[missmoneypenny]

Apologies as I’m sure this has been done to death. I’m 11 years in and usually enjoy a good dig. However as I hit my mid 50s my back can take it less and less. I’m considering N.D. ( placing cardboard sheets on the weeds, then compost/ manure in the cardboard and planting in to that) but my main problem  is I’ll mostly have to use horse manure instead of finished compost as I just won’t have enough of that . Is horse manure a less good medium for no dig? And how do you manage the slugs and snails that will inevitably congregate under the cardboard? Thanks for any advice.

[Goosegirl]

I use rotted horse manure and just lay it on the top where I don't want to dig it in and let the worms take it down over time.

[missmoneypenny]

Thanks goose girl. If you lay the horse manure in autumn ( and to be fair mine isn’t particularly well rotten, its council stuff, a lot of straw and some semi rotten horse Poo) is it ready to plant  in in spring? I’ll take a pic later today.

[Potterer]

Hi. I do no dig too. If it’s not well rotted, it might be best to put it in a compost bin for the autumn. You might get away with planting into sooner if you spread it now but  you might not…Depends how fresh/rotted it is. I always have some straw and fresher bits in mine and I put them aside for composting. I still have plenty of rotted stuff within the same batch though.

[Kleftiwallah]

"As I hit my mid 50s"
I'm 73 and I've just dug over a smallish plot, waiting for the washing machine to drive me nuts with  "muzak" telling me it's time to hang out bed sheets etc.

SMUG, SMUG, SMUG
Cheers,  Tony.

[missmoneypenny]

Hahaha good on ya Tony.
Here’s a pic of my manure. Would you say this is suitable for no dig?

[snowdrops]

I’m in the no dig camp & use well rotted mulch be it horse/cattle manure,homemade compost or whatever. If it’s well rotted it shouldn’t attract slugs anymore than a pike of soil will, unrotted might as they’ll see it as a banquet.

[missmoneypenny]

Thank you snowdrops. Do you put cardboard over the soil then manure/ compost on top, or jet apply the manure straight onto the soil/weeds?

[snowdrops]

If it’s annual weeds you can put cardboard down with less mulch on top, the cardboard is just to exclude light. Perennial weeds do need removing. If your ground is not too weedy & you have masses of mulch you can miss out the cardboard- this is usually only done in the first year after that you just add around 1” of mulch on top each year.
If it’s very dry or you’re doing the cardboard route, water it well first before adding the mulch, to start it rotting down
To be honest if I have cardboard available & I’m going to apply the mulch I’ll put it down as the worms seem to love it. You will be amazed at how few weeds you get with no dig as you’re not bringing them up to the surface by disturbing the soil, they do of course blow in so keep your hoe or in my case swoe busy. I was once told the first & last 15 minutes of each visit should be spent hoeing and on the times when I’ve managed it, it has paid off but that would be the same for a dug plot too I recognise.
Hope that helps

[missmoneypenny]

That all makes sense snowdrops. Thanks for the tip re perennial vs annual seeds. I’ll still need to wrestle with the couch grass then! I’m lucky enough to be friends with the local bike shop owner and there’s always plenty of cardboard bike boxes to be had, nice and long with minimal writing on it! Thanks also for reminding me about watering the soil . I’ll be sharpening my hoe too! My plan is to have a no dig section and carry on conventionally in some of the plot. Then I’ll be able to compare.

[snowdrops]

They reckon that if you cover the  couch grasswell enough with cardboard,overlap the joins with another layer,then water the cardboard, then a good thick layer of mulch,it will do couch grass but you need to be vigilant & be ready to trowel any shoots out that make it through. If you’ve got access to that much cardboard put down a few layers before the mulch. Have you got lots of mulch or can you get enough to cover by 6inches on the worst bits of your plot.

[missmoneypenny]

I have ready access to the horse manure as above, and wooden chips both from the council who deliver it to the allotment site. I don’t have ready access to council compost as I don’t have a car and the recycling centre is about 10 miles away. I make some of my own compost but nowhere near enough to cover the plot. Thanks for the tip re killing off the couch grass 😊.

[New shoot]

Are you going to cover with cardboard and mulch and then leave it to clear the weeds, or try and grow in it?  If you cut holes into it to plant through, perennial weeds will find their way out to the surface, so I would pick crops that can cope with that.  I’ve planted squash and pumpkins like this to help clear a weedy plot and they do OK.  I would say it will reduce couch grass, but not stop it.  Bindweed loves it and gets stronger, but it is easier to dig out come autumn as it sends most of its runners through the mulch layer.

The manure in your picture is a bit fresh looking.  I’d agree with Potterer that composting it for an autumn mulch might be a better bet.

[Nobbie]

My experience of using cardboard was that it acted as a superb nursery for baby slugs which then ravaged my asparagus crop so it is banned from my plot now! I just pile compost straight on top of he soil and leave it over winter.

[Goosegirl]

I like mushroom compost as well if I don't have enough ready manure.