It can take months, if not years, to create a sufficient amount of traditional compost in compost bins. While it’s a wonderful way to create healthy, fertile soil, it’s labor-intensive and very time-consuming. Thankfully, there’s another, simpler way to improve your soil: the chop and drop system.
The chop and drop system in gardening is the process of cutting back spent crops–like annuals at the end of the season or pruning trees in the fall–and dropping the foliage onto the ground. The plant remains break down into compost right at the soil level.
In the rest of this article, we’ll dive deeper into what chop and drop gardening is, how you can implement it into your gardening routine, and some precautions when chop and drop gardening.
What Is Chop And Drop Gardening?
Chop and drop is a way to emulate nature’s process of breaking down plant materials. This makes the process simpler and more natural, reducing both time and energy required to create healthy soil and benefit crops.
While traditional composting works just fine, it’s much more complicated. At the end of the growing season, plants are ripped up from the ground and placed in compost bins with manure, leaves, and other decomposing matter. These piles must then be kept damp and turned regularly. After a growing season or two, the compost is typically ready to be carted back to the garden for use.
Chop and drop gardening takes these labor-intensive steps out of composting. Here are the steps for implementing chop and drop in your garden:
- Chop spent annual plants off at the root level or prune perennial plants and trees. When you’re preparing your garden for the next season, cut the spent plants off near the ground. Place the cuttings directly on the ground (either whole or chopped up) rather than taking them to your compost bin. The roots will still be beneath the soil, where they’ll stay.
- You can add a thin layer of manure on top of the plant matter if you want to (not required). Chicken, sheep, and cow manure are the best options for this, as they don’t take as long to age as horse manure.
- Then you can cover the plant matter and manure with a layer of mulch (also not required). This will help the manure and plants to break down. It’ll also keep wind and rainfall from carrying them away. Pea straw is a wonderful choice for mulch, but any kind of mulch will work.
- Wait for the magic to happen! Yes, chop and drop gardening is really this simple.
What Are The Benefits Of Chop And Drop Gardening?
The most obvious benefit of chop and drop gardening is how easy it is to add to your gardening practices. No more carting plant materials to compost bins, monitoring heat and moisture levels, toiling to turn the compost heap or hauling new soil back to the garden.
Chop and drop also helps to aerate the soil. Because the plant roots rot underneath the soil, they improve drainage and help to loosen the soil. The soil is thus less packed, improving its fertility. The roots under the soil also transfer organic material deep into the ground, making it more easily accessible for future plants.
Earthworms also help to loosen the soil. As they feed on the rotting plant matter, they dig into the soil and carry the nutrients into the ground. Of course, this plant matter is turned into worm castings, which have proven to be wildly beneficial to soil health!
The mulching effect of chop and drop gardening helps to improve water retention. The soil will stay cooler and less water will be evaporated in the summer heat.
Chop and drop gardening is one of the most nature-replicating methods of growing plants. Nature has been successfully growing plants since the beginning, so closely emulating the natural process is an easy way to reach your gardening goals.
Can All Plants Be Chopped And Dropped?
Most plants can be easily chopped and dropped. Garden vegetables, annual flowers, and trees can all be used in this permaculture practice. Of course, the larger the plant material, the slower it will break down.
To help speed up the process, you can chop up the plant tops. Tree branches, in particular, are best used when chopped up. In many cases, you can use gardening shears to cut the plant material into smaller pieces. Placing the plant tops in a heap and mowing over them is also helpful.
Plants that are considered dynamic accumulators, like comfrey, are generally considered some of the best chop and drop plants because of their ability to collect nutrients from deep in the soil and collect them in the leaves. When these plants are chopped and dropped those nutrients become available in the top soil and made available for shallow rooted plants.
Unfortunately, some plants shouldn’t be chopped and dropped. Brassica cover crops (like cauliflower, radishes, and turnips) can keep seeds from sprouting when chopped and dropped. Because of this, it’s best to compost these plants before adding them to your garden soil.
Even with plants that can successfully be chopped and dropped, it’s important to cut them down before they go to seed. This is, of course, especially true with weeds. If you chop and drop vegetables after they’ve gone to seed, they will sometimes sprout again in the spring.
If you want volunteer plants, this isn’t a big deal–but if you practice crop rotation these spring seedlings can be a headache. Diligently removing weeds throughout the growing season is a helpful way to keep weeds from coming back in upcoming years.
Should I Be Worried About Diseases?
If you chop and drop healthy plants, you shouldn’t worry about carrying on diseases to future crops. The plant matter will break down similarly to how it would in a compost bin: disease and pest free.
However, if you know your plants are diseased, don’t chop and drop them. Tossing these unhealthy plants in the garbage is the safest choice, though you can also put them in a traditional compost bin. The high heat levels in a well-managed compost heap will kill many diseases and pests.
Tools Needed For Chop and Drop Gardening
A great thing about this gardening method is the simplicity of it all, you really don’t need much. However, a few tools do make the job easier.
The first thing you will need is a good pair of pruners. This is the tool you will find in your hands most often as you are walking through your garden. I find I am constantly chopping and dropping as I go about other gardening choirs.
- Drop forged body and handles.
- Quality blade made of Premium Titanium steel with Ultra-fine Polishing...
- Ergonomically designed non-slip handles are strong,lightweight,and comfortable.
Last update on 2024-07-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
If you are chopping and dropping from the fruit and nut trees in your food forest you may find you need something a little heavier duty than pruners. In this case, Loppers would be a handy tool to have on hand. If you can get a pair with extending handles it can be a benefit to reach higher limbs and increase leverage for easier cuttings.
- ★SHARP AND DURABLE BLADE★The heavy duty lopper blade made of SK-5 steel...
- ★EXTENSIBLE ALUMINIUM HANDLE★ The extendable pruning lopper is designed with...
- ★LIGHTWEIGHT AND STURDY★The rod retractable rod is made from aluminum alloy,...
Last update on 2024-07-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
If you have planted cover crops in a larger gardening space and you are chopping and dropping them for the soil benefit a great tool to have is a clearing cycle. This tool can make quick work of dropping thick cover crops at ground level.
- Designed for heavy duty clearing and scrubbing of tough vines weeds undergrowth
- Black soft rubber grips and the 9-inch aluminum tube handle
- Razor sharp 9-inch carbon steel straight edge hooked blade provides powerful...
Last update on 2024-07-26 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Final Thoughts
Chop and drop gardening is an easy way to improve your soil. Letting nature take its course means you’ll have far less work to do: no tilling, no turning soil, no watering, etc. Follow the simple tips in this article and you’ll have deep, rich soil in no time.
