Double-Digging Garden Beds - Is it worth the effort?

[@TrollworksForge]

I did this in heavy clay soil with pickaxes and mattocks when I was 25, it was fun and good exercise, and the beds were fine with minimal maintenance for 2 decades. About killed me to do it again at 45. Starting over at 65 on our retirement property. 24" high metal siding raised beds and no digging this time around.

[@mathgasm8484]

Broadfork can be your best friend for digging. I have a farmers broadfork from meadow creature.

[@shellysmith1037]

Multiple people told me they want a garden like mine when they moved in our neighborhood. They say they want to try the Ruth Stoud or Fern Quackenbush or latest no till guru method. I say 'that's great let me know how you make out'. fast forward a year or two...and they haven't got squat out of their plot. In the end I get them with my help to triple dig, our tight soil takes at least three digs to get to 20". Our Twp provides unlimited free compost. Quality leaf compost and wood chips separate piles take all you want. Dig in compost, some Black Cow a touch of peat to adjust ph and voila a garden that produces for a decade or more with some light cultivating each year and a little adjusting of amendments. As you stated we have to pay attention to more than the top 6". My worms and Fungi never got us even over a decade what a double or triple dig got us. We use a tiny bit of wood chips in soil to help the clay, and light wood chips to control weeds on top as well as help hold moisture. My grandma and great grandma practiced it for about 100 years. Grandma wasn't lazy.....

[@The.Ghost.of.Tom.Joad.]

interesting. I've found both no-dig and double-digging as effective, and I have experience with both methods. In the '90s, I double-dug my first 2 veggie gardens: one at my parent's, and one at our first house. Since then, I've created 4 no-dig gardens and found them easy to start and maintain and as successful as double-digging. Plus, no-dig makes expanding less of a drag: just turning over our sod, laying down a double-row of cardboard, and piling 4-6'' of compost over it. The biggest challenge is creating compost, but Case and point. We moved here about five years ago. It was a highly compacted, urban lot in Cleveland. This year marks the beginning of our current no-dig garden's fifth year. When we started, I couldn't spade 3 inches deep before hitting the hardpan, so I opted for tomatoes in large self-watering containers. Trusting no-dig, which has worked for us in IL and CA, I created the garden plot in our first fall and planted it the next spring. Success. This spring, I dug to 18'' with tons of earthworms. The uncultivated parts of the yard still had hardpan 3-4'' down. So I'm sold. I think it boils down to work and smarts. Build compost piles, feed your soil every fall with a generous top-dressing of compost, and preferably another as mulch come spring. summer. Then let Mother Nature do her thing. Because after the first year, good gardening practice is still good gardening practice.

[@SusanLeishman-vz5rp]

I found the video on double digging interesting as I was taught it by my Dad 50 years ago . He made his trenches wider - maybe 2 or 3 foot wide but othewise the same method .The soil in Hertfordshire , UK. Was ok for say the top foot but lower down sticky clay with flints and little organic matter . Double digging was a chance to add a lot of organic stuff and loosen the compact subsoil . Once done when making say a new veg bed no needto do again ! I tink a lot depeds on the soil and I have double dug where builders have mucked up ground and needed to get rid of bricks and rubbish .

[@johnnytries]

Thank you for this video. I've watched it multiple times as my template for making my own double dug beds.

[@vonries]

I did that back in 1981 when I lived in Texas as a much younger man. You are right about one thing it's a lot of work. The one thing I did deferent from you is I added my manure to the bottom of the trench before I use a pictchfork to loosen the bottom of these trench. I then added the sod upside down at the bottom of the trench after I fluffed the bottom up. I also inverted the soil as I went. It worked great! I highly recommend doing it whenever you're setting up a new garden bed.

[@jsprague23]

You add sod? Like grass sod? I have a bunxh of useless sod rolls in my yard so really hoping i can use these to amend my soil 😊

[@vonries]

@jsprague23 Just the sod that was on top on the ground that I am trying to turn into a new garden bed. You didn't need any extra sod. It is just so it doesn't grow back again.

[@jeremiahsprague2584]

@@vonries Thank you! Very good to know :)

[@dgriswold93]

I worked as a landscaper a few years back. We did this type of stuff 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week , often time moving mulch. Its hard work to be sure, but reading these comments you'd think it was hellish slave labor. I really really hate to be this guy....but people today are so soft. Why is everyone so afraid of a little labor? I like this method simply because it helps build toughness and character, something we evidently desperately need. Plus one of the main reasons I got into gardening is to be outside working.

[@DouglasEKnappMSAOM]

Also pro-gardener here. Ya, its called work. It's hard but at the end of the day you feel great. I am 56. I am sick to death of hearing these 30 year olds tell me that they are not longer young and able to d this type of work. What they are is out of shape game players.

[@southbridgeforestHOA]

LOL. I double dig and move mulch all the time and I tell me wife I'm going out to do some prison work. In my mind this is the type of work they do in prison.

[@susanmiller2070]

Ten years ago when I started my garden journey I tried this method but was soon defeated by the amount of labour that was required. I eventually did dig my beds at the time but just turned over the soil as deeply as I was able. Now I no longer dig, just layer and plant. While the digging was a lot of work I actually found out I enjoyed the process. Double digging however is best left to those in great physical shape and perhaps a little younger than I.

[@Ayayayayayayayayyyy]

lol im 12 and did it allone and it was easy

[@donaldrscottjr9896]

I have been double digging for over 20 years in several different locations in different soils and I thoroughly recommend the method. Sure it is a difficult task but once the soil is conditioned it becomes easier every year thereafter. The production surpasses any rototilled garden in the smallest amount of space while conserving watering and weeding efforts. I am 54 now and I have been using this method since my mid twenties.

[@HoosierBenzo]

You really took one for the team on this one! That looked like a LOT of work. I doubt I would bother with this technique myself… would probably opt for broad fork instead

[@Rasgonras]

Body mechanics and body weight really make a difference in digging. The hip hinge is decisive. I was able to dig for double the time by using it correctly (from 3 hours to 6 at a time, 3 days in a row). Put one foot forward, one foot back, a foot or two apart, hinge your back forward, bend your knees only slightly (if you are not able to touch your toes standing straight up you will feel the stretch) keep your spine STRAIGHT as a washboard, bend forward until almost uncomfortable, and start digging. It really hurts after the first day in your lower back, but after a few, it starts being more uncomfortable to do it any other way. Take 5 min breathers when you are out of breath, and of course stop if any sudden pains shoot through you. This is how they do ANY body work for long time in Africa, Asia, any underdeveloped country. This is how they did it on old photographs from the 1900s. You can see it in medieval illuminations, heck even on wall paintings from ancient egypt, when they dig, sow, harvest, fell trees, gather reed, throw spears and wrestle. It's how our body works best, literally. Use the hip hinge.

[@irfanazim6696]

Kinda need a diagram or a video on this. Would love to improve on my digging ergonomics

[@grantraynard]

Had some time off at the beginning of covid and double dug a 24" by 40' bed in a new plot. Was cool to see all the layers down there. And the deer 🦌 really loved the carrots, LOL 😂

[@lisascenic]

@Grant Raynard it was very kind of you to do all that work for the local deer! 🥕🥕🥕🥕 🦌🦌🦌🦌

[@cherieannese1132]

Great video explaining it all. Thank you, from Adelaide, South Australia

[@agdayem]

CONTEXT. Everything depends on context. For double digging I think its great for small space gardens just starting out with little fertility. Afterwards, a no-till (adding compost as a top dressing with a very light till if needed) is the way to go. For larger farms I can see using a rotary tiller to incorporate a large amount of compost or organic matter initially to boost fertility is best and then afterwards using a no till approach too. CONTEXT.

[@mjawolfe1]

Great video once again and I remember the last one on this topic. I have been observing a double dig garden being operated for over a year now and what I have observed is that the folks doing it can only do small sections a day due to the labor involved especially in the clay-like soil. The preparation time was extremely long. The other interesting thing is that over the year these areas have been so heavily covered with weeds once they finished turning the soil. Now on an area that was not double dug having similar soil they did not seem to suffer from the same weed issues. The other thing that I noticed is that between the areas there seemed to be no actual production increase between the 2 gardens. So basically for all the work that was required I really didn't see any value gain. I will stick to my no-dig method.

[@cherieannese1132]

The huge increase of weeds... why do you think that is? I have observed this too and I am certain it is because the soil is so much healthier and more fertile with air and nutrients etc. The trick is to plant lots in to the soil as soon as you can to benifit from all that great work. Even a green manure crop! And smother out those weeds!

[@DouglasEKnappMSAOM]

@@cherieannese1132 Weeds love disturbed soil. Weeds also love gardens without top mulch. Another point is that you don't get weeds with bio-intensive because the whole surface is covered tightly with food plants.

[@DouglasEKnappMSAOM]

@@superresistant0 I do cover to feed the worms. The point is that if the plants are dense enough then you don't need the cover to stop the weeds.

[@MUSTASCH1O]

Currently double digging for the first time in my garden, and I found a load of rubble and a later of cement right under where I wanted to plant a bush. If I hadn't gone all out on the double dig I'd have been scratching my head as to why the bush died in the summer heat. That alone is worth the effort, at least in my current situation!

[@georgecarlin2656]

Same here, plastic, rubbish and horizontal stones.

[@ronaldcummings6337]

Diego you are a beast!

[@rufia75]

I guess you could say Diego.....did the work.

[@blackrocks8413]

"It will definitely help fix tight soil". So it is worth it. And with modern tools it is even easier than ever. Most times, depending on your area it will make things pretty good in your garden for a decade. In some areas (depends on your yard) it is something no other method will do....no matter if you gave it 2 decades. Been there, done that.

[@rickjay4639]

Thanks for reminding me why I stopped double digging. What I learned or thought worked better for me was to double dig in the spot where I planted a deep rooted plant. Same process just a shovel and half X shovel and a half. The shallow rooted plants I just ran the rototiller across the bed after applying a compost layer. That was 25 years ago now everything is raised beds. Much easier after the initial work. Thanks again for the look back to the past.

[@agdayem]

If you go back to your younger self 25 years ago, would you just go for raised beds or still double dig (and maybe even add a raised bed on top)?

[@theurzamachine]

I double dug my 160 sqft clay soil garden a few months ago. I expanded it from the original 60 sqft so I had to open it up to put organic matter in. It takes about 1 hour to dig 10 cubic feet. It's hard work but it is rewarding, a great work out and I only have that much space anyway so it's not that big of a deal.

[@TheVigilantStewards]

I agree with your experience on it not being body weight meditation low work and how the soil layers do get more inverted than the book. I like the workout and time outside though, so I do it when I want and broad fork and sheet mulch when I don't. I wonder on a larger market garden context how this could be mechanized. I have used a mini excavator to go down about 36" double digging and that worked out really well, but I had very little precision. I just like to make new beds and always grow when I have a day, my farming mentor double dug 2 acres by hand in a year :) He's in his 50s/60s retired army chemical engineer. I like the best food and nutrient density possible, so I just follow the proven science in regenerative field.... so I just do this without question and appreciate the sunshine, the fresh air, the sweat, the sometimes blood, the time with family, the earthing of bare feet, and the use of my body. I look at all the "functions" I can stack into and then I just have fun with it. When I stop having fun I just finish the work. Thanks for doing another double dig video, biointensive always a favorite subject along with agroforestry

[@goldstandard3714]

If only, if only, I had such gorgeous soil to start with. My new plot of land, my last, began with post hole digging in the garden fence corner posts. You described double digging, shaving off chocolate, closely describes what came out of my post holes. The good lord poured out molten chocolate 3' deep across this entire area. Likely 300' deep. The bermuda grass grows well on top, but penetrates no more than an inch and a half. I have a heavy duty tiller, just delivered, wish me luck.

[@rickthelian2215]

I like the digging board that makes good sense 😀

[@jeil5676]

This should be done to soils that need it. Dont put an inch of compost down 1 year and think its gonna somehow work into the soil naturally. If your soil needs it, dig a ton of stuff into it, then you can think of yearly adding compost mulch and no till..

[@canadiangemstones7636]

The idea of standing on a digging board is hilarious, but watching a grown man dig with a toy shovel... that was priceless.

[@DouglasEKnappMSAOM]

How dumb are you?

[@southbridgeforestHOA]

yeah I have no idea why he didnt use a spade shovel with a longer handle

[@businesspins5825]

I dig this video bru! 🙌

[@nicolasbergeron7854]

I did something similar, but with a tiller. I raked the loose dirt to the side and went back over it with the tiller. I had about 700 square feet of new beds, so it wasn't really feasible to do it by hand. Even then, it was 2 full days of work.

[@jeremiahnatte9249]

I've been curious about trying it, but I do have a bad back. Thanks for saving me days of pain.

[@DouglasEKnappMSAOM]

Do 20 cross sit-ups a day and your back with be fixed in 8 weeks! Start with 2 a day and work up. Only do what is easy!!!

[@terminator1716]

Doble digging is a great idea.

[@mamawandaful]

I have always double dug, but I turn the soil when I add the amendments. I am in Houston and it is pure clay/gumbo 8 inches down. Why is that wrong? P.S. I am 65 with psoriatic arthritis. I find doing heavy labor makes me feel better.

[@clivesconundrumgarden]

I agree that it depends on 1's individuals' context. Great for some, not for others. We have raised no dig beds, lasagna in ground beds and I'll probably do 2× dig beds aswell, and observe. Half the fun, to us in gardening is experimenting, "food" is a bonus. I've picked up horse manure and will be using your testing method for aminoparilyds ASAP Cheers Diego, from Victoria Canada 🌱🌱🇨🇦

[@AchimDrescher]

The garden beds where I dug or used the broadfork before adding compost were my most productive initially. I did not dig that deep. Look like a lot of work for limited benefits. Soil loosens over time as long as you keep it covered and keep live roots. I prefer to build up. A new layer of compost and mulch worked in with the broadfork does the trick.

[@hazeysgarden]

Okay so I’m young, and in great shape. The labor is not an issue whatsoever. This issue I have, is that the area where I want to start an in ground bed has tree roots everywhere from trees we cut down. If all I had to do was double dig it wouldn’t be that bad, but I’d have to have an axe, or a saw to cut out all the roots as I go along. Of course I could keep building more raised beds, but this spot in my backyard is really big and would be perfect for an in ground bed.

[@oneone8318]

nice

[@myrurallife_official]

I normally hate to hear you tubers breathing heavy in videos. But I think in this case, it is appropriate to show how intense this method is.

[@jerrybessetteDIY]

I experimented with deep dig and shallow dig in my garden. The plants did about the same until it became hot and dry. The plants in the deep dug part of kept going a few weeks longer than the shallow dig. I tried double-dig but I find that I can get down 14 inches with a broad fork. And that seems to be sufficient.

[@ryansdrew]

I bet you find the simple life much more fulfilling than life with the Smashing Pumpkins

[@paulx2777]

On the effort part, I was amused that in Jevons' tutorial he showed double-digging on a bed that had previously been double dug. Yes, that looked pretty easy. Meanwhile, I am doing everything wrong in soil that resembles concrete in the summer. You would laugh to see how disorganized our garden is, like it was laid out by a drunk. We still get to eat well, heh. If we can get a decent compost pile going (there is never enough), and use some straw for mulch, we are happy.

[@francus7227]

That will work. I like to work 6 inches down and start building up from there. You rarely need good soil deeper than 18 inches. 6 down with 12 up and I'm fine....

[@lisascenic]

You did this in an hour and a half? I’m in great shape, and I had to spread my work out over two days! Admittedly, my soil is like concrete, I was digging a larger bed, and adding s lot more compost, which I was actively moving during the process. I don’t understand the don’t-mix-your-layers proscription. The soil I’m working with is made of incredibly fine particles and is absurdly heavy. The whole reason I double-dug was to integrate as much compost as possible as deeply as I could. If nothing else, I got a ridiculous full-body workout, and removed another bountiful crop of broken glass and rusty nails from my garden bed. I should mention that I’ve been working this soul for a decade, and have added more compost than I can imaging. Even with that, the soil density is my nemesis. Good thing that I genuinely enjoy this kind of work.

[@georgecarlin2656]

I also have hard heavy clay soil and tried fixing it with compost - it only works if you have very small land to maintain, anything more becomes unmanageable hard work. I gave up because it's so much work every year even 5 people can't do it. Compost decays within 1 to 3 years. IMO that's why if you do a 2 feet double-dig you should put like 30% biochar in the bottom 1 foot (and nothing in the top foot) because it will never decay and therefore you'll never have to double-dig again because it's not about the top foot it's all about the bottom one. At least that's how I started doing this year.

[@The.Ghost.of.Tom.Joad.]

I double-dug my first garden beds in Ohio circa 1992. Hard work. Great vegetables, though. Several moves later (to IL, CA, and then back to OH), we're four years into our latest no-dig plot, using Charles Dowding's compost over cardboard method. Equally excellent crops with no back-breaking labor. Full disclosure: we make several batches of hot compost each year using the labor-intensive Berkley Method to cover our beds for this method, but turning compost every other day is not heavy work. Plus, as I turn the pile, I sneak in an audiobook or podcast.... and get to count it towards my "vigorous exercise" quota for the week. Still,. we made about the same amount of compost on our double-dug plots as well, so it's probably a wash.

[@donfredricks8965]

Your an animal... 😉 love the the digging fork you made... Do you have dimensions on it? Or a plan...

[@EastCoastAxes]

I’d love to see some of the results of all your composting via a garden tour. I find your videos very informative and logical but crave some hard proof. Have you ever done an experiment growing with and without bio char?

[@DiegoFooter]

No. I assume biochar will produce no positive effect, while also assuming it probably does have some positive effect. I make it, not buy it, so not a big loss if it doesn't do anything. It either just adds some carbon to the soil and does nothing else, or there is some amount of upside.

[@dysbomb]

It's a great work out. There's a digging pattern where you don't need the wheelbarrow. Dig your first trench but only across half the bed and just put it on the side. Work that edge back down the bed then turn round and head down the other side until you get back to your trench soil pile. Probably Shaves off 2% of the work of double digging. Cracking vid

[@mking3219]

Started as a young boy when I tired this We had gravelly loamish clay Did it once, never again,...unless theres a minitrac! I prefer the lasagna hybridized Dowden method As an older man, now I have fast draining mostly sandy loam, so its woodchips(when I can get them,you would think it would be easy,4-5 arborist here)aged sawdust from a mill, and compost(mostly bought). A little at a time.....in a perfect world I could just get 4-5 10 wheeler loads all at once, and I could finish,then 2 10wheeler loads there after

[@ASpinnerASpinner]

2:10 dude where do I get a spading/digging fork like that? I need that so badly. Everything out there is weak junk!

[@myrurallife_official]

I used a compact tractor with front end loader to double dig one of my gardens (approx 3000ft²)

[@RestorationAcresTN]

We are in the south west corner of Tennessee, upon a hill that was graded, and we have stone filled clay everywhere. It is obviously decently fertile, as we grow lots of grass and weeds and wild blackberries and berry bushes have done just fine, but it is not good for easy planting of a vegetable garden. With this type of clay would I do well to double dig and add compost and soil or should I just work on building the soil UP, as I have heard from several people? I heard recently that Trying to do this or to till amendments into the Clay is pointless, as the clay just ends up absorbing it and changing back to clay very quickly, and that the only real solution is to build up.

[@DouglasEKnappMSAOM]

Yes you need to add sands or other good draining additives and LOTS of bio mass. Ideally dig in half and half with wood chips and let it sit a year or two.

[@pauldietz1325]

Did you remove the stones? If so, how? Separating stones and clay is so annoying, especially if the clay is too wet or too dry.

[@nicholasmenzel201]

Your soild seems very nice and loose already, I imagine this would be a lot of work with a very heavy clay soil.

[@nates2526]

What is the brand of your spading fork? I haven’t seen one that intense before. It looks almost like a broad fork. Thanks!

[@TheBobbot]

He made it himself

[@chantallachance4905]

Diego thing like a forest Nobody touch it and everything grow again and again Zone 5 Quebec In my outside garden and in the homemade greenhouse I sacrifice only 1 vegetables of each kind that I grow I let do flowering The seed fall on the ground at the autumn I put some leaves on the top when the temperature of the soil is alright it grow again lettuce,spinach,radish,kale,tomatoes My garden look like a forest FREE vegetables less job

[@DouglasEKnappMSAOM]

Yes and drive a tractor over that forest floor compacting it and everything dies. It must be fluffy. How to get there is debatable.

[@53nat0r]

Have you looked into or tried "One Straw Revolution" method? :)

[@rickthelian2215]

That’s no shovel Diego, that’s more of spade. A shovel will allow you to get down a foot forwarding the soil add your compost and do again more bonding soils will allow to do this to this method, my father did it and I do it the same way. Sandy soils will collapse as soon as you move with a shovel. Like yourself, I have easy access to horse manure living nearby a racecourse and it’s stables. Mulching between or around the layers suppresses the those bedside weeds which in total can match the bed size so double weeds, plus keeping beds moist.

[@southbridgeforestHOA]

there are much easier ways. 1st use a spade shovel. 2nd dont' use a wheel barrow. 3rd. use a cheap electric tiller to mix compost into the bottom of the hole. I got cheap plastic trays off FB marketplace and put the dirt In them (can also use tarps or cardboard) and did 3x3' sections at a time. after a big hole is dug out, add compst and till it in, add some soil back in and till it and add more compost and till till fill. for heavy clay the tiller really mixes it in well.

[@gchrom]

Nope, not with my bad back that is. No diggity. I'll take John Kempf's method instead: maximize photosynthesis, add biology and let the plants and microbes do the heavy lifting. Thanks for sharing!

[@PANTTERA1959]

Diego is his name-o.

[@pthrelkeld090]

if your someone who's !!NOT injured!! but out of shape, I highly suggest not doing this slowly, because that's how you get in shape is to move more than your typical daily movement

[@pamelamercado6902]

Are dirty here is sandy clay cement I do have one bed that was doubled dugv with pick and shovel one bed that was tilled another was done the spaghetti way The double dig and the spaghetti both grew plant but they were not healthy there growth was slow and stonted after 5yrs both were dug up it really didn't show much of nothing of improvement. Those areas got tilled. The garden area that was tilled had healthy plants that grew as they should. I believe in some areas no tille can work if your grown is not totally cement.

[@cherilynyazzie6770]

We did this for a couple years, cuz it was fad of the time. It's not worth it. Now we broadfork and compost every time we flip a bed. Results are better

[@doncook3584]

M not for me. Using Josh Sattin’s deep compost mulch and hay fork vs broad fork and happy with results. Most roots grow less than I thought so organic matter is my focus

[@aenorist2431]

I would not even dig once, doing it twice just sounds like complete madness :D

[@canadiangemstones7636]

It really is, especially with a toy shovel.

[@SlackerU]

I had thought biochar was gone. It steals oxygen from the decomposition process & even the Wiki mentions that there still isn't any science to benefit gardening. I'm trying ten inches of humus (leaf mold) this year, I kinda wish I had built my orchard on it.

[@JerryB507]

Double Dig #6: What gym membership?

[@TheGDJames]

Double digging isn't that much extra work than single digging, because you can simply loosen the lower level with a fork, rather than lift it and turn it over. What makes double digging tedious and long-winded is that you're usually doing it on ground that is being brought back into cultivation, and you are spending time removing perennial weeds, stones, plastic etc, plus also skimming the top turf off and turning it over into the trench.

[@jcweld]

An hour and change doesn't seem like too much time for that much square footage for a small scale garden. Building raised beds is a lot more work to me, especially if you factor in buying and transporting materials. Then if you're using wood, it rots not too far down the road and you're doing it all over.

[@georgecarlin2656]

I find this type of double-digging overly idealistic and complicated. If you allowed yourself to initially displace a wider area you'd have far more space and it would be easier.

[@1Ggirl1959]

I know it works but not for me. Too old, too fat and bad back! LOL! 😂

[@gavinmatthews5618]

Your masochist, don't blame us deep down you wanted it.

[@Ayayayayayayayayyyy]

im 12 years old and Double-Digged its not that hard