Question about no dig gardens

[Gold Metal Flake]

I have a lot of backyard just growing grass and doing nothing. I have decided to take one end of it and start no dig beds, 4'x4' and otherwise cut off the watering.

We have always had problems with gophers. This year, with our first garden (couple of rows double-dug) we had gopher issues. I posted about it a while back. What I am interested in doing is to use 1/4" screen beneath the no-dig beads to completly block gopher access without having to use traps or smokers or bait. Here is my question:

I am not sure how deep stuff roots. Should I lay the screen on the grass before I start layering or should I go ahead and dig down about a foot, lay down the screen, replace the sod and layer? I plan on growing corn over in the beds, and I guess other roots like onions and carrots, but I am not sure about the things I will plant in the no digs like tomatoes, beans, squash and cukes, lettuce, berries and stuff. My concern being if the screen is not deep enough will it interfere with root growth.

So, what say DU?
My screen plan is to have screen under everything coming out and secured to the outside sides of the bed liner wood. Then, stakes will hold chicken wire to close the sides to the rabbits and ground squirrels. Netting keeps the birds out. All I will have to worry about will be the bugs. Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!

[LiberalEsto]

1. Check this link for Square Foot Gardening

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/


Mel Bartholomew recommends building planting boxes 6 to 8 inches in depth and filling them with his soil mixture. That might be about the depth you'd need. I'd give it a few extra inches just in case. I can't recall growing any vegetables with roots that went deeper than a foot.

[noamnety]

2. I don't think you need to dig down.

Aside from a carrot situation most roots aren't that deep, and if they run into an obstacle in one direction they'll figure out to grow sideways if they have to. My only concern would be the watering because if you aren't keeping on that and it gets dry, the roots will try to go down further. You might try milk jugs with needle holes in the bottom, and you can fill the jugs with water for a slow drip. Or use ollas. I think most roots would grow right through a 1/4 inch screen though - you'd just have a little extra work pulling them at the end of the season if they've grown through - so you'd want to make sure the screen can handle that sort of tugging from above.

I dug out some mature (huge) tomatoes and pumpkins recently that were just planted in regular dirt, and was a little shocked at how tiny the roots were.

[sazemisery]

3. This is what I did.

We have moles so I attached hardware cloth (why do they call it cloth when it is welded wire?) to the bottom of my above ground beds. I then attached landscape fabric to the inside of the planter. That way no grass can grow up and no need for digging out the grass. I also made my beds with 2 X 10's so I could have the depth I needed for carrots etc. I have grown all kinds of vegetables in them and have not had any depth issues.

[Kolesar]

4. Electric fence, or bury "hog fence" a foot deep around the perimeter of your garden

I have never heard of someone burying a screen under any raised planting bed. I would think it would get in the way if you did any maintenence or decided to turn over the soil. (If you change your mind from no dig.)

A screen right around the bed would be hard to work around. Our tomatoes and squash grow out beyond the planting beds. I don't like having to work around my row covers when I put the garden in in the spring for the first month.

Some roots do get bigger than 1/4 inch at eight inches down.

I got a new neighbor with four cats and the grey tabby just cleaned out the chipmunks. Love him.

[ClayZ]

5. This is nice!

:-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ryxAcSoXhs