I am a bit of a lazy gardener. I love my garden but I also love reruns of Inspector Morse, football and beer festivals — so I’m always happy when I discover an easier way to get my gardening done in time for the kick-off. I have founds lots of sneaky ways to enjoy a beautiful garden without spending all my time working on it. A couple of hours a week is all I need to keep it looking beautiful — and over the next four weeks I am going to share some of my secrets with you, so you can get a life, too.

The first bit of good news for the lazy gardener is that digging can often do more harm than good — so you can cross that off your to-do list. Digging introduces oxygen to the soil, dries it out and damages the soil structure. Clay soil is especially vulnerable and will become compacted if you stand or walk on these beds. Compacted soil is prone to flooding because the water struggles to find its way back to the water table so, as well as all the time you spend on back-breaking digging, you will leave your plants at risk of rotting or drowning.

The best way to build healthy soil is to sit back and let the worms do the work. Tunnelling worms are the lazy gardener’s best friend; they improve soil aeration and structure, their burrows provide channels that allow water to trickle down into the soil and they mix organic matter and nutrients (essentially their poo) throughout the soil.

So, what’s the best way to encourage these lovely, labour-saving worms to make a home in your garden? Well, after you’ve stopped digging, you should make sure that you provide plenty of organic matter by adding compost or leaf mould to the surface.

You’ll be surprised to notice this matter disappear after only a few weeks, as the worms take these nutrients down into the soil for a feast. Amazingly, worms can get through half their own weight in organic matter every day, recycling the bits that they don’t need back into the soil as worm casts. These casts are high in all the essential nutrients for healthy plant growth: nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

Worms are not the only creatures that will benefit from a no-dig system. Spiders, beetles and micro-organisms such as nematodes all work together in a healthy soil. The best way to build up a thriving soil community is to avoid walking on or digging through your beds, and to make sure that the soil stays moist; even creepy-crawlies need air and water to survive.

When designing your no-dig system, you will need to think carefully about the size of your beds and paths. The system will be a success only if you don’t walk on the soil, so you will need to be able to reach every part of your bed from the pathways.

The ideal width for a planting bed that is accessible from both sides is 1,200mm but you will have to reduce this to 600mm if your planting bed is against a boundary (as you will be able to reach it from only one side). Garden Organic recommends that the paths between beds are a minimum of 300mm wide to allow for access, but where there is space I like to include far more generous paths so that there is room to turn wheelbarrows without the need for a three-point turn.

Five lazy gardener tips

1 Use a fork, not a spade, to avoid chopping up worms.

2 Choose a tool appropriate for your body size, so you do not create extra work lifting heavy equipment. If you are slight, consider using a border fork.

3 Dig over heavy clay soil in the autumn and let the frost break up clods of earth over the winter months.

4 Raised beds give a longer growing system; they heat up earlier in spring and remain warmer for longer.

5 Close plant spacing makes a living mulch, so less weeding and watering is required.

Explore Gardens

• Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

• Chelsea Flower Show

Times recommends

• Second homes: credit crunch casualty or money-spinner?
• How I built my own sliding house
• Top 10 incentives for house buyers