Site Clearance

In most gardening books it is recommended that at least single digging is carried out in the initial site clearance. This in itself can be a mammoth task on a reasonably-sized plot.

I see in the Alan Titchmarsh book " How to be a Supergardener" he offers an alternative that he calls "Cheats digging". Similar descriptions in other books describe a similar process and I think call it "Ordinary" or "Simple" digging.

Anyone used this method? Did you use it for the initial site clearance only (to save time & effort) and follow up in following seasons with the conventional single (or even double) digging?

I look forward to reading your posts

Many Thanks

Cheers

CU

 

Pray tell what is this simple/cheats digging?

I always properly dig over any patch that is going to be planted into for the first time in a long time. Of course its hard work, but how else do you get all the air in, and roots out?

 

Well I am almost 65 retire in six weeks

I am of the opinion of do it right do it once, and what I can manage now, I may not be able to manage later in life

So it was damn hard work, but I have done SUNKEN BEDS
After removing the grass sods
I dug the top spit onto a taupalin,
the second spit I removed mostly to bags, for either dumping or using ?
Then I chucked all the taupalin soil back in the hole, along with two tons of manure and compost possibly more
What I thought was good previoulsy farmed land actually had about one ton or more of large boulders and stones in the bottom spit, stacked up but do not know whether to get rid or keep (story of my life If I get rid someone will require a rockery )

At the moment I have a couple of large 8'x4' glazed panes over part of it to try and get some warmth into the soil ready for the end of March and planting up

The intention is now I have good clean beds, I will be only raking and weeding rather than re digging when I am older (apart from adding compost or manure etc)

I suppose "Quick digging" is a get a lot of garden growing fast and care for it later
Is "Quick digging" where you just dig the bit you are growing in and leave the rest wild ?

Jack McHammocklashing

 

I'm with Jack if you gonna do it then do it right no point doing something half cocked and then having to go back and do it again.

Double digging is something which you won't have to do very often so you should take your time and do a proper job with it and then reap the rewards:yess:

 

Last febuary we got our plot of land, wanting to plant it up that season we used a mini tractor with a rotovator to dig the virgin meadow land. This year I am paying the price for cutting up and digging in all the roots. I am now painstakingly double digging areas as I need them and 'cleaning ' the soil of all the couch and buttercup that had ramaged through the fertile soil last season, its hard work an in hind site I would have cleaned the land first time round, but hindsite is a wonderful thing .

I think i would have hired a turf cutter and stripped of the grass before double digging the plot to extract any nasty roots.

Mrs Chopper

 

And the winner of this weeks Gardeners Corner Word of the Week challenge

 

Clueless 1

Here's an attempt to describe these methods:

Cheat’s Digging

“Instead of taking out a trench, simply start to dig across one end of the strip to be cultivated – lift up each spadeful of soil, invert it and throw it forward a little so that a slight “V” -shaped trench is created. Remove any thick-rooted weds
Spread manure along the sloping side of soil facing you
Turn over another spadeful of soil across the strip & repeat the process”

Ordinary Digging

“Push the spade as hard as you can, lift a large clod out of the ground and drop it on the surface next to you
Dig a second trench and turn the soil out of there into the first”

Simple Digging

“Lift out a spadeful of soil, invert it, drop it back into its original position then chop it up”

Cheers

CU

 

I got things ramaging all over my garden !! I set traps but still they ramage

 

I thought Prospects weren't allowed in the garden?:D

 

Jack McHammocklashing

Sunken beds - wow!! That sounds like civil engineering to me. Never mind getting prepared for retirement, there must be folks very much younger who couldn't manage that as a hand-dig. My hat goes off to you!

I also looked at this thread http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/...49-how-do-i-get-started-my-first-alloment.htm l and thought that Steve R's approach seemed very sound

Cheers

CU

 

Im also with jack on this one,
Now ive been serious ref gardening for many years now and not only did i go to evening study, but i also did full time garden design course and later made my living doing what i always wanted to do, change the world as far as gardens went,

Nothing gave me more than "end of project pleasure" at seeing what was wild, rescued for a time from mother nature and made into what we think of as a garden.(knowing one day that garden would return to mother nature)

Ive tried and had some good results in what was once called lazy gardening ie little or no digging,

This idea has been taken from natures way of covering up the land with leaves etc, so that weeds can't grow through,
you'll see this concept in forest and woods under trees, we'er the leaves fall every winter and the light is starved from the weed seeds "hence" not many seeds will germinate without light, and we know this via the instructions on seed pkts ref how deep to sow, some seed needs to be on top of the soil, others very little depth under and some 1/4 inch deep.

The idea of the Lazy way to garden was to use 4 inch every spring of compost added to the last years compost thats laying on the garden soil,
Hence you would build up a good depth of regular compost that wouldnt need to be moved or weeded.

No weeds will grow with this depth being added to, But the deep rooted weeds ie the ones with long single tubler type roots need to be removed first.

But ive found the way to garden is'nt by wanting or expecting a wonderful garden in next to no time with no effort, (It just dos'nt work like that)

After all said and done lets face it we are going against nature by growing things in lines and not having anything but our chosen veg/flowers etc,
Nature never has only one of anything, you'll not see just one weed type,

And as a final understanding of gardening and how it works, half "if not more" of the items we are trying to grow should'nt really be grown in this part of the world,

Our normal growing conditions are not what these plants we're designed to grow in.
It's us the gardener thats going against all the odds,

"but those" who take the time and try to understand how to provide what the plants/shrubs etc basic & i do say basic needs are have a better chance to have something like the garden we want.

Nobody said gardening was easy, but given understanding and not trying to cut corners and get something for nothing will only start the new to gardening off on the right foot,

If you do it this way and you find you enjoy it?????????

You'll have a hobby that you'll be doing while you think about problems un -related to the garden, you'll find you'll laugh inside at somethings in life, and you can even have a sad time on your own terms "All while your gardening"

it's a bit like turning the wippers on when driving, when you first learn to drive you think about such a task, when you get more experienced driver it becomes the natural thing to do when needed,

gardening is just the same, as you get more experienced things become the natural things to do at the right times

 

AHH but jack is a scottish man and you know as well as me what the scotts are famouse for "not spending if they dont have to"
maybe just maybe (He's got ideas about his final resting place!!! sunken beds???? SAY NO MORE?

Why spend twice when you can start early be removing the top soil now

Ahhhhhhhh canny those scottish men :happydance:

 

Just be thankfull that I drapped a penny, it hit me on the back of the head picking it up, and the scabble with my mate to get it resulted in Copper Wire

Jack McHammocklashing

 

Ah, I see. These newfangled strategies eh? So, basically what we're saying is its exactly how my dad taught me to do it when I was little, which in turn is exactly how his dad taught him. As opposed to just randomly digging and burying your own boots