Interesting as the newspaper is the next to last layer to be used, rather than the first or bottom layer as in most no dig methods.
I have always placed the newspaper on the very bottom so I will try this method next time I build a garden bed and see the difference.
These are the three garden beds I made earlier in the year, using the 'traditional' method of newspaper on the bottom. The compost on the top has dried out and needs topping up already, whereas the newspaper on top method sounds like it might 'protect' the new soil more.
I would recommend checking out the Our Permaculture Life blog. So much information!
A great place to start would be this post - the best posts for 2016.
There has been a lovely gentle rain falling all day today, which is just what the garden needed. I am looking forward to sitting down in the next few days and making some garden/homestead plans for 2017.
Hi Jayne it is raining here too at the moment. Thanks for the link, I was looking for that post this morning on Morag's blog but couldn't find it - I was probably in too much of a hurry. I like to put shredded paper at the bottom and I will continue to do that and I will now add the newspaper just before the mulch. I am experimenting with mixing coir with my mulch at the moment to see if the soil moisture is retained for any longer time.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that funny?! I love Morag's blog - great information. Look forward to hearing how your coir experiment goes. Do you have a cheap source as it is very expensive here? It only comes in little bags at the hardware.
DeleteHope you had a good Christmas. A gardening post! Just what I needed! I will definitely look at the site. Dreaming of gardening will help get me through January and February. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a lovely Christmas too! Dreaming and planning gardening is always such an enjoyable pastime - looking at seed catalogues is my favourite!
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