For the hobby gardener, the annual digging is a must. But how to properly dig up, what types of digging there are, how often and when this work should be done is something that only a few garden lovers are concerned with. You can find the answers to these questions in this article.
If a vegetable patch is newly created, it has to be dug up
Digging - useful or rather harmful?
Digging not only loosens the soil, but also brings down the top layer of soil and mixes up the entire substrate. However, this not only has advantages, but also a number of disadvantages:
Soil on which vegetable crops have grown throughout the year has formed an active soil life and a structure that is massively disturbed by this intervention. Consider that around 200 earthworms and several billion bacteria and protozoa live in one square meter of healthy substrate.
What happens when you dig?
If you dig up now, the creatures from the upper layers will suddenly find themselves in the depths. Many die because the conditions no longer suit their way of life. This severely disrupts the metabolism of organic substances into humus, which can reduce soil fertility.
Because of this disadvantage, more and more hobby gardeners are doing without regular digging or plowing. Instead, the earth is carefully loosened with a digging fork and then worked on with a sow tooth.
When should you dig up?
Must be dug up when you create the vegetable garden. When digging up, weeds and roots can be easily removed and the soil, depending on the structure, can be enriched with humus and/or sand.
It is recommended to sow green manure afterwards, because the roots of these plants, which reach deep into the soil, loosen up the soil layers very well. Alternatively, you can plant potatoes, which will also unlock the virgin soil.
Dig up heavy soil before winter
Loamy and clayey soils are dug up in autumn, because the so-called frost softening allows air to penetrate the soil and improve the structure. When digging, bring in plenty of humus and compost to permanently improve the soil structure.
How should the soil be loosened?
There are several ways to prepare the soil for the cold season and the next harvest season:
- You can cover the harvested beds with mulch (€239.00).
- Alternatively, a green manure is suitable.
The soil is only loosened up in the spring:
- Medium and heavy soils are loosened with a digging fork so that oxygen can penetrate into the deeper soil layers. Then work the surface again with the sow tooth.
- Light, sandy soils are loosened only with the sow tooth criss-cross.
- Finally, work the compost into the soil with the rake.
tips
If you have to dig up a bed, you should then cover it with a layer of mulch. This protects the soil organisms so that they multiply again quickly.