Make a New Garden Area - No Dig/No Till • Homestead Lady

Do you need to make a new garden area but don’t want to dig up your grass or till your hard, bare dirt? This is a super basic article explaining how to make a new garden area without digging, tilling, or spending a lot of money. Any level of gardening experience can be applied to this method, plus it’s natural, sustainable, and permaculture friendly!

The basic method for starting new garden beds without digging or tilling is to layer various organic materials directly onto the soil. Over time, these materials break down and turn into usable garden soil.

They do this without you needing to till up the soil, dig garden beds, or purchase large amounts of garden soil.

This method is often called sheet mulching, lasagna gardening, or layered soil/gardening.

The layers break down over time with water (rain, snow, a garden hose) and air (wind, heat), as well as insect and worm activity. There’s also a good deal of microscopic activity happening with microorganisms making nutrients in the soil available to future plants’ roots.

For more information on this breakdown process, I highly recommend all the educational videos at The Soil Food Web, starting with: Nutrient Cycling.

If that’s a little more involved than you were bargaining for, just know that the process of sheet mulching is no more complicated than simply laying down different materials on top of your native soil and on top of each other. Over time, these layers turn into dirt.

There are a few nuances to it, but that’s basically it!

Recommended Further Reading

How to Amend Soil With Permaculture

Create a Vegetable Plant Guild in 7 Steps

Raised Beds 101 – Learn to Grow in Raised Beds

Why Make a New Garden Area Without Digging or Tilling?

We’ll describe the process of layering to build soil in the body of the article, but here are just a few reasons to start a new garden without digging, tilling, or back-breaking work:

There’s no need for expensive tools or amendments.
It provides a way to repurpose materials that might otherwise be thrown away.
It’s a natural process that you can observe and tailor to your area and climate
This method ensures the new garden area doesn’t get compacted by tilling and foot traffic.
It preserves soil structure by not disturbing it and by layering on materials (more about this in a bit).
The method provides a healthy soil for growing food, flowers, and herbs.
It provides a safe, undisturbed area for microbes, mycelium, worms, and more to grow inside the soil.
This method is easy to maintain because you don’t have to till it every year!
It typically results in fewer weeds because tilling brings weed seeds to the surface of the soil to germinate easily.
If you add usable soil in a thick layer on top, you can plant right shallow rooted annuals right away.
This method results in a soil structure that is strong and more water retention in the layers.

If you’d like some extra help improving your soil and you’d like to get started right now, get your free copy of our soil workbook by joining our newsletter family.

Build Your Garden Like the Forest Floor

When I say this method involves layering organic materials onto your existing soil, try to picture the floor of a forest. How may things fall to the ground in layers on the forest floor?

You might find:

leaves & pine needles
small & large sticks, as well as logs and stumps
moss & lichen & mushrooms
animal dung
ashes and charcoal from fires
rocks & sand
decomposing carrion & bones

We’ll talk about including these materials in a new garden in various ways. But first, I invite you to think about something else for just a minute.

The forest is a strong ecosystem that can thrive on its own without intervention from people. Sometimes we manage forests for timber or recreation, but the forest still maintains its own systems while we’re doing our own thing (as long as we aren’t too intrusive).

In permaculture, we break up the homestead or garden into zones of use. The final zone is often called the forest zone because this zone is where we let nature run its course.

We spend a good deal of time observing and enjoying this zone, but we leave it to manage itself for the most part. This is where we go to relax and enjoy nature.

If you get stressed when you think about gardening because of all the work and maybe past failures, try changing your mindset. Think about starting a new garden like imitating the forest, including the calm application of natural materials over time.

–>>No need to stress or toil too much!<<–

How to Start a New Garden From Scratch?

Now that you’ve taken a deep breath, let’s dive into creating new gardens from scratch. Here’s what we’re going to cover:

Preparing the new garden space.
Applying layers of natural material.
Maintaining the new garden beds.
What time of year is good to start new garden beds.

We’ll also talk about containing new garden beds – building garden beds (or not), as well as using pots or grow bags.

How Do You Prepare the Ground for a First Time Garden?

The first thing to do to prepare your new garden is to decide where to put it. There are a lot of criteria to consider, but here are the most important:

Most veggies and flowers, as well as some herbs, require 6-8 hours of solid sunlight.
The area you choose should be level for ease of use for the gardener and to prevent rainwater runoff and erosion. If all you have is slope, learn more about digging swales or creating a terrace garden. Or start your garden with bags or buckets up near your house in the most level place you can find.
All gardens require regular applications of water, especially in extreme summer heat areas. Be sure you have a hose, rainwater barrel, or cistern nearby.

Don’t worry about doing everything perfectly, just pick a spot and get started. Take good notes, and be prepared to learn more and make changes.

–>>This is what all gardeners do, even ones with lots of experience!<<–

Thinking about these three criteria and providing the best conditions you can for your new garden will get you started with gardening success. If you’re new to gardening, providing these three things are enough to begin.

If you’ve been gardening for awhile or you want to gather as much information as you can, you can follow the steps in this article: Finding Homestead Property Information, aka Site Data

Layering Components

Once you have a designated area, it’s time to begin adding layers of natural materials to build your new soil. You will actually be creating soil with this layering method.

You can include store-bought layers of potting soil, if you want, but it’s not necessary.

Remember the layers of the forest floor we talked about? Here are their garden counterparts; these are the materials you’ll be laying down.

–>>These materials are listed in no particular order, FYI. The suggested order is located below this list (look for the picture).<<–

Compost & Manure

Garden compost and/or rotting manure are important components in building new garden beds. Finding local sources is the most economical.

If you have kitchen and garden waste, and livestock on the homestead, you may be able to harvest both from your own land. You can make your own compost and reserve the waste from your barnyard to build new garden beds.

Spread your livestock manure and compost out in a heap to let the chickens root through it and eat any potentially harmful larvae. They’ll also scratch it up and break it down into smaller bits.

If you don’t have a compost bin in your backyard or you don’t have livestock, you can often find those selling both in bulk in local online marketplaces. If you don’t have your own trailer, be sure to ask what their delivery range and fees are.

I would advise avoiding manure from horse arenas or large livestock operations because of the feed and medication that are given to the animals. Pharmaceutical residue is present in both their urine and their feces.

Also, typical commercial feed contains high amounts of corn and soy, depending on the animal. Both ingredients are typically raised with regular applications of potentially dangerous pesticides and herbicides. Both ingredients are also often genetically engineered, usually to withstand the regular applications of dangerous pesticides and herbicides.

Small farms, organic farms, regenerative farms, and permaculture sites are more likely to have less or none of that in their manures. Be sure to ask what has gone into the compost and/or manure.

Never be afraid to ask questions when you’re purchasing a product! Questions lead to wisdom and, in the case of a customer and service provider, can create a loyal relationship in the future.

There is a manure you can make at home, even if you don’t have room for typical homestead livestock. Worm castings provided by vermiculture (or composting worms) is a very desirable additive. It takes awhile to get a large amount of it, so sprinkle it on as you have it.

You may apply it at any time during the layering process, as well as when you have your new garden area planted.

Leaves & Grass Clippings

Where leaves & grass clippings are concerned, the smaller the material the better. Shredded leaves, for example, have more exposed surface area and so they break down quickly without molding.

Grass clippings are already small but they should be broken apart so that they don’t clump; sprinkle them on.

You can use brown material or green material. Generally speaking, green leaves and grass have higher levels of nitrogen and brown leaves and grass have higher levels of carbon.

Brown leaves and grass can be integrated into your new garden bed layers wherever you like to break down and turn into soil over time.
Green leaves and grass will need to mellow and break down before you can plant near their layers. Plant materials containing higher levels of nitrogen are considered “hot” and can damage plant roots, especially baby plants.

Straw &/or Old Hay (Pine Needles, too!)

What the difference between straw and hay?

Straw is the dry botanical material leftover from grain harvests (like wheat shafts).
Hay is grass grown up specifically to feed livestock.

If the straw and hay are dry when you put them down as a layer, be sure to wet them. This will help both break down quicker, which is desirable.

If you have access to pine needles in high volume, use them! Pine needles make a great mulch layer, and you can usually glean the needles for free.

Contrary to popular belief, pine needles don’t acidify your soil in measurable ways, so don’t be afraid to use them.

Native Dirt

Native dirt is an important layer to add because it provides your new garden bed with the clay, silt, and sand that is naturally occurring in your soil.

Mixed in with those soil components will be microorganisms, mycelium, bacteria and more that provide a kind of inoculant for your new garden.
If you wanted your new garden to be accustomed to you, you’d spit in it. If you want your new garden layers to get accustomed to their new home and get started breaking down into usable soil, add a layer of native dirt.

You’ll want to sift out very large rocks, but small rocks are helpful in providing drainage. You can learn more about rocks, including their merits, in our article: How to Fix Rocky Soil with Permaculture.

Sticks & Branches (& Biochar)

Small sticks and branches add carbon, which is the building block of all life, to your growing pile of materials that will turn into fantastic garden soil.

Those microorganisms and mycelium we mentioned before will turn the sticks into little houses for themselves and their microbiotic friends.
Playing host to these little critters in the soil as they hunker down and get comfortable digesting and excreting will mean your soil biology (sort of like the stomach of your dirt) is healthy and strong.

To provide more homes for microorganisms, as well as water molecules and nutrients, consider adding biochar to your layers. You don’t need much to make a difference!

Sprinkle biochar anywhere within the top 6 inches of your layers, close to where the roots of plants will be. You can also add it to your compost, if that’s easier.

You can use natural charcoal (found in stores or homemade) to make your own biochar with these instructions taken from our article, How to Amend Soil with Permaculture.

How to Make Easy Biochar

Purchase a bag of natural charcoal, there are various brands available at hardware stores.

Empty the bag into a box and cover the charcoal with water. Let it sit for 24 hours.

Empty the box onto your driveway and hammer that charcoal into smaller bits. You can also use your feet to crush them. The more surface area, the more places for microbes to live.

Place them into a shallow pit dug in your backyard and ring it with stones or logs to keep it from overflowing when it fills with water. Be sure the pit is exposed to rainfall or water it weekly for the next 3-4 months.

Cover the charcoal with compost and toss in some of your sourdough starter or even just some sugar.

Mix it in with a shovel* and cover it with cardboard, wood chips, or straw.

Allow to sit for 3-4 months and don’t let it dry out. Keeping it moist is very important for continued fermentation.

*You could also use a tarp to mix the components by lifting the sides of the tarp one at a time in succession. This folds the material over on itself, effectively mixing it with less muscle on your part. This method is great if you have a sore back.

Random Bits & Bobs

Weeds that haven’t gone to seed yet make excellent soil filler. They’re full of nitrogen while they’re green and are a great source of carbon when they’re brown. Plus, they’re totally free of charge. Just pull them up and lay them down.

Shredded paper is a worthy inclusion, unless you’re particular about potential dye toxins from the ink. Treat shredded paper like you would sawdust or grass clippings – break it up so it doesn’t clump and spread it around.

Sourdough, kefir, komboucha are all full of probiotics and will give your soil layers some kick. It’s easiest to incorporate these into your compost pile or even into your biochar.

Coffee grounds, peat moss, and sawdust can all be foraged, purchased in bulk, or gathered for free (or near free). These materials, while beneficial, are usually rather acidic and can affect how your soil sustains plant life.

Layering them on sparingly and loosely – like sprinkling salt and pepper over a fine meal.

Make New Garden Beds

Once you’ve assembled all the materials to lay down, or at least have enough to begin, you need to construct the new garden beds. The first layer is the only element of the garden beds that you’ll need to import, though you probably won’t need to pay for it.

This foreign element is either newspaper or cardboard, or both. Some people have concerns about potential toxins in both, usually chemicals or traces of metal.

Modern newspaper ink is most often soy-based, which is considered better than commercial chemical ink. The Permaculture Research Institute has more information on that in their article, Is Newspaper Safe in Your Garden?
There are wider variations with cardboard. Some are much “safer” than others, especially those marked with the recycling symbol.

In our garden, we keep the cardboard:

At the very bottom of our new garden beds where roots won’t touch them.
In walkways where no food will ever grow.
Over persistently weedy areas where I’m trying to smoother weeds I don’t find helpful.

Old World Garden and Farms has an article called Using Carboard in the Garden that will provide you with a broader conversation on the topic.

In What Order Do I Lay the Materials Down?

The answer to this question is totally dependent on how soon you’d like to be able to use the new garden bed. If you need a quick turnaround, meaning that the elements all break down as fast as they can, I suggest the following layer order.

Cardboard or Newspaper: This layer’s job is to smoother native grass and weeds. 1-3 layers should suffice.
Larger Material: This layer is comprised of sticks, shredded bark, charred wood, small branches. This woody material will decay more slowly, providing shelter for microorganisms and worms.
Mulch & Medium Bulky Material: Add mulch, compost, new manure, straw, hay, pine straw, biochar, & any probiotic* you have.
Dirt & Manure: Mix these together, if you can, to increase bioactivity quickly. Aged manure will be easier on plant roots. Sprinkle biochar, probiotics, or other bits and bobs.
Final Mulch Layer: Soil should never be bare; mulch is like soil armor. This can be seasoned wood chips, straw, composted leaves, or pine straw type material.

*Sourdough, kefir, komboucha, or any other probiotic can be added at any time in any layer. So can worm castings.

Larger material like sticks can be layered in between 6″-12″ in height; compact them by walking on them.
Medium bulk material like mulch, compost, and manure can be placed in 2″-12″ layers.
Fine material like biochar or worm casting can be sprinkled on at a rate of 1-2 cups per yard of layering.

Got Time?

If you have a year before you need to use the garden beds, it really doesn’t matter too much in what order you lay down the materials.

This is because wind, precipitation, and solar activity will all work together the break the materials down in time regardless of order.
With the exception that cardboard/newspaper which should always go on the bottom over grass and weeds.
Also, sticks should always go on top of the cardboard/newspaper layer, placing them at the very bottom of the new garden area.

Pro Tip: Plant cover crops on the top of the pile in order to provide more food for the soil while you wait for the layers to break down.

When Should I Start Preparing My New Garden?

You can start the process of preparing your new garden beds any time of year. Here are some things to note:

It’s best to leave the new beds for six months to a year to break down enough to use them for new plants. You can speed the process up AND make the soil more robust but continuing to add mulch and compost throughout the year.
You can also bulk up the soil and increase fertility if you will grow cover crops on the very top layer of mulch. Toss a little native soil into the top layer if you’d like to start growing cover crops quickly.
Extreme weather will break down materials quicker, especially heat. If you add water regularly or if you get consistent rainfall, the materials will break down even faster.

I usually prepare new garden beds in the late summer and let them sit until the next spring. I plant cover crops in the spring, the summer, and the fall whenever I can.

I’ll link several helpful articles at the end, including information on cover crops.

Maintenance For New Garden Beds

Keep an eye out for perennial weeds – you’ll know them by their large root systems and persistence in the landscape despite harsh weather. Dig these out as often as you can since they will interfere with your garden plants growth.

You will need to renew the top layers of mulch as it breaks down to continue to protect the top layers of your soil. Exposed soil will dry out and struggle to maintain health.

Always keep your soil armored up with mulch material like seasoned wood chips, pine straw, and wheat straw.

Once the soil is prepared, keep roots growing it as often as possible. Flowers, herbs, veggies, cover crops – whatever! Roots in the soil will keep the soil healthy, protected, and productive.