Tried that no-dig gardening thing in my backyard and it actually worked

I threw down some cardboard and compost over a patch of nasty clay soil last fall, just to see what would happen. By spring, the ground was soft enough to plant in without even picking up a shovel. I put in 12 tomato plants and they grew like crazy, way better than the ones I dug beds for. The worms showed up like crazy under that cardboard too. Has anyone else tried this method and seen a big difference in soil quality?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_park28d ago

Funny you mention the tomato plants, because I had a volunteer squash pop up right where I put my cardboard down, and it was the biggest plant in the garden. That cardboard trick really holds the moisture in too, I barely had to water even through a dry spell in July. Makes you wonder if we’ve been overworking the soil for years with all that digging and tilling.

drew_park28d ago

I laid down 8 layers of flattened cardboard boxes from Home Depot over my back patch of hardpan clay, soaked it good, then piled on about 6 inches of mushroom compost and shredded leaves. By the next spring I could push a trowel in with one hand. My cucumbers went nuts too, and the earthworms were thick as worms under a wet log. The ground stayed soft and crumbly all summer, way better than the rototilled beds I used to fight with every year.

pat_schmidt6028d agoMost Upvoted

Did you leave the cardboard right on top or pull it off before the spring planting?