(1) I was wondering if you can do 'no dig ' gardening in an existing bed around 2-3 year old natives etc. I am sick of constantly pouring expensive composted soil, onto my poor-soiled garden, fighting weeds and trying to dig out the huge boulders and rubbish that are under my garden beds due to it being built on an old quarry....the work is too heavy for me and no-dig sounded great as i'd like to put in some vegies in between natives where i can (i know this isn't ideal but don't have room for a stand-alone vegie patch) but i'm concerned about building the 'no dig layers of straw etc right up against the stalks, trunks etc of my natives, citrus etc... , Does anyone know if you can do it in an existing garden and how....what would it end up looking like.....photos would be appreciated or any advice.......

(2)..has anyone also successfully grown lots of vegies in and around natives or am i really much better to start planting in styrofoam boxes (free from fruit shop). By the way, i live on the coast in Thirroul, northern illawarra...have a hubby who hates the idea of 'ugly vegie patches' and 'ugly' styrofoam boxes but they may be my best bet even if i do have to scatter them around where i can
and
(3) Also does anyone know the closest community garden to Thirroul, northern illawarra...have heard Dapto is great but good 45 mins from me

Thanks for your help

Hi there - there is a community garden in North Wollongong behond the PCYC. The idea of a No Dig garden is that you build on top of the soil, so I am sure your existing garden beds would be great. The best way to deal with "weds" is to cover them with big wads of newspaper and wood chip/mulch - block the sun getting to them then they will die and you don't have to dig them out. To make a no dig garden it's just layers upon layer of newspaper, water, muclh, compost etc. Good luck with your garden!

ditto to the last reply - I am a member of the the Garden at PCYC North Wollongong. We have a working bee on the first sunday of each month so you would be welcome to come brainstorm solutions and see what we have done. We use natives as a wind break and plant infront and behind them. cardboard boxes are also good to use to squash out weeds - deprive them of light and begin to cover the wet cardboasrd with layers of compostable materials. We facilitated several workshops in partnership with sustainable Illawarra and there will be more workshops coming up so keep an eye out for them.