Charles Dowding is a horticulturalist, teacher and prolific author, and the champion of the ‘no-dig’ gardening technique, a method that involves – duh – no digging! Charles’ methods work with nature using compost and mulching to create healthy soil. Because healthy soil makes healthy plants, makes healthy humans!
How did your no-dig method evolve? “I wanted to grow healthy foods. I started organic gardening in 1982, but realised that was only the first step. It was a gut feeling, that there was a connection between soil, plants, animals and people. It led me to think about what was in the soil, what life; at the time nobody was talking about it. But it’s only recently I’ve started talking about it and presenting it to the world.”
What led you to present it to the world? “I wrote my first book for Green Books, and when the commissioning editor visited and looked round my garden in 2006 they said, ‘Wow! You’ve got to write a book about this for us’. That’s when it caught the public’s eye."
