Information on Garden materials, Soil, Compost and Mulch
Your Questions Answered

How much biochar to use for growing plants?  HOW MUCH BIOCHAR SHOULD I USE IN THE GARDEN? HOW MUCH TO USE IN CONTAINERS?

Filling Raised Beds  Our chicken coop, garden, compost beds are all in the fenced (deer proof) orchard. They are alternated garden, compost, garden so the compost has up to ...

Composting weeds  Dear 'No Dig',

I have just mowed and trimmed the lawn. The clippings are a mixture of grass and weeds. Some websites say that grass is good for compost ...

Raised beds too hot! Over fertilized?  hi there,

around two weeks ago i layered up two raised beds following the no dig method (but i am worried i may have majorly over fertilized in my naive ...

using potting soil in the veg garden  Hello fellow gardeners, I have been dumping my old potting soil in my small veg garden in the fall. Is this O.K? Can I put it the composter? DIANE ...

Filling Lasagna Bed  I have a big lasagna bed that is empty now and I have started filling it with dry donkey manure. How many inches should I put in this bed before I start ...

Double Digging Using Seaweed  Hi Organic No Dig people from New Zealand. Although I am a confirmed No Dig organic gardener I recall helping my father trenching/double digging the barley ...

Lucerne Hay in Wellington, NZ  I'm about to build some No-Dig beds in my garden. Thanks to all for the wealth of material on this site.

I'm confused about the layer of Lucerne Hay....

What's in this Horse Manure in my garden?  I have located a good local source of horse manure for my garden. I haul about a cubic yard of manure mixed with straw and hay every week. I have noticed ...

Wood Mulch  Can wood mulch/chips be used on top of the newspaper. I thought I had read somewhere that wood mulch wasn't good for vegetable gardens

Donkey manure for a garden  I have fenced in part of my yard and inside this fence is load after load of donkey pooh that has been covered over with leafs and old straw. How long ...

Missed soil layer in no dig garden?  Hello,
Did I get the layers wrong?

I started a no dig garden on bare soil last autumn with cardboard, manure, 10-20 cm straw. I didn't put on the final ...

Shredded paper as mulch  My garden soil is very much clay even after working it in with amendments through the years. I have a great deal of shredded paper from excess bills, advertisements,...

No Dig Garden Layers  Hi there,

I have started my no dig garden just based on conversations I have had with some friends. But I am now concerned that I may not have layered ...

What to fill up deep 75cm garden beds for Community Garden  We are building a community garden. Ground "covering" breaking is on Feb 5th.
I am encouraging the group to use The No Dig method. I need you expertise ...

Mulching and layering a new veggie patch  Hi
I have owned a lovely 4 acre piece of land for three years, am living on it with my husband and two year old in a caravan, while converting a barn ...

concrete base for raised garden bed?  I am restricted to a concrete base in my raised garden, my garden is 3m x 1.5m x 1m deep.
I have put 300mm of pea straw in the base then layered sheep ...

Drain Coil for straw compost bin  What is a drain coil used for a straw compost bin? I have used straw bales to make compost bins.

Is municipal compost safe for starting a no-dig garden?  Hi, I am planning to start a no dig garden in my allotment, which has been in use 10-20 years already and has been cleared for me to move in.

I can ...

rolling and crimping cover crops  I have been thinking what the best way to grow a no till organic garden is. I think growing cover crops and then rolling and crimping them to kill them ...

Making Compost bins from Wheelie bins?  has anyone made a compost bin using a wheelie bin, if so did it work.

can I grow daffodils in steer manure compost?  I have just raised my flower beds 18" with a layer of steer manure compost. can I plant my daffodil bulbs directly into the compost? Is this soil ok ...

Compost ingredient combinations  I have just completed an Organic Horticulture course at a polytech and am trying five different brews of compost using combinations of "freebie" materials ...

Straw bale gardening - how long to soak straw  I'm just starting with a straw bale garden. Do I soak the straw for five days, or one day, then let it sit for 5 days?
How do i know if it's ready? It'...

Mixing ash and ambers in a garden  Burned alot of brush and branches which left ash and ambers about 4 years ago. My son thought he would be helpful and mixed it all in part of our garden ...

Guinea Pig Aspen Bedding as Mulch?  Our family has a couple of Guinea Pigs. We clean their cage out aleast twice a week, dumping the used Aspen bedding and replacing it with clean bedding....

Do you still use Newspaper in a no dig container garden?  Will newspaper hinder the drainage of a No Dig Container garden? Or do I layer it like your diagram on the site?

building up a flower bed over bulbs and perennials  I have an established flower bed where crocuses, balloon flower, daffodils and tulips grow back every year. The bed is in need of building up and typically ...

how long to keep chicken manure before using on garden?  I have four chickens and want to use the chicken poop+ straw for my vegetable garden. I understand you can't put manure straight onto the garden as it ...

Substitute for newspaper layer on no dig garden  What can I substitute for the layer of newspaper? I don't subscribe to any newspapers, and have a large area. Will be costly to buy enough newspapers....

Using inorganic straw on no dig farm  I have a small organic farm that I would like to put into no-dig/till, but have not been able to find any naturally grown straw...I have heard stories ...

Where do I find compost if I have none for new garden.  I am looking at raised bed gardening but am wondering where I get compost to use at the start....I am moving to new location and no compost pile is available....

Leaves for composting  I would like to use leaves as compost in my no-dig garden. The nearest trees to my garden plot are oak, pine and hickory. Is there anything about ...

Coffee Grounds for garden  Are coffee grounds good for anything, if so what for? Are there any nutritional values for soil or other things.
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Megan ...

Does a heavy clay soil need tilling before planting a no dig garden?  I am getting ready to start a 50' x 70' no till vegie garden on new ground. I keep reading that you really don't need to till or even plow the new ground ...

How to calculate how much hay is needed for garden mulch?  Is there a formula for calculating how much hay is needed to mulch a garden, ala' Ruth Stout method? i.e. X number of bales of hay to mulch 100 sq. ft....

Dog manure in the garden - Is dog manure safe around lemon tree in backyard?  I've got a lemon tree and it's been producing for the past 4 years. My concerns are that my dog, a german shepherd, shares the yard and close to it; 6-...

Building a No dig garden - Lucerne hay  I am keen to start a no dig garden and could you please tell me why lucerne hay is used at the bottom. My husband wonders why when it probably has been ...

Plastic garden covering - Covering the garden with plastic?  I've heard that covering the garden with plastic is a good way to keep moisture in (important in AZ) and helps to prep the soil for when I plant in October....

Soil - heavy soil that goes hard  my soil is very hard, i dig it and a couple of weeks it is hard again. what can i use? regards col

Lucerne or hay sprouting. Unwanted? Beneficial?  I have green 'grass' - which I think must be either the lucerne or the hay sprouting - coming up everywhere! When I pull a piece out, there is a seed ...

Using Weeds for Compost and Mulch  Hello! I live in Malaysia. First and foremost, thank you very much for this wonderful informative site. I have never grown anything even tho I have a ...

Brand new Green Thumb in Calgary Canada  Hello Fellow Gardeners!
I am very very green to gardening and this Spring will be my first attempt at building a no dig veggie garden. I live in a condo ...

What's the best manure to use on garden?  What is the best manure to use, or does it really matter? I have access to cow, horse and goat manure. Also I am able to get "used" straw.

Animal manures in the garden
Steer Manure  Regarding all the different animal manures in a garden, I'd like more information. Can steer manure be used in a no dig garden for the fertilizer?
I'm ...

Lucerne Hay. Can I use something else instead of Lucerne hay for mulch?  What is Lucerne hay? Where can I get it and can I use a substitute when I build my no-dig garden?
Megan replies... Suppliers to horse stables, or ...

Gathering mycorrhizae for garden  Is forest floor mycorrhizae reliable for garden?

What happens if you miss out the final compost layer  I started out my no-dig garden last autumn with a layer of cardboard, a layer of cow manure and then 10 cm of straw. This was only ligtly covered with ...

Raised beds or existing soil?  I have a patch of ground where a group of old bushes and weeds have been removed. This area has had for many years leaves falling here and being composted ...

How to get rid of Oxalis  I am starting a no dig garden as I can't find anyone to dig it for me, and my problem is I have a lot of oxalis. What is the best way to get rid of this?...

Bitter tasting greens  Our garden soil is inherently decomposed granite. I have amended it over the years with mulch of organic compost, peat, potting soil and just about anything ...

Using heavy black truck tarps to stop weeds  We have heavy black truck tarps that we want to put in our garden to help with weed control. Is this type of tarp ok to use and what is the procedure for ...