No-Dig Gardening: A Practical Look at the Pros and Cons

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Lots of gardeners are trying no-dig gardening but what exactly is it and what are the benefits? Let’s have a look at this approach and why it might be a good option.

Growing without tilling or turning the soil is nothing new. You can read A Brief History of No-Dig Gardening here which includes one of my favorite gardeners, Ruth Stout.

What Does “No-Dig” Really Mean?

What is No-Dig Gardening No-dig gardening simply means disturbing existing soil as little as possible. Approaches vary depending on the circumstances and each gardener will do things a little differently, but here is one example. When starting a new garden bed, instead of digging or tilling the site, the gardener puts layers of cardboard over existing grass lawn or weeds with a layer of compost or some other mulch on top and waters everything. The idea is that over weeks and months the smothered grass or weeds will gradually die off and the cardboard decomposes, leaving a bed ready to plant. When planting in subsequent years, the existing soil is left as-is and a new layer of compost is added on top to replenish nutrients. No-dig doesn’t mean no shovel, spade, or trowel will ever touch your soil. You’re still going to be digging holes to add plants or bulbs or whatever you are growing, and you may have some other good reason to dig every now and then. The difference is, unlike more traditional approaches, we don’t dig simply to ‘loosen’ soil or work in amendments but instead create new layers on top. While the outcomes of dig versus no-dig growing may be the similar—either way can produce a thriving garden—the advantages to no-dig will depend on your growing conditions. No-Dig Gardening Pros and Cons Pros You may be able to grow just fine without digging. This first one may be the only reason you need. Some people turn or till their vegetable beds every single year. With no-dig, if it’s an established bed, we forgo that step entirely and just add compost or composted manure to the surface and add our plants or seeds as usual. I have neighbors who use a rototiller every single year on their large veggie bed, deeply grinding up the soil before planting. It’s a family tradition passed through a few generations. But imagine if you could just skip that step and get the same harvest? And what if multitudes of gardeners all skipped that step? That’s a lot of saved time and resources including fuel. In terms of yields, there is no published research indicating whether dig or no-dig is better in-home gardens. Just about all research on this topic (and many garden topics) focuses on agricultural settings, so any findings are not readily translated into the home garden setting. Anecdotally, Charles Dowding has been showing results of his trials for years. It’s not really scientific because it doesn’t have the controls and other experimental design elements we'd need to see, but there are some interesting results. According to the analysis on Charles Dowdings’s website, the dig and no-dig gardens didn't show any significant differences for yields. Some vegetables did show differences in some years, with a better yield in the no-dig garden, but there's not enough data to come to any real conclusions, other than there hasn't been any decline in yields with using a no-dig approach. So, you're not going to lose anything, as far as yields go. It would be nice, someday, to have a real study done, but it hasn't happened yet. But again, if you can get the same results while skipping the tilling or digging, why not? Avoid Disrupting Existing soil structures This idea gets mentioned a fair bit but there does not seem to be any research to support it (in home gardens) so at this point it’s more about your own garden principles rather than a measurable perk. Here’s the idea. We used to think of soil as, well, just kind of random dirt with no thought about the importance of soil structure and biota. We just knew some dirt seemed better than others. But soil is much more complex than that. Soil structure, which is comprised of aggregates, minerals, and organic bits provides pore spaces for water and air. Within there, biota like earthworms, fungi, bacteria, nematodes, other microorganisms, and insects (and more) bring soil to life, helping provide what plants need. Any time we dig into soil, we’re upsetting all that. We’re disrupting the soil ecosystem, which, with all that digging or turning will need to be re-established over and over again. So does that actually set us back? Not that we know of. So, in this way no-dig is more for those who want to work with existing soil components, rather than disturbing them. 3 Prevent Weed Seeds From Germinating For some of us, one compelling reason not to dig is because there are thousands of weed seeds lurking in our soil. Buried too deep, they do not have the right conditions to germinate. If we leave them alone, there's a good chance they'll just continue to sit there as seeds. But, if we dig and turn that soil, we're inviting them to germinate. It may not become a garden horror story if we’re also applying mulch on top, but there's a good chance any digging and turning can lead to more weeds. As someone with a lot of weed seeds, this alone is a compelling reason to avoid digging as much as possible and to make good use of organic mulches. Cons No-Dig May Not Be a Quick Fix Normally we start a garden bed wanting to plant right away but that’s not always possible. For a garden with hard, compact soil that is difficult to dig and grow in, switching to no-dig will take time. You’ll need to smother existing grass or weeds (with a layer of cardboard or something similar) and bring in loads of compost and mulch. One quicker option is created raised beds instead. They too can be no-dig and more budget-friendly than amending larger garden beds. With enough depth, they are ready to plant as soon as they have good compost and soil. It May Take a Lot of Mulch To Get Started While it sounds great not to have turn, till, or dig soil, in some cases we may be exchanging one big job for another. No-dig requires the addition of compost or mulch to top dress the garden beds. For a larger area this could require many yards of mulch at great cost to the management. Not to mention the time and effort to distribute it. For me, I still feel like I’m saving time and energy by not digging because either way I would need to add organic matter to my pathetic (super sandy, unfertile) soil each year. Environmental Considerations As mentioned, there is almost no research into no-dig gardening but a lot of research on no-till farming. We look for published, peer-reviewed research but most of it covers agricultural settings, not home gardens. Basically, we’re left to pick over the scraps to figure out what, if anything, we should take away as applicable to gardening. And we certainly don’t want to adopt farming practices that are of questionable value to gardens. That how we ended up with the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides in our gardens to start with. No-till farming, and, more broadly, "conservation agriculture" -- has been, and continues to be widely studied, especially in response to concerns about the degradation of agricultural soils, globally. This is a great threat in the tropics and subtropics with problems like soil erosion, lack of water and nutrient availability, and their effects on crop yields. It's been estimated that a third of the Earth's land surface has been affected by soil degradation to some degree. In farming, there is hope that no-till methods could have a significant impact in reducing climate change. Current estimates are that 20 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions come from the soil, about one-third of the methane emissions and two-thirds of nitrous oxide—all greenhouse gases. There's more carbon in the soil than in the atmosphere and all aboveground plant life combined, and most of it is more than a foot below the surface. You can see just from that why we should question tilling and turn soil. A few years ago, there was a report suggesting that no-till farming could significantly increase carbon storage in the soil, preventing, or at least delaying it from being released into the atmosphere. That's still being studied. There's a lot we don't know yet, and it looks like the original report was overly optimistic, but scientists are still figuring out what impact no-till might have on carbon sequestration. So no-till farming may play a crucial role in the future of agriculture -- and the world. How much of that is relevant to whether you dig your garden beds is questionable. Garden soils haven't experienced the degradation that we've seen in agriculture. They're very different activities with different scales and different effects. There are things you can do in your garden that contribute to solving larger ecological problems, but I haven't seen any evidence that your dig/no-dig decision is one of them.

No-dig gardening simply means disturbing existing soil as little as possible. This doesn’t mean you’ll never touch a shovel or trowel again. You’ll still dig holes for plants, bulbs, or other needs. The difference is, we don’t dig to loosen soil or work in amendments. Instead, we build up layers.

No-dig = disturbing the soil as little as possible.

Approaches vary depending on the circumstances and each gardener will do things a little differently, but here is one example.

When starting a new garden bed, instead of digging or tilling the site, the gardener puts layers of cardboard over existing grass or weeds, adds a layer of compost or mulch on top, and waters everything. Over time, the smothered grass or weeds die off and the cardboard decomposes, leaving a bed ready to plant.

When planting in subsequent years, the soil is left undisturbed and a fresh layer of compost is added on top to replenish nutrients.

While both dig and no-dig methods can produce thriving gardens, no-dig has some unique benefits depending on your growing conditions.

Why Try No-Dig Gardening?

Pros

Digging May Not Be Necessary

This one may be the only reason you need to switch to the no-dig method: it’s less work!

Some gardeners turn or till their vegetable beds every single year. With no-dig, we skip that step and just add compost or composted manure to the surface, then plant.

Organic Gardening the Natural No-Dig Way book

I have neighbors who use a rototiller on their large veggie bed every year—a family tradition passed down through generations. But imagine skipping that step and getting the same harvest. Multiply that by millions of gardeners and that’s a lot of saved time, fuel, and effort.

There is no published research showing whether dig or no-dig is better in home gardens. Most studies focus on agriculture, so they don’t translate well to backyard settings.

Anecdotally, Charles Dowding has consistently shown results from years of garden trials. While not scientifically rigorous, they suggest no significant difference in yields between dig and no-dig beds. In some cases, no-dig yielded slightly better, but the main takeaway is: no decline.

Let Soil Life Do the Work

We now understand soil as a living ecosystem. Soil structure, made up of aggregates, minerals, and organic matter, includes pore spaces for air and water. This environment supports a vast community: earthworms, fungi, bacteria, nematodes, insects, and more.

Digging disrupts this ecosystem. No-dig methods aim to preserve these natural systems by keeping soil layers intact.

Does digging set us back? We don’t really know. There’s no research confirming it in home gardens. But no-dig offers a way to work with, rather than against, the existing system.

Fewer Weeds, Less Work

For many of us, thousands of weed seeds lurk in our soil. Left buried, they stay dormant. But digging can bring them to the surface where they germinate.

This alone makes no-dig worth considering if you’re plagued by weeds. Add a thick organic mulch and you’ll block light to existing weeds and stop new ones from sprouting.

Cons

No-Dig Takes Time to Establish

We usually want to plant right away, but establishing no-dig takes time.

If you have compacted or grassy soil, you’ll need to smother existing vegetation with cardboard and top it with compost and mulch. That process takes weeks or months before you can plant.

A faster option is raised beds. These can be set up with compost and soil right away and follow the no-dig principle without needing to wait.

Requires a Lot of Compost or Mulch

You may be avoiding digging, but you’ll still need to haul compost and mulch. A large garden requires many cubic yards of material, which can be costly and labor-intensive. We have this handy soil – mulch – compost – potting mix calculator for this purpose.

As someone who already uses compost and mulch to top up garden soil, this is no change for me.

Is No-Dig Gardening Better for the Planet?

There’s almost no research on no-dig in home gardens. Most studies examine no-till farming—a related but much larger-scale practice.

Conservation agriculture (which includes no-till) is widely studied in response to soil degradation issues, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. It’s estimated that a third of Earth’s land has been affected.

There’s also hope that no-till farming can reduce climate change by keeping carbon in the soil. Current estimates suggest 20% of global CO2 emissions come from soil, along with one-third of methane and two-thirds of nitrous oxide emissions—all greenhouse gases.

There’s more carbon in the soil than in the atmosphere and all above ground plant life combined.

One report suggested that no-till farming could help sequester carbon, but follow-up studies suggest the original claims were too optimistic. Research is ongoing.

Still, farming and home gardening are different. Most garden soils haven’t been degraded like agricultural ones. While digging your backyard beds probably isn’t worsening climate change, it’s still worth considering methods that work with nature rather than against it.

In the end, we choose no-dig because it’s less work, results are just as good, and it fits our philosophy of gardening in partnership with the land.

Backyard garden in May with bee and dandelions.

Resources

What is Soil?

Soil

noun

The upper layer of earth in which plants grow, a black or dark brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains, clay, and rock particles.

Soil Biota

noun

Plants and animals living within soil including earthworms, fungi, bacteria, nematodes, other microorganisms, insects, plants, and more.

No-Dig Gardening Videos

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1 Data analysis by Thibaut Olivier (section)
Analysis of the results of Charles Dowding’s no dig trials.
https://charlesdowding.co.uk/no-dig-trial-2019-2020-current-year-at-top/

2 Limited Potential of No-Till Agriculture for Climate Change Mitigation
https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2292 (Paywall)

3 Tillage and Soil Carbon Sequestration—What Do We Really Know?
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2006.05.014 (Paywall)

4 To Till or Not to Till in a Temperate Ecosystem? Implications for Climate Change Mitigation
https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abe74e (Available)

5 Digging Deeper: A Holistic Perspective of Factors Affecting Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration in Agroecosystems
https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14054 (Paywall)

6 Ecosystem Services Provided by the Soil Biota by Lijbert Brussaard
from the book Soil Ecology and Ecosystem Services, edited by Diana H. Wall, 2012
Not available online

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛

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