After three weeks of sowing a wide range of things at home in the raised beds, hardly anything had germinated – apart from two poor rows of radish! So I decided to delve deeper and see if there was a bigger problem than just the cold weather. And I’m glad I did.
Two things became apparent. The soil had ‘capped’ and had become compacted under the compost mulch I’d put on in the winter. Also, the soil was full of tree roots from a barrier of trees just outside the fence. So, although my raised beds are no-dig beds, it was time to dig them both over. Each one yielded a wheelbarrow full of tree roots and the soil had become badly compacted. So after a couple of hours or so of sweat (and a few tears because I hadn’t thought of it earlier in the year) I’d got two new raised beds full of lovely, un-compacted soil and no tree roots. So let that be a lesson to you all – just because you use a no-dig system, every now and again (my two beds have been in place for four and six years respectively) they do need digging over. The only thing left to do then was re-sow everything. Hopefully now I’ll get good germination and better growth
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