I only double dig if I have drainage problems, otherwise I use the no dig technique of piling organic matter on the top and letting the worms do the work. I have done this on heavy brick clay and after 4 years the soil is now friable down to about 8 inches, which is fine for the majority of vegetables and plants that I grow.
if anything double digging where large shrubs or even trees are going to go can be counter productive as it breaks the soil structure down so trees in particular blow over more easily. I had this problem where I planted a community orchard on an old allotment site and after a big storm five years later you could see which trees had been planted on former beds (lying down) or former pathways (still standing)!
Depends on what you are growing them for, show roots needed even then a tap root as long as the main body and showing was one of Dads hobbies along with his beloved Chrysanthemums and boxing he would go and watch all the boxing matches locally including my school, no H&S then. I would have thought it common sense not to dig near trees or shrubs our fruit trees were wall trained around three sides of the garden with a small orchard separate never dug. There are always more than one way to crack an egg, gardening is one of those pursuits with more opinions on how to do things than any other, take the easy route and get a crop, do it right and get a super crop, it is up to each person how they do it and as mentioned above there are no easy ways if you want the best.
We would need to ask one of the Agricultural Colleges Hostafan and what would it prove as we all have different soil, I live on a brick clay area and had to double dig to get through building rubble compounded clay from machinery (we bought new build 30 years ago) then loosen up the under clay to allow drainage, luckily we live at the top of a bank so the drainage went down hill across a falling field to a beck, double double digging. Most around went the other way building up with raised boxes and such. With many loads of manure from the farm plus digging in paper clothing the odd rabbit dead bird and an old dog we got a manageable garden. My Dad had a sand hill under his garden and was nearly two hundred years old with masses of manure from the start his top soil was three feet deep and yet with experience from years of digging he knew to double dig the root bed which with rotation meant every five years the same part got double dug then sometimes left fallow for a year. I never even after all my work got vegetables like he did so was that a good test, was it the soil, the masses of horse manure we used at home or just good husbandry on Dads part, we do not know and all the scientists could come up with different results, why change something that works I ask?
Each to his own, as an engineer I learned early on if it is not broke do not fix it though when we did have to fix it it was done by the book, that way we only did the job once. No one tells you how to cultivate your own garden but I prefer a job done properly it gets results. Around me new people are moving in and want to grow their own, they have to undo some bad past gardening plus we see skips full of decking and pavings before they can find the garden. We do not live in the same place for ever do not build up hard work for the next person I say.
I hope I'm not giving the impression that I think it's a waste of time. I simply choose not to.
It does surprise me that none of the agri / horti colleges , nor the RHS garden sites across the country, have set up trials to evaluate the efficacy of one method compared with the other.
I'd never TELL anyone how to work their plot in the same way I'd never allow anyone to TELL me how to work mine.
One of the nice things about us gardeners is we're always happy togive, listen to, and sometimes ignore , advice.
Hostafan, You were not giving the impression it is a waste of time you sound like a gardener to me all I ever wish to do is tell inexperienced gardeners why some things often have to be done. Getting a new garden up to scratch takes years not days as I found with my garden, I was double digging parts for nearly three years letting the frost do some of the work and worms do the rest luckily having a good supply of manure from my Sons horses, not every one has that. It is appalling that builders remove all the top soil from a site and sell keeping just enough to lay down six inches on compacted ground and roll out turf on it, the owners have no chance, we get questions on here how can we save such lawns, I try to be kind but truthful as well it hurts. Gardeners are a law unto themselves the only real freedom we have unless you are bitten by the fashion bug and go into the latest make over nonsense those programmes have a lot to answer for. Most newcomers to gardening did not have the Dads teaching them from an early age telling them it was play and by the questions we get have a lot to learn from us old hands who did come up with a spade instead of a teddy, that is where I aim Hostafan not at gardeners like you.
Posts
I only double dig if I have drainage problems, otherwise I use the no dig technique of piling organic matter on the top and letting the worms do the work. I have done this on heavy brick clay and after 4 years the soil is now friable down to about 8 inches, which is fine for the majority of vegetables and plants that I grow.
if anything double digging where large shrubs or even trees are going to go can be counter productive as it breaks the soil structure down so trees in particular blow over more easily. I had this problem where I planted a community orchard on an old allotment site and after a big storm five years later you could see which trees had been planted on former beds (lying down) or former pathways (still standing)!
single digging goes down about 12". I've never grown carrots any longer than that.
Depends on what you are growing them for, show roots needed even then a tap root as long as the main body and showing was one of Dads hobbies along with his beloved Chrysanthemums and boxing he would go and watch all the boxing matches locally including my school, no H&S then. I would have thought it common sense not to dig near trees or shrubs our fruit trees were wall trained around three sides of the garden with a small orchard separate never dug. There are always more than one way to crack an egg, gardening is one of those pursuits with more opinions on how to do things than any other, take the easy route and get a crop, do it right and get a super crop, it is up to each person how they do it and as mentioned above there are no easy ways if you want the best.
Frank.
I take your point totally Frank, but
We would need to ask one of the Agricultural Colleges Hostafan and what would it prove as we all have different soil, I live on a brick clay area and had to double dig to get through building rubble compounded clay from machinery (we bought new build 30 years ago) then loosen up the under clay to allow drainage, luckily we live at the top of a bank so the drainage went down hill across a falling field to a beck, double double digging. Most around went the other way building up with raised boxes and such. With many loads of manure from the farm plus digging in paper clothing the odd rabbit dead bird and an old dog we got a manageable garden. My Dad had a sand hill under his garden and was nearly two hundred years old with masses of manure from the start his top soil was three feet deep and yet with experience from years of digging he knew to double dig the root bed which with rotation meant every five years the same part got double dug then sometimes left fallow for a year. I never even after all my work got vegetables like he did so was that a good test, was it the soil, the masses of horse manure we used at home or just good husbandry on Dads part, we do not know and all the scientists could come up with different results, why change something that works I ask?
Frank.
I'm with you tetley. My garden is lucky if it gets single digging.
Each to his own, as an engineer I learned early on if it is not broke do not fix it though when we did have to fix it it was done by the book, that way we only did the job once. No one tells you how to cultivate your own garden but I prefer a job done properly it gets results. Around me new people are moving in and want to grow their own, they have to undo some bad past gardening plus we see skips full of decking and pavings before they can find the garden. We do not live in the same place for ever do not build up hard work for the next person I say.
Frank.
Frank,
I hope I'm not giving the impression that I think it's a waste of time. I simply choose not to.
It does surprise me that none of the agri / horti colleges , nor the RHS garden sites across the country, have set up trials to evaluate the efficacy of one method compared with the other.
I'd never TELL anyone how to work their plot in the same way I'd never allow anyone to TELL me how to work mine.
One of the nice things about us gardeners is we're always happy togive, listen to, and sometimes ignore , advice.
Hostafan, You were not giving the impression it is a waste of time you sound like a gardener to me all I ever wish to do is tell inexperienced gardeners why some things often have to be done. Getting a new garden up to scratch takes years not days as I found with my garden, I was double digging parts for nearly three years letting the frost do some of the work and worms do the rest luckily having a good supply of manure from my Sons horses, not every one has that. It is appalling that builders remove all the top soil from a site and sell keeping just enough to lay down six inches on compacted ground and roll out turf on it, the owners have no chance, we get questions on here how can we save such lawns, I try to be kind but truthful as well it hurts. Gardeners are a law unto themselves the only real freedom we have unless you are bitten by the fashion bug and go into the latest make over nonsense those programmes have a lot to answer for. Most newcomers to gardening did not have the Dads teaching them from an early age telling them it was play and by the questions we get have a lot to learn from us old hands who did come up with a spade instead of a teddy, that is where I aim Hostafan not at gardeners like you.
Frank.