double digging

British  

noun

1. a method of digging ground in a series of trenches two spits deep, mixing the soil of the bottom spit with manure, and then transferring the soil from the top spit of one trench to the top spit of the preceding one

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Example Sentences

She sounded surprised — she must not spend too much time double digging or spreading manure.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 15, 2022

I don’t know anyone who did this — double digging emanated from old English estate gardens with armies of low-paid gardeners — but the concept reminded us of our sacred duty to dig those beds.

From Washington Post • Jul. 13, 2021

Rigorous double digging by actually trenching out 12 inches and then spading up the next foot theoretically allows one to mix in significant amounts of organic matter to nearly 24 inches.

From Gardening Without Irrigation: or without much, anyway by Solomon, Steve

Let's realistically consider how much soil moisture reserves might be increased by double digging and incorporating large quantities of organic matter.

From Gardening Without Irrigation: or without much, anyway by Solomon, Steve

Suppose inches-thick layers of compost were spread and, by double digging, the organic matter content of a very sandy soil were amended to 10 percent down to 2 feet.

From Gardening Without Irrigation: or without much, anyway by Solomon, Steve