Create beautiful, sustainable vegetable garden beds with minimal effort by learning how to plant a no-till garden bed. No-till and no-dig gardening takes care of the soil, disturbing it as little as possible and uses a layering system keeps both large and small garden beds nearly weed free throughout the gardening season!
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No-till or no-dig gardening, is popular because of its many benefits, including less weeds, better water retention and improved soil structure. In this article, I explain why no-till gardening is preferred for backyard vegetable gardens, share my experience and provide steps on how you can create easy no-till garden beds in your own yard.
One of my goals here at An Oregon Cottage is to empower you to do the simple living things you've always wanted to do - the back-to-the-earth type activities that connect us to our bodies, the land and those around us.
Making your own salad dressings, pantry basics like mayo and ketchup, or creating a simple sourdough loaf are a couple examples of these activities, as is giving thoughtful handmade gifts.
But growing your own food - and then easily preparing it - is one of the things I wish I could just sit down with each and every one of you and just say, "you can do it!"
Because I believe you will LOVE it.
And it doesn't have to be hard.
You do NOT have to spend hours weeding in the heat of the summer or look at your vegetable patch in despair wondering where the seedlings are in all those weeds. I promise.
All you need to do is a bit of planning and then take the steps below to enjoy a summer of simple maintenance (watering, harvesting, pulling an occasional weed) and lots of fresh produce.
What is the secret to less weeds and easier vegetable gardening?
Do not use a tiller on your soil and dig as little as possible.
Planting a garden bed the no-till way is a cornerstone of my organic, low maintenance garden philosophy which I go into in this article about designing a garden for easy care, along with all the reasons no-till and no-dig is beneficial.
But for for this article, this is the main reason:
- Tilling brings up all the weed seeds, exposing them to light and air everywhere.
And then we water them. Is it any wonder they proliferate?
Not so fun fact: Did you know that some weeds seeds can lay dormant for decades (some say up to 1000 years!)? Not disturbing the soil keeps them right where they are where you don't have to deal with them.
So take the simple steps outlined below to drastically reduce your vegetable garden weeding tasks throughout the entire growing season - you will not be sorry.
How to Plant A No-Till Garden Bed
Step 1- Late Winter Prep
We had four 9x12 foot vegetable beds for corn, potatoes and beans in our previous garden. The beds would typically look like the photo above early March, full of winter grown annual weeds and debris from the previous year.
The traditional way of dealing with all these weeds that grow in the winter is to till with a machine and rake, but we're not tilling, so what do you do when faced with this?
Cover with Plastic
In January, February or March (or even in the fall after harvest if you're really on the ball), throw a piece of black plastic over the bed (you'll want a thicker plastic like this 6 ml roll).
Then let time, sun, and heat do their magic.
Step 2- Spring Garden Bed Prep
1. Remove Dead Debris
When it's time to plant, pull the plastic off your beds to reveal the brown, dead debris.
TIP: The bed shown above grew corn the year before and you can see I just threw the plastic over the dead corn stalks. I find them much easier to remove after a few months under the plastic, with a lot less soil loss from trying to remove the roots earlier (and leaving some roots in the soil also helps with feeding and aeration of the soil).
2. Haul away any large debris and start removing all the dead weed debris (pull off any soaker hoses first if you have them) with a garden rake.
There may be a few (very few) pernicious perennial weeds like dandelion and thistle you find - those should be dug by hand to remove the roots.
I never timed it but it didn't take very long to do this, maybe 15-20 minutes on these beds 9' x 20 foot beds. I think that may be less time than tilling with a machine.
3. Add About a 1 inch Layer of Garden Compost
Add a fresh layer of compost to the bed and rake it smooth.
On these established beds I aim for a 1 inch layer. In the first few years after creating the beds I added more - about 2 inches.
Do this every year to build the soil and just leave it on top, no digging in. When you make the furrows and holes for planting, it will get mixed in enough.
Doesn't that sound easier than tilling all the grass and weeds for a new garden bed?
Step 3- Plant, Water & Maintain
1. Plant seeds and starts
After the bed is fully covered with compost, it's time to plant.
2. Lay soaker hoses or drip system for watering
Watering at the roots puts the water where we want it- not in the space between plants or paths where weeds want to grow- so it's a major player in keeping weeding to a minimum. Overhead watering not only waters too much, it also isn't as good for plants, encouraging mildew and diseases.
I sowed seeds in bed pictured above with beans (green and dry), cucumbers and squash, so I set up the trellises first (using bamboo stakes) and then laid the soaker hoses before planting the seeds (the chicken-wire fencing you see is to try and deter any birds that love looking for newly planted seeds).
NOTE: The bed in the upper part of the picture has been prepared to grow corn for this year. The technique is the same, though you can read more details on how to grow a weed-free corn patch here.
3. Maintenance of no-till and no-dig beds
This is the part I want to encourage you with: when planting a garden bed this way I have very few weeds the entire remainder of the season.
Honest! You can see a couple of examples of these large vegetable beds in July in this article on how to organically keep weeds out of your garden.
If you follow these simple steps you will:
- Not need to cultivate/weed with a hoe.
- Never have any problem finding the seedlings because of weeds.
- Be able to leave for a week and not come back to a chaos of weeds.
What WILL you need to do to maintain the beds?
- Pull the occasional weed when you're out in the garden harvesting
- Turn on the soaker/drip system every 5 days or so to water.
That's it - then just enjoy your garden and your harvest!
UPDATE on watering: see our DIY automatic watering system for raised beds here - it's easy and inexpensive!
No-Till Frequently Asked Questions
First, I want to emphasize that I have never tilled these beds- they started as pasture with that awful "pasture grass" (quackgrass) we found so hard to deal with. This method works!
Here's how to establish no-till vegetable beds from scratch:
-In spring set heavy cardboard on top of the grass/area in the size you want.
-Edge the bed with wood (not treated) to keep materials in place (we started with used 4' x 4' boards that eventually rotted leaving simple mounded beds).
-Add 3-4 inches of a soil-manure mix and about 2 inches of compost on top of the cardboard.
-Wait a few weeks and then plant.
(NOTE: I planted beans, corn and potatoes (using the straw method and setting the tubers on top of the new soil) on the new beds and by the time the roots needed more depth, the cardboard had softened and the roots grew as they needed. We had a great crop that first year, which actually surprised me since I thought the beds would need a year to really establish.)
There are pros and cons to both ways depending on the application. If you have acres of land to farm in a certain time frame, tilling may be the only way to do it. For home gardens, though, the benefits of less weeds brought to the surface, improved soil health through less erosion, and increased organic matter in the top where the roots are means that no-till is better. And while USDA scientists say a benefit of tilling is to bury carbon and increase its storage in the soil "overall, intensive tillage tends to burn up much of the soil organic matter, more so than no-till." (source)
Also tilling can do more harm than good by removing any plant matter covering the soil which leaves it bare. Bare soil, especially soil that is deficient in rich organic matter (which the tilling removed), is more likely to be eroded by wind and water, leaving it "dead soil" that needs lots of fertilizers to grow anything. (source)
It takes a good amount of compost and other organic matter layers in the beginning and then the layering of new compost every year on top, which is work loading, unloading, and spreading, not to mention the cost. However, the work saved throughout the season from weeding far makes up for this in my opinion.
When you're building a new bed, you can add manure, grass clippings, chopped up garden debris and the like, depending on how high you want the bed. Then you'll want to source some good garden top soil to layer on that about 3 inches, topping it all with 2-3 inches of quality compost. Finding good compost is key and will be your job every year after building your beds.
The vegetables I grew in these larger no-till beds always produced well.
I used organic principals and made sure to rotate the crops so that the heavy-feeder corn followed the legumes (which fix nitrogen and enriches the soil). Other than that, I did the spring work, planted and then just spent the season enjoying the harvest.
Please join my no-till, no-dig world- I promise you'll love it!
More Simple Vegetable Gardening Tips
- How to Build & Plant a Low Maintenance Raised Garden Bed
- 7 Inexpensive Raised Garden Bed Ideas (Pros and Cons)
- How To Keep Weeds Out Of Your Garden: Simple Organic Techniques
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Christy says
Hello! I have about 3,000 sq. ft of pasture that I'm transitioning into a no-till vegetable garden space next spring, and I'll be forming 30" rows. I have a couple of questions:
First, since it's such a large space, if I lay down a thick packing paper (from a roll), followed by several inches of compost on each row, would that be sufficient to keep the weeds at bay? I won't be able to get enough cardboard to cover this much space!
Also, I'm planning on mulching the pathways with straw; would you recommend lining them with the packing paper as well? I appreciate your time!
Jami says
That is a large space, Christy!
I think that will work for a season. You'll probably need to keep up the paper layer for a number of seasons until you get a good soil going. Will you use plastic on the area before to kill grass/weeds?
Also, YES to the pathways! Straw alone won't do it and you definitely don't want to waste your time on the paths. 🙂
Christy says
Thank you for your response! I'm trying to avoid using the plastic, which is why I'm considering the paper route. Maybe 2 layers of paper? 😉
Jami says
Definitely more layers of paper, then - and even heavy cardboard in the path areas.
Jami says
Just to clarify - I only use the plastic over the beds to kill weeds for the few months before planting in spring - it doesn't stay there.
Gardening Grammarian says
Thanks so much for this article! But please, it should be FEWER weeks rather than "less" weeds 🙂
Gardening Grammarian says
Urgh. WEEDS, not "weeks". *$#@ Autocorrect!
Jami says
Okay, done. 🙂
Gardening Grammarian says
Thank you! The retired teacher in me just can't resist "grading papers", I guess.
Took advantage of last week's warmth to begin my first experiment in minimal-till gardening by spreading a couple of cubic yards of compost ... and now we're expecting anywhere from 5" to 18" of snow. Oh well.
Jami says
It will still be good - it will just have more time to start feeding the soil. 🙂
Kenna says
Hi, Jami! Me again. 🙂 What size gravel do you have between your beds? And how do you manage kneeling on it? I typically am on my knees a lot. Of course, most of that time is weeding and if I do this right, I shouldn't have to spend so much time on that, right? 🙂 Do you kneel when you plant? Do you use knee pads or some kind of pad? We are working on building the garden beds today...not getting the gravel yet, but I'm curious. Thanks so much!
Jami says
Our beds are about a foot high, so I mostly sit on them. 🙂 If I do need to keel, I use a garden kneeling pad. We laid plastic and then added 3/4 crushed gravel with no-fines (that's key - you don't want all the dirt-like tiny pieces that love to play host to weeds). I'm not sure I would do gravel around raised vegetable beds again, though, unless it was connected to paths and such in a larger garden scheme. It's beautiful, but hard to keep the dirt out of and if you have moles, they wreck it totally. 🙁
Kenna says
I hope I'm not asking a question that you've already answered, but I can't seem to find this information. What kind of wood do you use for your beds? I noticed some of your beds are concrete blocks and some are wood. I have some blocks which I'll use, but figured I'd use wood for other beds. I'm thinking we don't want treated lumber due to chemicals leaching into soil. But does untreated rot quickly? Just wondering what you use. Thanks again!
Jami says
You're right, Kenna, you don't want to use treated wood. Cedar is the longest-lasting, though it is the priciest. Whatever wood you use, you will have to replace it in 10 years or so, so build your beds with that in mind (i.e., make the corners solid that then will be easy to remove/replace the sides). We're facing this now, and we didn't really build them with that in mind, so we almost need to start again. There are pros and cons to both wood and cement blocks, we've got some of both.
Kenna says
Would feed bags work in the place of cardboard when you first begin the bed? We have chickens and a horse so end up with a good supply of feed bags. Thanks so much for your time to share your tips and techniques!
Jami says
Are the feed bags a natural material that will break down, like burlap, Kenna? If they are the plasticky type, no, but the burlap may work, although grass may make their way up through the tiny holes and burlap takes longer to break down. I'd try an area first and see how it works before doing a large bed - just in case. 🙂
Kenna says
They are brown sacks like a brown paper bag--just heavier. Good idea to try a small area first. Thanks.
Jami says
Oh! That should work just fine then. 🙂
marybeth says
How do you make this work in the perennial beds, like asparagus and rhubarb? I just cleaned 2 beds after school and then came in to find this post! I maybe be re-thinking my next few afternoons!
Jami says
I use newspaper under the mulch in the rhubarb beds, similar to our flower beds, and when the asparagus patch was young, I did that too. But now there's not as much room between the clumps as they grow, so I just pull what weeds are there and layer the compost. Mine are growing in a raised bed, though, so I only fill a bucket of weeds a couple times during the season. If you don't have a permanent edge, I'd definitely use cardboard and mulch along the edges. Hope this helps lessen your workload!
Naomi says
What a great and inspiring explanation of this technique! Thanks for sharing. I've got a huge planter that I hand tilled with a shovel and pitch fork last year. It had a previous owner who had not weeded in years! I'm definitely going to use the plastic technique this year instead!
Jami says
Awesome, Naomi - so glad to hear it will save you work!
Sharon H says
Hi, Jamie...what sizes are your beds, and how many do you have? We are moving back to our 10 acres soon, and the garden will need a lot of work. I'm actually in the process of planting berries around the perimeter....Gooseberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, and maybe some Logan berries and black raspberries. My garden spot is about a half acre square. Want to leave the middle open for beds, hence the berries on the perimeter. Wanting to find a permanent place for rhubarb and asparagus...going to be running out room for my veggies! Oh, and I'm seriously thinking about the newspapers and compost for the berries...love all the information you share!
Jami says
I have 6 4x20 raised beds and 4 9x20 moderately raised beds (just beds with permanent paths and edges), Sharon. These are all for veggies with beds on the sides for berries, currants, rhubarb, asparagus, etc. Your new gardens sound fabulous!!
Jenifer Lyn Ryser says
I’m not good with figuring out or explaining the size of the garden I have, let’s just say it takes up 3/4ths of my backyard, & is about as long as 2 2-car garages, & is 1/2 as wide. I inherited the home from my 92yr old Grandma who now lives with my folks. They put in the garden in 1964, & my Mom, as well as I grew up either planting, weeding, or harvesting the amazing bounty of goodness! The garden hadn’t been used in many years, other then to grow potatoes by my Grandma’s gardener, & was inundated with weeds. This year we decided to try again to get the garden going, & we rotor-tilled it twice prior to planting. My Lord we have weeds growing everywhere! I swear I weed it in the evening here in Washington State, only to find more weeds by the time I wake up. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to cut down on the number of weeds growing in my rows? It seems as if they love my zucchini’s, beets, & lettuce the most. Thanks so much for all your wonderful information!
Jami says
Well, this whole article gives my views on tilling and weeds, just like you're experiencing. 🙂 I would plan to use a lot of black plastic next year and then just add compost to the areas you're going to plant, using straw or something on the paths. Also you need to water the plant areas only.
As for this year, try covering the areas around your zucchini with newspaper and some kind of mulch (grass clippings, straw, compost) and between the rows of the other vegetables. You're going to have to hand weed around already growing vegetables, though, no getting around it. Maybe try some kind of mulch after weeding to slow them down.
Good luck!!
Anonymous says
You have a very nice garden. I thought I read something in your post about a trellis for squash - do your squash grow up? Our squash plants are taking over the back yard - not very happy with that.
Jami @ An Oregon Cottage says
I grow cucumbers up a trellis, but not the squash. I only grow zucchini, and it would get too large for me to worry about a trellis. 😉
{northern cottage} says
what a wonderful SHARE! I'm in love with the idea of having less weeds! I so wish I could pin to pinterest for my future reference! Ever thought of turning that on?
Anonymous says
Thank you for your advise!! I'm 7 months pregnant and about to, finally, START this years crops. Note... it's June! Going to be difficult anyhow, but I'm up for the challenge!
Team Barber-Hallquist says
Is there a certain kind/gauge of black plastic? Do you buy it on roll? In the paint section of the hardware store?
Thanks,
Valerie
Jami @ An Oregon Cottage says
Team- we buy it on a roll (there are different lengths) and it's around the construction materials. There are different thickness and the price is more as the thickness goes up. We usually cheap out and get the thinnest, but maybe they'd last longer? Kind of have to decided on your own there. 🙂
Gina says
I love this idea! I'm all about less work when it comes to the garden! Not that I don't enjoy gardening! I can't think of a better way to spend time - but I can think of something better to do in the garden then weeding!
Last year, for an experiment we tried leaving one of our garden plots untilled. We were only partly pleased with the result. I'm going to read some more of your posts and see if I can learn more!
Thanks!
Gina
Jami@ An Oregon Cottage says
Sharon- Thank you! I wish you had left your blog name so I could take a look at your garden or respond. Maybe you'll link up to the Tuesday Garden Parties so we'll get to see your garden and hear your ideas? Yes, what I do is similar to lasange gardening, I just don't do as many layers, but that book and "Weedless Gardening" were some inspirations for me. I have gravel in my paths. (Glad the soap worked for you!)
Anonymous says
Hi, I jsut found your blog through Ann's "make the best of things" blog. I'm glad I found you! I have begun changing over to a no till method of gardening as well. Have your heard of Lasanga Gardening? It is working well for me since you build up and we live on a pile of rocks! lol I have been blogging about my garden lately as it seems to be where I am spending alot of time! 😉 Please stop by if you have a minute. As for the deer, a slice or two of Irish Spring soap tied to a stake in a knee hi stocking has repelled them from my garden and we live in the woods! What is in the paths of your garden?
Sharon
Jami@ An Oregon Cottage says
Ah, the deer. Yes, we are putting up a tall fence, too. While they've not gotten all the beans, they have gotten way too many so our 4-ft fence is going to be replaces with a 7-footer.
suzannah @ so much shouting/laughter says
we're starting our garden now, too. exciting:)
i like your bean poles. the deer got all of ours last year (our first year), but this year, we're putting up a tall fence and hopefully we'll have beans.