How to Create a No Dig Garden

Why do it the hard way?

Do away with weed-infested areas the easy way. Make new flower/veggie beds in areas of poor soil, etc. No Digging!

Steps

1. Save all those newspapers, local/free press papers, etc., that you recycle - preferably not the glossy, colored, advertising brochures - just newsprint. Use your neighbour's papers, too!
2. Get enough mulch from your local nursery (color/texture to your liking) to cover the area to a depth of three inches.
3. Pace out the area you wish to convert. You will be covering this with wet newspaper three or four sheets thick with a couple of inches overlap all round. This will give you a rough idea of how much you will require. This is not rocket science!
4. Slash or mow the area in preparation, leaving everything lying on the ground. Scatter "blood and bone" or a good multi-feed in powder or pellet form.
5. Water well.
6. Fill wheelbarrow with newspapers and cover with water in the barrow.
7. Open the wet newspapers to three to four sheets and drop onto the ground, overlapping a couple of inches as you go. If the ground is uneven, use more paper.
8. When you're finished with the paper, spread the mulch. How you finish the edges is your choice. I have used large rocks as well as more formal wood edging.
9. Wait nine to ten months and then make holes through the mulch/paper and start planting.

Tips

* You can skip the waiting period by laying soil from your local nursery onto the paper and putting the mulch onto the soil.
* Most newspapers these days use soy ink for color printing, which is not harmful to plants. Still, your local paper may use petroleum-based colored ink, which is toxic, so you may want to avoid newspaper with color inks.