You need to stop making this common mistake, warns TikTok gardening expert
Leading UK gardening expert - and TikTok star - Simon Akeroyd has told people to avoid making this mistake as winter approaches.
Most people with a garden own at least one spade, and often use them to dig over flower beds and remove weeds at this time of year. However, Simon says that if you do, you're causing extra work for yourself as well as taking the wrong approach.
Simon, who has 727,000 followers on TikTok and has written more than 30 books about gardening, released a video a few days ago showcasing the "no-dig technique," and it has been viewed nearly 50,000 times so far.
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In the video, he warns against using spades to break up earth, as it can destroy the soil structure and also cut weed roots in half, leading to more weeds growing from the remnants.
Instead, the expert - who has written for Grow Your Own Magazine for the last 15 years and was previously a Head Gardener for the National Trust - recommends avoiding digging entirely. The video shows Simon covering up a weed-strewn bed with recycled cardboard before topping it with a fresh layer of compost.
The cardboard and compost block out light to the weeds below, killing them naturally without much effort - or the need for nasty pesticides - then you simply plant your new batch of seeds, bulbs, cuttings or seedlings into the new layer.
The no-dig technique is particularly popular with organic gardeners as the goal is to leave the soil undisturbed as much as possible to create a healthy soil community and reduce the need for weeding.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) say that although the method is "mainly used for growing vegetables, (it) can be used anywhere in the garden as a way to care for your soil." It's also a good way to protect crucial invertebrates such as worms.
The comments under Simon's video were nearly all positive, with one enthusiastic woman writing: "I love this! I’m trying it!" Another person - an existing convert - confirmed: "No dig has been a game changer for me."
Simon also responded to a viewer who asked when the best time to do this in the UK, saying: "Hi, you can do no dig at any time of year, but I think autumn (now) is a good time to smother out weeds, lay cardboard and allow the worms to take the compost down into the root zone before spring."
So there you have it: less work in the run up to winter, and good for the soil and wildlife too? Sounds like a win-win to us.
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