Does digging your garden beds actually improve your vegetable harvest?
In short: Charles Dowding compares two side-by-side garden beds to test the long-term effects of digging versus no-dig methods. By applying identical amounts of compost to both, he reveals how soil management influences plant growth and yield over several years.
Since 2012, Dowding has maintained a side-by-side trial: one bed is dug every winter with compost incorporated, while the other receives the same amount of compost spread only on the surface. This experiment builds on six years of previous testing at a different location. The video documents the progress of winter cover crops—including broad beans, peas, lambs lettuce, chervil, and coriander—transplanted on 3rd December 2021 without protection.
By 10th March, the video displays the visual differences between the beds and compares their respective harvests. It also covers subsequent plantings made on 15th March for early summer yields. The trial provides a practical look at the results of no-dig gardening in its eighth year as of 2020.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Dig vs no dig trial beds
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