Clearing weeds no dig, time-saving results over two years

In America I am seeing test results showing our cardboard can deposit "forever chemicals " in the soil as it degrades. The culprit seems to be the glue. I know your country bans certain chemicals from your processed food that America allows. Do you know if your country uses different chemicals in your cardboard? Perhaps there is an alternative we should be using in America?

I had chocolate spot on B-road beans and other beans tbh I interplanted with pot marigold/English marigold in following years. Haven’t had it since. Why who knows it worked for me. Also marigold deters other beasties

Is it OK to use pine woodchip? How old should it be?

I am just a newbie here and i was just wondering if the compost must be kept in shade or sun? really enjoying your videos.

I ❤ watching and being inspired, your sharing is truly a gift. Thank you!!!😊

Does anyone know if this method would work on a plot covered in Horsetail

This is fantastic learning, Charles. It is unbelievable. So much to apply in my garden. Love your time specifications. Am in New Zealand, gotta start now for the coming season. Thank you for sharing all this.

Your property is absolutely beautiful. Everything is so green, it's a different green than I have ever seen here in the US in homesteading.

charles i am keen to start up some biggish compost heaps this afternoon i am buying a small wood chipper (cant get wood chip delivered where i am )i have tons of branches i can chip i also want to try and compost prickly pear cactus pads because i have an endless supply of those too and can get a reasonable amount of coffee grounds , do you have any tips on the cactus pads ??

My GF says she likes a lot of wood.

Dear Mr. Dowding, Thank you for the information. I’m trying my best to transform my garden to no dig. For the path, I laid cardboard with wood chips (4 inches maybe) on top. It is working great but I would like to ask- crab grass seems to appear from out of nowhere. It isn’t coming up through the cardboard or reaching in from the sides. Baby crap grasses just keep appearing and I keep pulling them out. Do you have an issue with this? Any ideas? Thank you! Nikki

I wish I could work out how you keep the moles out of your wormery and beds!

I feel like Ive grown up reading and watching your videos! They always have a nostalgic feel watching you grow! Love from Morocco 🇲🇦

Marvellous, as always, Charles and Anna. Wonderful tips and a great view about a No Dig life. Je Vous aime! Keep on doing it.
A great and tender hug to you all, Charles and Anna, and to all your families.

My dad always said "a weed is a plant in the wrong place".
I believe he was absolutely correct.

You are close to Chew Magna, Chew River, Chewton Mendip , where my family came from.

An alternative to removing the top out of your tree. Use an excavator to root prune by digging a trench and just fill it back in.

Theres definitely truth to the F1 vigor. Its like natures way of rewarding plants for making new combinations of genetics. 🌱

I wish I had met you long ago. I love my 2 acre garden which I live in each summer. Yes I dig trenches for wood chips and use the old wood chips for nutrients each year. New wood chips go in every year. But this method has transformed old pasture into great soil for growing vegs. Your beautiful garden is an inspiration to me. My garden has lots of pernicious weeds, that I try to use to my advantage. If not seedy, weeds become mulch. So, I work with nature to the best of my 70 years. Best garden ever this year!!! Love your videos!! Thank you, Charles!!!

Hi Charles, The spinach/Medania has been such a joy during a couple of months, during the first period, May-June. I put it in compost from well burned horse manure mixed with some coconut coir; partly in shade, behind the huge black currant bush. That was before I let the currant branches down from the strings I have it holded back in before it set flowers and before I let it down and the huge currant completely took over the space. Now when I am writing this, July 6, the spinach is pulled out and replaced with sowed beetroots in front of sowed French dwarf beans in lovely purple. Could have presowed them but this time I didn´t. Thanks so much for showing us the way, teaching us all how to do this. You are such an inspiration Charles; you have such a nice tone of voice as well as looking good and, of course, have a very pretty, aesthetic, garden. Always a joy to look at your videos; thank´s again. Allotment, 80 sqm; Sweden/Stockholm, Lat 59 N, Lon 18 E.

Have you thought about harvesting your meadow before seeds fully develop a couple times a summer to make even more compost? It seems like a great way to prepare for new beds if it forms an excess of compost.

Only way I found to minimise chocolate spot is to sow the seeds earlier around February, sowing direct seems to yield better results for me, I pull off the bottom 2 rows of leaves to let the air circulate freely, the Botrytis funghi seems to not want to spread as fast, also planting them in an elevated, free draining bed and increasing spacing helps as well

Chocolate spot is caused by Botrytis cinerea. Is advised not to compost the leaves.

We have bindweed here in Kansas too. It gets ahead of you very fast!

Maravilloso video, gracias

I’ve never had a Sunberry nor even heard of them! In the Pacific Northwest, we have so many blackberries! Now I am thinking about introducing Sunberries in the wild areas of the property.

Last year, I made 3 no dig beds in the late Summer/Fall and then 1 this Spring. The 3 beds have just an occasional weed that blew in. But the Spring bed has a patch of crab grass that has grown up from underneath and hard to pull out. In the future,
I will make new beds in the Fall.

So how do you get rid of brambles without using nasty chemicals 🤔

Hi Charles. I am glad to see you too like the Lupins, i love them, they kind of are full of summerbeginningsmell and new life. Here where i live now they seems afraid of them. I realy admire you, you have a beautiful garden.

So beautiful! I'm loving the new area and it's so fun to watch it evolve!

Great video ! how do you manage the deer pressure for this type of garden with your vegetables?

Couchgrass is a nightmare in my garden…gross year by year…I keep fighting but seems like I am loosing that war.Any natural ways of killing couchgrass will be very appreciated.

Tell me about your hoops for the row covers. Where do you purchase them? Great video!!

When I grow up... I want a garden like yours.... Just looking at the garden esthetic perfection you have created lowers my blood pressure. I can only imagine what it would be like to spend time there. I hope heaven is as gorgeous as your little farm.

Beautiful garden

Very beautiful and modern farm place is very inspiring for my farm

New gardener here from Canada. Thank you so much for your educational videos. I started sprouting broccoli from seed this winter and planted it out. Unfortunately, the small plants went to seed before bearing any actual veg. Any ideas on what I could have done wrong?

Was quite strange hearing the the B&Q exc. Was mentioning Charles dowding and no-dig on essex radio yesterday. Your system of no-dig seems to be getting through to the general public.

I found the same thing with asparagus I bought many crowns and few took. but from seed wow they took very well

why dont you turn turf upside down, in piles, covered for 2 years, for a peat-like compost? And then compare the results with your other composts.

how deep does the mulch need to be over the cardboard if it is an area with bindweed?
How do you take care of your knees since these are not raised beds?
Do you do anything to keep deer out?

Love this video and the comparison photos!

Charles, do you reccomend not composting tomatoes because of the seeds? I found my home-made compost gave rise to a large host of volunteers sadly - am assuming because it wasn't hot enough.

Good morning Charles - and thank you for your latest video. I’m an Expat squatting here on Cape Cod (Massachusetts) and two years into a new (for us) house with an old and an overgrown garden My intention is to apply your well honed techniques to all new areas for planting therefore, would you recommend a couple of your books to get me started - as I will be in the UK later this year. Many thanks.

Charles you rock! I love the idea of not disturbing the soil. However we have deep ruts on our property. Too deep to just mow over. (from a mobile home we had pulled out. )I don’t know what to do. Everyone has advised to just scrape and start over. 😮. Do you have any words of wisdom for me.

That's a nice development. I hope to see it in my garden as well.

I return always to Charles' videos for inspiration and advice. I am building our no-dig plot gradually; 6 beds are complete and planted or are being planted. We have already started harvesting caulis, cabbage and beetroots, from the first plantings in March. Areas for 8 more beds are under black plastic awaiting their deposits of compost and wood chip paths. Weeding is exactly the same: a brief chore every morning or evening with a narrow trowel to hook out persistent perennials. As we are in Central Portugal, we can attempt the 3 sisters and I'm looking forward to trying it out. Everything is an experiment as growing here is very different from what we were used to back in north Wales!

Watching from the Philippines...

Hi Charles, How about growing some artichokes; so very tasty and also very very nutritious, and of couse delicious, possible to easily preserve for winter months; What´s your thoughts on that? - You definately have the space for it, haven´t you?