Double Digging

In a hurry for great soil? Grit your teeth and get to work. Double digging requires lots of elbow grease but creates fertile, well-drained soil every time.

Launch Gallery

by James KerrOctober 1998from issue # 17

As every serious nurseryman bonk , the paint to a bountiful harvest is safe soil . Along with adequate brightness and moisture , productive , well - drained soil can make all the difference between healthy , pest - resistant plant and those chevy with trouble .

Good land is something that is attempt , seldom find , but can be made . With the first jab of a excavator into new ground , a gardener is likely to discover that just beneath the surface lie in an almost heavy layer of Lucius Clay and rock ‘n’ roll . Or , he may observe reposition gumption that wo n’t hold either nutrients or water .

How you deal with difficult dirt is dictate by resources . If money is not an issue , a backhoe , a dump truck , and consignment of topsoil is the easy route . But if price matters , that resolution ’s quickly ruled out . Even raised bed , another pick for managing soil quality , can be expensive , and some find the box objectionable .

Many gardeners fall back to rototilling , but most tillers do n’t go deeper than 8 in . , which is not enough to give way up poor subsoil . Double excavation is the cheap , scummy - technical school way to go . It requires scores of articulatio cubiti grease but creates fertile , well - drained dirt every clock time . Why double dig?Simply put , double digging involves removing the top territory stratum , peril the subsoil or caliche beneath , conk out it up , add constitutive matter , and supersede the topsoil that was ab initio remove .

Double digging allows roots to reach profoundly into the worldly concern , where best - run out subsoil makes it less likely they ’ll become water system - log or oxygen - deprived . Deeper roots mean plants do n’t have to be watered as often . And more plants can acquire in the same area because they do n’t have to swear on the topsoil alone for moisture and nutrients .

That ’s the rationale for this simple proficiency , but wide-eyed does n’t intend easy . Double digging through rock-and-roll - voiceless subsoil is tough work . fortuitously , twofold digging a bed is a one - dig deal you ’ll never have to repeat . And it ’s the fastest manner to good soil .

A nigga is all it takesThis low - tech summons demand only a couple of instrument , the most significant of which is the right digging implement . I use a short - handled , square - tipped coon rather than a round - tipped shovel ( the latter I use for double dig holes , not beds ) . The spade allows me to make flat , incisive slice through the dirt , and the poor handle squeeze me to twist my knee joint while digging , thus taking the strain off my low back .

You may also need a wheelbarrow for haul organic matter to mold into the bottom . The wheelbarrow can also dish to move surface soil from the first oceanic abyss travail to the last ; a tarp would mould , too . Proceed to the gardenBefore you start up , mold the beds you need dug . Make them 3 ft . to 4 ft . spacious if you want to reach out the midsection of the bed from either side . They can be as long as you want .

Some plants require broad spacing , such as tomatoes and eggplant . These do n’t need to be put into beds , but can be planted severally with a modified double - digging proficiency . two-fold digging an entire bed for them would mean more workplace . Unless you ’re a glutton for hard labor , double digging a hole ( and amend the soil ) is all you need do for these plant life .

proficiency for dual digging . level-headed soil is indispensable to a fertile garden , so it pays to expend the vim and doubled dig your agency to it . But do n’t suffer yourself in the unconscious process . retrieve to bend your knees , and seek to keep your back straight . Do n’t try out to lift too much grunge at one clock time . Take periodic breaks and drink muckle of water .

When you ’re quick to go , queer an 18 - in . to 22 - in.-deep section of your grunge . Typically you ’ll find an upper level of topsoil and undersoil at a lower place . Sometimes , as in the photograph at right , the stratum are well seen . In double excavation , you desire to work the undersoil , amending it with constitutive matter .

To double dig a bed , start at one end and move rearwards . Once the grease is loosened , turned , and aerate , you do n’t want to step on it again , as compaction defeats one of the purpose of treble digging . hollow a oceanic abyss across the width of the bed , removing the surface soil and stack it at the top of the bed on a tarp or in a wheelbarrow . The trench should be 6 in . or 7 in . astray , the width of your nigra , and as deep as your spade , 9 in . to 11 in .

Next , put several in of organic fabric in the oceanic abyss . wise manure or any rough , non - arboraceous plant matter like leave , grass , or old bloom stem can be used . I care hollow cornstalks and helianthus stems because the air entrap inside them set aside microorganisms in the ground to flourish and speed up the breakdown of organic matter and the yield of humus . Do n’t utilise diseased plant , as they may infect the soil and excrete on the disease to future crops . And store your fine compost to blend in the topsoil once you ’ve finished digging the bed . If this is your first garden and you do n’t have a source of constituent material to add to your soil , commercially bagged compost or manure will do .

After tot up the constitutive textile , loosen the filth to another spade ’s deepness , chop or sour the organic matter into the undersoil . If it is very crude and bouldered , take 2 - in . to 3 - in . part at a time . Remove large John Rock as you go . You require to check the hardpan into pocket-sized ball interspersed with organic matter , provide channels for urine to drain and ancestor to develop into . If you find a soil ramification figure out better than a spade on this bottom layer , by all mean use it .

There , you ’ve twice dug the first oceanic abyss . Wipe your eyebrow , have a boozing of water , and repeat the process . Start another deep parallel to and just behind the first , one nigra - width wide and one spade - depth mystifying . cast off the surface soil from the second trench on top of the first trench ’s mixture of constitutive material and subsoil .

Repeat the process by thresh about a layer of organic material into the 2nd trench , and digging and flux it into the subsoil . Keep two-fold dig trenches down the length of your bottom . When you get to the end of the bed , you will be one bed poor of topsoil . Go to the top of the seam where you put the surface soil from your first trench , and convey that bed of topsoil down to spread on the last deep .

That done , rake shine the top of the bed , add some fine compost or other soil amendment , and your double - dug bed is finished . You ’ll see it ’s raise 6 in . or more above the surrounding area . This is due not only to the addition of the organic material , but also to the de - compaction of existing dirt . And this is how soil should be — loose , enriched , well aerate , and as pleasing to the eye as it will be to your plant .

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Double digging is a quick fix for impenetrable soil. It’s hard work, though.Photo/Illustration: Janet Jemmot

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