Planning and orientation of beds and paths, dealing with slopes and the supposed rules. How to design a plot no dig.
It’s about juggling the many main factors: point of access is important. Slope may not be. Plot size is a factor and so is avoiding trees.
I explain the choices of bed width and length. And path creation with no sides.
Filmed 20th November by Edward Dowding at Homeacres no dig garden in Somerset, UK zone 8, temperate oceanic. The idea to film this came from a social media question asked by Heather Leslie.
00:00 Introduction – factors to consider when starting a new plot
00:24 I explain how I started my plot at Homeacres 11yrs ago
01:48 Orientation and alignment, and why point of access is an important consideration
02:59 Creating beds on a slope
04:57 Width of beds and pathways – my advice, and some examples
07:41 Something to consider – width of standard covers
08:44 Length of beds
09:11 A mistake made with two of my early beds
09:41 Advice on how to plan for new beds
10:01 Narrow paths – an advantage of having open-sided beds
10:47 Bed layout in my ’Small Garden’
11:26 Another way to start out – compost and plastic on weeds, then make beds afterwards
11:58 More general advice on how to plan – weigh up your options, and start small!
See my knowledge pack on planning: https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/product/pln_planning-your-plot-and-your-growing-zwgv0d2o
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49 Comments
I settled on the 1.2m/0.4m path ratio a good few years ago & apart from where it doesn't fit, I've stuck with it. As you said; covers & supports are sized to fit this width of bed.
I think people tend to forget plants will happily root out into the path, especially when using woodchip as a path surface, as it breaks down & supplies nutrients needed, so planting up to the edge is fine so long as using the paths doesn't damage them.
No matter the time of year, Homeacres always looks incredibly picturesque 😊
Hmm, as someone who doesn't control the space I have for growing a tiny garden, could you do a video on maximizing space for container growing?
Is it preferable to have large, sometimes heavy containers or something else?
I have played around with container sizes and have yet to figure out what size is optimal for growing larger plants, along with spacing.
I'm sorry if this isn't your understanding or experience. Thank you for showing how to grow almost anything chemical free.
Downloading Google Earth Professional (free) onto a laptop is useful for going back through many years of satellite and aerial imagery and identifying locations of previous features that might have underground structures remaining. Even if not showing above ground, they can be revealed in images taken in dry summers.
Using the measuring facility on phone/tablet versions of Earth can be useful for drawing up a draft plan in the comfort of an armchair at home before checking with a tape on site. Measuring in Centimetres is far more accurate than using metres as metre measurements are rounded to zero decimal places.
Regarding wider beds being more space efficient, I believe a compounding factor is that with narrower beds you might actually need wider paths, since everything growing in the narrower beds is closer to the edge and crowding the paths more. That was my experience anyway. Fantastic video, Charles … Ive watched all 400+ of your videos and I think thats the 1st time I saw a tractor on your property 😂
Thank you. I enjoy so much hearing your layout logic. This gives me much to think about.
Renovating a neglected sloping plot,and just ordered two of your books.Thanks for the info.I was going to go down the slope,and 18 inch paths,4 feet beds.Heavy wet land,at Stoford,Yeovil,but gets the sun for most of the day.Think will use timber to keep the beds from spreading over the paths,as volunteers will be doing some of the work.
Well this was great timing 😊 I put in 2 beds when we moved in here nearly 2yrs ago (2.75 acres so loads of space and loving it too by the way 😅) have no idea the size but will definitely be measuring them tomorrow. The beds aren't too wide that I cant reach the middle and I like the width of the path I can kneel and not dig my boots into the bed behind me but they're probably a bit long. I was under a bit of pressure when putting them in cause I had no idea what I wanted and hubby was helping to unload the trailer so I said that will do. Ive just put in a 3rd and hoping to have enough material to do another. Ive just got another load of compost to try and work out an area for watermelons (think I've got 30 to plant) unfortunately I dont have plastic this year but next year I will do what you have done with your pumpkin patch. Thank you eternally for your wisdom and knowledge, I am loving the no dig method which my husband and son dont understand. My son said he wants to till an area to grow stuff….😡 I growled at him 😄 cheers from Australia 🇦🇺 👍
Always great videos!
Just had my raised bed planks cut and delivered by my work (I’m lucky to work in a joinery shop!) So have been thinking hard about how I’m going to implement my plan – so thanks once again for another essential video!
Great information Charles 👍
Good to know things are ok. Thanks for update .
🎉
Thanks for your insights and tips in garden planning, we are going to design a new garden plan for next season. It is not perfect north south orientation, so will see if we need to adjust it as the season progresses.
You've done a great job Charles.
Helpful tips! For those starting from scratch, it can be a dawnting task. These tips are welcomed 😊
Such a great teacher, thank you for all you do 😊😊
This video came at a great time for me – just moved into a neglected garden bordered by large trees, very weedy and triangular in shape – quite a challenge! I am going to have the smaller beds you recommend I think. Also I have some very invasive bamboo – any tips for getting rid of it please?
I have tried different size paths and planting areas and realized 3 foot wide is perfect and I run the rows as long as I can—most 40 foot. I use reclaimed low boards to hold the soil in place and bark narrow rows (17 inches wide) as this allows enough room for a small wheelbarrow and keeping side boards low is helpful also. I run rows N-S and it allows the sun to hit all plants without concern for shading. Here in US farmland on hills are cultivated across the incline not up and down to prevent erosion.
I think as we age with our gardens we need to keep in mind what is easy to maintain. Four foot wide is a huge stretch and even though our bed areas are mainly no till I still don’t step on them. Later if I decide the rows are too long I can always chop them in half.
Now, the idea of garden cloths is a Real consideration! The coverings are in certain sizes and best to think about if you already have coverings. It can be difficult to support certain size covers. I know here I have to have that bug netting down Tight or those cabbage moths get in every time.🙄. I love how you store your covers just draping over 2×4. I fold and stuff totes to keep mice away, but hanging would be nice—just need to find room. Between shade, bug, frost and plastic coverings my shed is pretty full. I would love to not have to fold them and even better if the sizes were all the same to match the beds so when I need one I don’t have this crazy puzzle to find which one fits. If I plant later in spring, which I plan on doing, I will miss the late frosts and some pest pressure and probably would not need so many coverings and just concentrate on bug netting for brassicas and shade fabric.
Things do tend to fall into place after a while. I looked back at some old pics of the beginning of my garden and couldn’t believe how it developed its own personality over time.
Oh! I wanted to mention about trees and shrubs and what I realized is they can protect from frost a bit, but they zap moisture and nutrients big time and can grow into raised bedding areas. I don’t understand permaculture if you use native trees. If using fruit trees I can see it because the roots are not that huge, but we had let a young oak grow as it was our only shade and 12 years later I can’t keep a nearby flower bed in the garden watered enough. I have only a couple raised beds we started the garden with and there are roots venturing into them. I’m not a fan of raised beds because they are costly and dry out quick. A few reasons I can see their use is for people with physical difficulties, wet areas or aesthetic reasons, but think the cost is crazy. I just contain the soil in my long wide rows with reclaimed wood, logs, ect., but not to raise them and use my native sandy soil. After a few years of throwing everything I can in the rows and starting a good base with sticks and smaller limbs I now have worms!👏🏼👏🏼. I dug the paths down a bit and threw that soil in the rows and filled the paths with wood chips and the moisture retention is terrific.
Thanks for all the tips!
Full of admiration for what you do Charles and what you have done in the past , Amazing
Inspiring stuff! Thank you , Charles!!
yup
What a lovely intro video to beginning a garden. Sure wish I would’ve had this when I started my years ago 😊 I am happy to share this with any one ready to start a garden!! 🪴
Where I am there is now way to get large quantities of compost…….bagged only……closest place for large quantities is 100 miles away ……trying to get local sources to start a composting outfit…..
How does the beds not wash into the walkways after a hard rain?
Lots of great advice with deeper insight❤
We have a pretty steep slope here that'll need terracing but we haven't begun because we can't seem to decide on the height and depth of the beds. The space is wide horizontally so that isn't as much an issue to consider for now, but the slope is 10m in length with 3.72m descent. There's vaguely 5 terrace levels there now that've deterioriated over the 40 years the previous owner lived here and they certainly aren't consistent. Any advice would be wonderful, thanks!
As a wise man once said "there are no solutions, only tradeoffs."
If you live in a dry area, don't run your garden width wider that what your overhead irrigation can cover. When I set up my gardens, I thought 50x50ft plots made since because soaker hoses came in 50ft lengths. When I expanded, and realized impact type sprinklers were a better option for me, I found out my garden plots needed to be NMT 40ft wide to avoid dry spots in the center. By then, I had my row covers and plastics all cut for 50ft standard lengths. Also for me, my favorite walkway size is 18 inches, bed width 4ft. I'm tall, so under 6ft, I would probably think 3ft bed width. With 50ft rows, time always being a factor, you will need to be stepping over, guaranteed.
Great video
For me, first thing in designing in general is to track the sun first. So I disagree about access being primary concern.. mostly because scale is not as big as yours and other functions of a garden are at play and so I need to accommodate.a more ideal exposure for the veggie beds to really work for instance havng a variety of crops in the bed at one time along with interplanting for optimal yields and seasonal transition especially if no luxury of having more than one or just a few beds, …
I do take a lot of photos at different times of day and season, or you can run a course of the sun's path on the ground at certain times of day and times of year on Google Earth to see scenarios.. This is also true for landscape design in general .. site analysis is very important for my process of design. I also disagree but to a much lesser extent about not having to follow contour.. in a climate that is prone to drought you need to capture and not drain the water as much as possible whether it is dug or not .. but to your point I have seen vineyards go up an down.slopes in droughty places.. Not sure if the irrigation has to compensate more or not… and totally agree and appreciate about your experience on the bed/path spacing, love narrow paths and full full beds 😉 .. very optimal !!! I am a stick in the ground girl when planning stuff over drawing on 2d …and never used that awful awful edging stuff to make beds, paths of any kind….
Charles – I guess that many who use 75cm beds are those who also use precision seeders to sow certain vegetables (carrots, radish, leaf crops), since those pieces of equipment are designed to be used with such bed widths. I'm with you on 1.2m beds – I set my first no-dig garden up with 1.5m beds and even for a 6 footer, it's tough to reach the middle of the beds to plant out modules without stepping on the bed. 1.2m is much easier. Personally, I've found that 30cm paths between beds works fine, but I do have 50cm paths surrounding a set of parallel beds too.
How do you deal with birds, I’ve been trying the. I dig method but the birds come in and peck and spread the compost looking for food. They pull out or scratch the plants and generally inhibit the beds.
Beautiful video with valuable NoDig gardening information. Thanks Charles for sharing your healthy food methods passion.
Do you have fields around you that spray glyphosate and other chemicals. Do you think it's a problem for someone trying to grow organic food or do the chemicals stay where they are spraying them?
I wished I had this detailed advise a few years ago, Sir Charles. So helpful! My no dig garden works overall really fine, but I can confirm what I would do better today as you mentioned: I have only 12.5 cm high wooden sides, but struggle to get my wheel barrow through the pathways. The property came with wonderful old trees and shrubs that I didn't want to touch as they are nice windbreaks. However, I cannot access my backyard with a trailer load of woodships or compost and that is a big limitation and extra work. Access is a key element. So yes, you better think twice before laying out your garden😊. In my next life perhaps, but I am aiming to be reborn as butterfly 😂, so might not plan a new garden then.
I run my beds east west and just make sure to plant the taller things in the northern beds. I find that works very well with the winds here. No dig has been amazing here. We had massive and continuous rains over the summer and my plants thrived even as tilled gardens in the area had massive losses from soil and nutrient wash out.
Helpful as always are your advices. Thank you.
What about staggered swales, some people use them to concentrate the water to stop it running off.
Charles I recently moved to Henderson Nevada.
Please help.
I love no dig permaculture and growing my own food and herbs.
This place is dry and hot and there is no soil. I'm starting from sand and rocks.
What would you do and how would you start gardening in the desert?
I raise rabbits and in times past they've been my soil manufacturing plant.
I've sourced horse manure and chicken manure with wood shavings mixed in it.
I was thinking cardboard, decomposing logs wood chips chicken manure, horse manure, rabbit manure, food scraps, literally anything I can get my hands on and start putting bio mass and some structure in my back yard space that I've picked for permaculture no dig.
It hardly ever rains here, the sun will bake bread on hot rocks and it's 70*f in the winter. Where would you start and am I going to be successful with layering and creating a deep thick bed. Right now it's nothing so I want to do it right the first time. For the meantime I'm container gardening and that's fine I'll do that for however long it takes to get the soil built up and sustainable. My favorite part of no dig I watching the mushrooms pop up overnight and that's how I know it is working properly. Mycelium is awesome!
I have 2 foot wide paths. I am always trespassing with my toes on the bed beside as I kneel to work on a bed. They swing over into it when I am not looking. Very disruptive. Don't see how 16 inch paths could possibly work.
We use this method and love it thanks 8-b Florida
If I have slope that is east west, so down is east, would you let north south prevail in your choice? So the beds would be facing east? Or as a ‘terraced’bed along the slope?
Good morning, Charles, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b
50°F at 6a.m and expecting 70°F for a high. Great tourist weather 👌
Your advice is always appreciated ❤
Take care
❤Peggy❤
Really interesting to hear how you planned it all at the start Charles. I do sometimes wonder about setting up veg beds in our small paddock out the back of our house rather than the allotment.
The paddock slopes gently SE to NW. It's heavy clay and this time of year the paddock is very water logged on the lower part. There is also a raised area in the centre where the grass doesn't grow as well. I think the soil has been heavily compacted by years of cattle and recent years of boys playing football!
Great advice Charles! Thank you! Your garde looke so beautiful and orderly! Blessings!
Great advice thank you. We moved into an established property. Expanded from ornamental garden. Ran with the slope and against. Toughest challenges is very big trees. Great shelter but small veg. And big fluctuation of day night temps with being alpine so prone to things bolting. Im slowly creating better compost. Some very weedy but fertility is rising! No dig benefits are showing. Ive managed to convince my partner its greatness with observations. Thank you for your help!
I am gardening in an urban lot. It has taken a year or so to figure out how the neighbours’ trees, my trees, the fence and my house affect sun exposure to the garden. Also to keep in mind is when the trees drop their leaves for winter (I garden all year) and how the sun moves across the sky from season to season. The sun for my fall/winter garden is very different from the spring/summer garden. Wish I had a nice open field but, alas, that is not the case. ☺️
`hi @Charles, thanks for the voicing your opinion andthe good sound advice. I would argue with your take on bed alignement, especially the part about contour lines. I think your rules of thumb apply to small-to-medium size gardens,, where there is little catchment. If you have more catchment (above your project), so water is moving in the ground, and rain events also come with high winds, than slope stability is really atop the list of criteria.