The no-dig school of gardening isn’t just for the veg patch, says Pete Harcom: get healthier soil, fewer weeds and more insects, as nature does the work
Here’s a thought … How about considering ‘No Dig Gardening’ for your flower borders?
While it is very often used in the vegetable-growing world, it can also be very beneficial to ensure a healthy soil in the flower borders. Soil is a living organism and simply not digging the border over – just mulching perhaps twice a year – can really make a difference to suppressing weed growth and ensuring healthy soil.
The guru on this seems to be Somerset-based Charles Dowding – there is plenty of information on his ideas on Youtube and his website charlesdowding.co.uk.
One thing to mention though: if you have a lot of pernicious perennial weeds such as bindweed or nettles in your border, you may wish to spend some time trying to remove the weeds individually by hand. Alternatively, you can cover your border with cardboard and a thick mulch and leave it for a few months. The cardboard will smother the weeds, but then rot down and become part of the soil (no digging!). If perennial weeds are a real problem, you may have to clear the bed and leave it fallow for 12 months, continuing to remove weeds throughout that time.
Not digging can really help soil fertility and also bring back many insects. Mulch/garden compost or farmyard manure needs to be at least four inches deep and I would suggest twice a year to ensure soil improvement. Worms will do the digging over of the beds for you, and will drag the mulch, manure or garden compost down into the soil too.
If you are lucky enough to have a weed-free border, then after the mulch is put down you could immediately plant wallflowers, pansies and forget-me-knots ready for the spring.
Here are a few other jobs for the month:
Autumn is the best time for planting new trees, shrubs and hedges.
Clean out the greenhouse, and prepare it for winter sowing. If you have shade paint on your greenhouse glass, now is the time to remove it: on a dry day remove the paint carefully with a dry cloth. This will help let in more light in the shorter winter days, and help grab the sun’s heat in the cooler months.
Also remember to clean and disinfect the pots, staging and the inside of the glass with a warm solution of disinfectant to reduce pests and fungal infection.
Move tender plants (fuchsias, pelargoniums etc) into the greenhouse to overwinter later this month, ahead of first frosts.
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