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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Article: Instant no-dig garden
To make a garden in a bag, punch holes in the bottom sides of the bags for drainage before you place them on the ground, cut away the tops. Then you can plant directly into the soil in the bags and mulch the area to cover the bags. In the fall, pull away the bags and reform the beds with a rake.
Click the link for more info, but it seems like a good way to get started for a reasonable cost and effort.
Re: Article: Instant no-dig garden
This makes absolutely no sense from a gardening POV. How on earth can you encourage a good, deep root system in a bag of soil? Deep rooting plants are more resistant to pests and disease. How would this even remotely be a good idea?
food blog | garden blog | curly dogs blog
I might be dense, but wouldn't the roots grow through the several holes punched in the bottom?
Maybe? It sounded more like drainage holes, though. The roots on our larger plants were a good inch to two inches wide - I can't see it being able to puncture thru the plastic. It might work for things like onions or shallots but tomatoes? I can't see a tomato or tomatillo plant or other big plant like that being able to root deeply enough to support itself. KWIM?
food blog | garden blog | curly dogs blog
It doesn't say what kind of bag? If it was something like the burlap sacks from coffee houses, those will degrade and allow rooting. To me this is a lot like layer gardening, which does improve the soil.
Alisha - the article makes it more explicit that they're talking about the bags of soil. Hang on...
"If your soil is hopelessly hard and infertile... head to a garden center for a load of 40-pound bags of topsoil.... Slash drainage holes in the bottoms of the bags, then lay them over the area you want for your growing bed."
I mean, MAYBE the roots will go thru good slashes, but then if the soil underneath is complete crap, that's not going to do much for you or the plants....
It's always been a goal of mine to photograph some of the root systems we dig up at the end of the year. But, at that point, we're in the fall rush of "ZOMG MUST WINTERIZE THE YARD YESTERDAY!" that I forget....
food blog | garden blog | curly dogs blog
The thing is, if your soil is terrible, this is the first step to improving it. The bagged layer on top will grow something this year (and being as it's a great quality soil, you'd be shocked what can grow. Think square foot gardening.). For someone that's totally overwhelmed with the idea of starting a garden, I think it's great.
As a bonus, the bag will smother the grass beneath, so it removes a step of preparation for next year if you skip the bags (or add a layer of compost/soil and keep building your garden).
Yup, that's what the article says, basically that the bags are a good way to get started and have decent yields in your first year with no digging. The current newstand issue of Mother Earth News is running the same story with more details, like a insert box of "What type of soil should I chose?" and a lot more details on how the root system works.
there are various tutorials online, but the easiest is to take a bucket and drill a hole in the bottom.