be clearing weeds easily as well as having a harvest.
Vegetables like potatoes, squash and zucchini grow well though cardboard and less-perfect compost. After they finish you could plant kale or leeks etc.

POSTSCRIPT JULY 2020 the Charlotte potatoes from the two beds in the thumbnail photo gave 54kg/119lb. Then we transplanted leeks.

00:00 Introduction – a look at beds created last December
00:36 What is light-excluding mulch?
01:04 Is cardboard needed?
01:14 Killing weeds, right from the start, without digging
02:08 Now 3 months since mulching this weedy pasture – grass now growing through, how to react
02:48 The importance of creating an edge, and how to maintain it by re-laying cardboard
06:35 Some couch grass, and how to get rid of it completely through mulching
08:07 I demonstrate planting a seed potato straight into the compost
09:11 I demonstrate making a brand new bed on weeds, with cardboard then compost, and a brief mention on using soil
11:41 Different compost options – green waste…
12.23 …homemade…
13:08 …mushroom…
13:49 …and multi-purpose compost from a sack
14:10 Firming compost with feet – not compacting! I explain the difference
15:30 Levelling with a shovel to get it ready for planting
15:47 About using wooden sides, or not
16:17 Using wood chip on the pathway
18:11 Transplants ready to go in the ground, and I demonstrate planting - multisown spring onions...
19:26 Three multisown pea plants
19:59 Why propagate, as opposed to sowing direct in the ground?
20:16 Cabbage, spinach and lettuce
21:02 Multisown beetroot, and I demonstrate spacing
22:10 A worthwhile investment of compost
22:34 Examples of second plantings
23:02 What happens when the roots reach the cardboard?
23:51 Broccoli planted the previous summer
25:10 Thinking ahead for second/succession plantings to grow and harvest all year
25:47 A look at some of the harvested produce from my garden
27:21 An added benefit of homegrown veg – microbes, and why they are important

Learn in depth about no dig gardening with my online courses, which contain many more videos.

No Dig Gardening explains why and how no dig works:

There are also discounts for multiple course purchases.

Find more information about no dig and my garden on Instagram charles_dowding and Twitter @charlesdowding
Filmed at Homeacres 18th March 2020 by David Adams.

To buy the module trays I designed with Containerwise, see this page on my website:

#nodig #growyourownfood #healthyfood #compost #growyourownveggies

[susanrobbins]

I have just taken over the tenancy of a half allotment plot. My kids thought I was bonkers because I'm nearly 70 and disabled but they now agree that using this method I can do it!! Thank you for inspiring me to press on with my dream.

[vivsalittlebitcrafty]

Approaching 60 years of age and illness now leaving me with limited mobility, I was devastated to think my gardening days were all but over...then I discovered your no dig method...oh my goodness, what an absolute Godsend!! Thank you so very much. Gardening has always been a major part of my life, from the first little patch my Dad gave me in his garden, at age 4 - to date. It has quite honestly kept me sane, a fabulous natural anti-depressant. Thanks to you Charles, I have over the past few years, managed to adapt my garden to suit my capabilities.

[Benboy]

My wife’s mother and (in turn) HER 90 year old mother sent me a news clipping in the Sunday times with an article of yours with no-dig. Being a millennial I immediately searched on YouTube and found this 😂😇. Fantastic, what a great way to garden, this will save me hours. Many thanks 🙏

[tarquin]

God I love this man. He's so generous with his incredible depth of knowledge. Just listening to his wisdom makes me feel calm and happy.
Thanks to him our family now has healthy veg all year round, all organic, and even the kids love veg now they see the fun in growing them.
I particularly love the way he doesn't just swallow conventional ways; he questions things and thinks and experiments for himself.
This man deserves a knighthood.

[reidasowden]

This man’s voice! I could listen to him for hours on end.

[annasobkowiak]

I'm transforming my garden right now, from green grass to vegetable field in heart of big city! So, let's follow Charles and God bless him and his 'no dig' method. Greetings from Poland:-)

[tedbastwock]

I encourage EVERYONE who's found their way to this video to consume as much of Charles' content as possible -- YT videos, Books, Online Courses, In-person Courses (he still does these?), Calendars and other merchandise the man has learned decades ago from pioneers who went before him and he himself has now decades of experience and wisdom to share. IK my personal enterprise has benefitted greatly from the knowledge learned here, and I've become a fervent Charles Dowding evangelist with absolutely no qualms or reservations about telling others about him. I must say, in contrast, there are some other "teachers" that I don't dare mention to others, as I've found their ways sub-par and lacking, and wouldn't want to hurt my own reputation in recommending them, but CD I have no problem recommending. Bless you, Charles, and Happy New Year.

[ThorneyRose]

You made me smile talking about the soil microbes and “eating a bit of it” like on the carrot. I’m a retired nurse and one of my colleagues was complaining how her children were always sick. And I told her “you need to let them eat more dirt”. She was horrified. Needless to say, my kids ate dirt, grasshoppers, cat & dog biscuits and other stuff found outside. They’re extremely healthy. Thank you for sharing. New subbie and new to gardening here. 🌹Rosie of Oz🇦🇺 & 🐶Omega the Cavalier🐶 - my doggo who likes watching YouTube with me and is my gardening supervisor!

[markwiltshire]

Charles, I am a retired Horticulturist and did my apprenticeship in the late 70s. At college we were taught to single dig each year and add FYM yearly except for areas for root crops. The no dig theory goes against all of my training, experience and to be honest belief. As a trial last year I grew autumn Carrots and Parsnips in raised beds with used compost. The results were the best ever. I have now put the whole plot down to no dig. I added 4” of mushroom compost and matted the whole area to keep the foxes off. I have planted first early spuds and onion sets and can not wait to see the results. I hope that this method works as I have saved so much time. Will keep you posted.

[RevDiscarnateEntity]

Dear Mr Dowding, thank you so much for this advice. I used your method at beginning of lockdown as an amateur having never gardened before. I am astonished at how prolific my veg has been 😃 Potatoes, cabbage, kale, spinach, onions, sweetcorn, peas, beans, leeks, marrows, pumpkins and lettuce. I also felt inspired to get rid of the sofas and junk in my conservatory and have grown pounds and pounds of tomatoes, cucumbers, chillis, peppers, aubergines and basil. I feel so smug 😁
Many heartfelt thanks for your easy system.

[kirstenf]

The sharing of knowledge, with this quiet humility! If only everyone was like this, the world would be so different..

[julesgoh]

I played this video many times in preparation of my first no dig mini garden today. Thank you Charles for this masterclass. I even stepped all over the compost

[newfguy]

you, Sir, are doing a noble service by educating people how to grow healthy food. Bravo!

[jackspatch]

Glad your going back to basics for all the newbies now no-digging for victory

[momcation]

“Keep thinking ahead” is what I learned from you today! Thank you for the inspiration as always! I’ll prepare my very first no dig (a very small area in my small garden). The goal is to share my harvest with others. I enjoyed watching all your videos! Your garden is my dream garden! God Bless you always Charles!

[hils]

Thank you for this video. It's inspired me to garden again after a few traumatic yrs (nurse, got covid and was in a coma) couldn't walk after and still recovering. I love gardening but can't weed etc. This no dig method is amazing. Thank you

[KarenTookTheKids]

Ordering a 65" TV from Amazon so I can get the cardboard for this 😂

[keeksputels]

this lockdown has given me the time to do projects I've been putting off for years, made a couple extra beds and a nice sized pond. thanks for the video

[gloriagehring]

I've moved to a 5 acre plot with a home on it to teach my friend how to garden, this is the method I've done for community gardens and will use for her place. We've got this in our late 60's.

[katherinetillotson]

I am 70 years old and have just started watching the wonderful and truly eye-opening videos Charles has produced. I havent been able to create a vegetable patch since my thirties due to chronic back problems and he has just changed all that?!I had no idea it was possible to grow vegetables or fruit without digging. You are an absolute one man revoluation in growing food Charels! I'm sure there are many of us who will be out there in our gardens following your adivce without ending up laid up in bed as a result! Thankyou!!