Started gardening? An ideal book to expand your knowledge
Digging is a pain, quite literally. However, there’s no better book to advise you on no-dig gardening than organic pioneer Charles Dowding‘s. I’ve rarely seen a book so packed with information – it’s a one-stop shop for creating the best growing environment for your plants.
Although all that information may seem daunting at first, it is aimed squarely at grow-your-own beginners. It’s very much a course, with modules, lessons and quizzes.
Time-saving and productive
No Dig Gardening – From Weeds to Vegetables Easily and Quickly concentrates on this time-saving and productive method of gardening, but what is it? It involves mulching soil with compost, rather than laboriously digging it and letting nature do the rest.
The book is based on his successful online course. No-dig gardening goes hand in hand with the art of making good compost. It’s not a vegetable growing manual, but it has two chapters with detailed planting plans for small spaces. Charles uses the results of growing trials at his Homeacres market garden in Somerset to show how no-dig works.
You’ll learn how to:
- Use no-dig on different soil types
- Ask questions and recognise gardening myths, to save time and unnecessary effort
- Create and look after beds and paths
- Recognise and reduce different types of weeds
- Understand and use different types of mulch or soil cover
- Know the differences between soil, compost and various types of compost
- Make your own compost
Learning more online
If you want to take a step further, Charles has online courses in no-dig gardening and vegetable growing available on his website.
This tremendous book encourages new gardeners to take the next steps in growing organically. Put aside unnecessary gardening myths about back-breaking digging!
Charles Dowding’s Vegetable Garden Calendar
Charles grows vegetables on 0.25 acres/1,000 square metres in Somerset. He sells £20,000 of harvests locally, mainly salad leaves, with vegetables served on courses at Homeacres.
Charles has written nine books and publishes an annual calendar of sowing dates, runs a YouTube channel with 21 million views and writes for national gardening magazines.
Buy signed copies of the book, price £22.50 and the latest calendar, from charlesdowding.co.uk.
Twitter @charlesdowding, Instagram charles_dowding, YouTube Charles Dowding, Facebook Charles Dowding No Dig Gardening.
Read more horticultural book reviews you might like – The Thoughtful Gardener and Good Soil; Urban Flowers; The Salad Garden and The Jam Maker’s Garden.
