READER QUESTION

I NEED to dig over our vegetable bed but wonder how soon I should start. Our soil is medium and easy to work, but can be cloddy in places, though it drains well.

Gerry Hopkinson, Kent. TRADITIONALLY, you dig a veg bed over in autumn to allow winter frosts to break up the soil and help produce a tilth. But frosts are neither frequent nor severe enough, nowadays, to have much influence on the soil. Autumn digging is therefore not necessary. If your ground drains well and your soil is regularly composted and in ‘good heart’, digging now could do more harm than good. Better to wait until the land dries, usually in March, to carry out light cultivations. Never dig deep on heavy or cloddy soils. Soil which is kept rich in organic matter should never need deep digging. And to avoid compaction, keep off the ground until it’s dry enough to work easily.