How to start a no-dig garden

Inspired by a helpful YouTube guide. We based this walk-through on the popular UK video "How to grow a No-Dig Garden" from the RHS — the Royal Horticultural Society — which features experts from RHS Gardens Wisley and Bridgewater demonstrating the method on real beds. A clear, authoritative watch before you order your compost.

1. Choose a spot and plan the layout

No-dig works anywhere — existing lawn, weedy ground, or bare soil. Aim for at least six hours of sun per day if you want to grow vegetables. For flowers, the requirements are more flexible.

Plan beds narrow enough to reach the centre without stepping in. 1.2 metres is a good width for reaching from both sides. Leave a permanent path of at least 50cm between beds so you always have somewhere to stand. The soil in the beds never gets compacted because you never walk on it. That is half the point.

2. Suppress existing weeds

Cover the entire area with overlapping sheets of cardboard — the thick kind from removal or appliance boxes. Remove any tape and staples first. Lay the sheets two or three layers deep, overlapping the edges by at least 150mm so light cannot get through the gaps.

Wet the cardboard thoroughly with a hose. This stops it blowing about and helps it break down faster. It will rot into the soil over several months, doing no harm and feeding the worms. Mind you, persistent weeds like bindweed and couch grass will push through eventually — pull them as they appear rather than digging down to chase the roots.

3. Add a thick layer of compost

Tip good garden compost directly onto the wet cardboard. You do not need to dig it in. Just pile it on. The deeper the better: 150mm is a minimum, 200 to 250mm gives you much more growing capacity, especially in year one when the beds are new.

Homemade compost is ideal if you have enough of it. Council green waste compost works well. Spent mushroom compost and well-rotted farmyard manure are good options. What does not work is fresh wood chip from a tree surgeon — it takes nitrogen from the soil as it breaks down and will stunt your crops.

Order in bulk if you are setting up several beds at once. A cubic metre of compost will cover roughly six square metres to a depth of 150mm — so plan quantities before you buy.

4. Mark out bed edges

Once the compost is down, define the edges of your beds and paths clearly. Untreated timber planks, old bricks, or corrugated metal edging strips all work. You do not need raised sides — edges are just to keep the compost from spreading onto the paths.

Alternatively, board the sides with timber to create a proper raised bed above the existing ground level. This is more work upfront but makes the beds easier to manage and gives you more compost depth without needing to heap it so high.

5. Sow or plant directly into the compost

You can sow seed or plant transplants directly into the compost within a few days of laying it. No digging, no forking, no rotovating. For small seeds, rake the surface level and sow as normal. For transplants, make a small hole with a trowel, pop the plant in, and firm the compost around it.

In the first year, the cardboard beneath is still breaking down and the soil below it is largely undisturbed. Plants may grow slightly more slowly than in an established bed. By the second year, the structure improves noticeably as earthworm activity increases and the two layers start to merge.

6. Keep the surface mulched

At the end of each growing season, add another layer of compost — 50 to 75mm — directly onto the bed surface. Do not fork it in or turn the soil. The worms do that work for you over winter. This annual top dressing is what keeps the no-dig system going year after year.

Between crops during the growing season, keep bare soil covered with compost, a thin layer of wood chip on the paths, or a light biodegradable mulch. Exposed soil grows weeds. Covered soil does not.

When to call a handyman

No-dig is genuinely a DIY job — the whole appeal is that it avoids heavy labour. That said, call Richard if you need help with the physical groundwork first: clearing an overgrown garden, levelling the site, building timber-sided raised beds, or shifting heavy loads of compost and materials around a garden that is hard to access.