Raised Bed Gardening

Add soil amendments such as peat, lime, rock phosphate and organic fertilizer, as needed. Spray the soil with a fine spray, and top it off again because the water will lower the soil level a bit. This assures equal light exposure to all the plants growing in the bed. If your bed is aligned the other way the ends facing south , you may have planting limitations because taller plants in front can block the sunlight to small plants in back.

This gives you a chance to pull rocks, and to see the composition of your soil. Leave soil piled up in the center, away from the sides, so you can set the bed in place without obstructions. Use a level for this task.

Construction

Tap down the sides as needed till you get a level reading. Be sure to check for level both along the length and across the width of your bed. As you dig the soil, keep an eye out for any roots which may be growing beneath your beds. If left to grow, these roots will steal the organic amendments you add to the soil. Pull any roots back towards their source, and pull the main root clump.

If the source is a living tree, you may need to install a root barrier by digging a narrow trench outside the perimeter of the bed, and deeper than the roots, and then insert a barrier such as heavy plastic sheeting. Once the soil is added and the bed is planted, make it a policy to never step on the bed.

Stepping on the bed will compact the soil, reduce aeration and impact root growth. Pets should also be trained to stay off the raised beds. This board can be laid across the bed, setting on top of the bed sides, and can be used to set buckets on when weeding or adding amendments, and it can be used to step on if you must step on the bed. It also makes a handy seat when weeding or tending the bed.

If you plan to grow root crops, such as potatoes or carrots, you may want to set the mesh lower in the ground by digging deeper when you are setting up the bed. There are also raised garden planters available for above-ground gardening. These planters are designed to be easy on the back. Add any planned soil amendments, such as peat, compost or lime, and spread the soil evenly across the bed. Water the bed with an even, fine spray.

Over time the soil will settle an inch or two more. To learn more about developing the ideal soil for your raised beds, read our articles: It helps when pathways between raised beds are wide enough for a small wheelbarrow. For grass pathways, make sure they are at least wide enough for a weedeater or a small mower. This will not be visible because the mulch will cover it.

When buying mulch, ask the seller if they have had any complaints about weed seeds in the mulch. Some weeds will still appear on your pathways regardless of the mulch. Wait until it rains before pulling them out or you might rip the landscape cloth. The weeds will come out easily if the ground is wet. Many beautiful raised bed installations are set on concrete surfaces, but there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.

Typically, patio and driveway surfaces are not level.

Raised-bed gardening

This is intentional so water can drain away from the main house structure. Raised beds, however, should be built to level, the same as if being constructed on soil. This means the bottoms of the beds will need to be blocked up on the low end just enough to facilitate and direct drainage. To learn more about this, read our article: One of the benefits of raised bed gardening is drainage, but this feature also makes the soil requirements of your garden box a little different.

The following explores both options. This last combination above will help eliminate weeds, but the real key to these combinations is the compost. No matter how great your topsoil is, your raised beds will fail dismally without compost, which will need to be added again every year. The goal of any irrigation system is to make sure every plant gets enough water to thrive.

With each method of irrigation there is a different strategy to meet this goal: When spraying, whether with a sprinkler or by hand, you must also consider duration. Adding an automatic timer to your watering system will help remove the guesswork. Even better, a raised garden bed makes irrigating your crops simpler because drip tape and soaker hoses can be mounted to the side of the box to keep them immobile. The most common mistake when irrigating is leaving gaps.

Be sure to measure the reach of your hose against the size of your box and install enough lines to thoroughly soak the soil. Raised beds need to be watered a little more often than traditional, in-ground beds because they drain faster and tend to encourage rapid plant growth, which requires more water. In the summer, this might mean watering multiple times per day depending on the stage of plant growth and the type of crop.

Automation works best with a drip line or soaker hose system.

Automating your system also allows you to time watering for the cool of the evening or the middle of the night when the evaporation rate is lowest. For more information about automating your watering system, see our article about The Absentee Gardener: You can take this a little further by mulching on top of the hoses around your plants to further reduce evaporation. Routine maintenance of your system should also include checking for leaks, which are often caused by creatures looking for water or errant pitchforks.

You can prevent leaks at joints by making sure there is proper water pressure for the system you are using, and that all joints are sealed. The edges of the bed will dry out a little faster than the middle, so pay special attention to the location of your plants. If you are sprinkling or spraying, put a mug in your garden to see how many inches of water you are using. You can also place a container beneath one of the holes in your drip line to gauge how much water your system is delivering to each plant. See Drip Irrigation vs. Which is Better for Your Garden? Raised garden beds, planters, garden decks and outdoor wood furniture can be protected against both water and fungal-borne decay with new mineral-based formulations which are non-toxic, and safe to use with food crops.

The best ingredient to put in your garden is your own compost. The best composters are sealed units tumblers that convert kitchen, yard and garden waste into compost in just a few weeks. Vegetable garden bed construction materials should be chosen carefully. Some concerns exist regarding the use of pressure-treated timber. If using timber to raise the garden bed, ensure that it is an untreated [2] hardwood to prevent the risk of chemicals leaching into the soil.

A common approach is to use timber sleepers joined with steel rods to hold them together. Another approach is to use concrete blocks , although less aesthetically pleasing, they are inexpensive to source and easy to use.

On the market are also prefab raised garden bed solutions which are made from long lasting polyethylene that is UV stabilized and food grade so it will not leach undesirable chemicals into the soil or deteriorate in the elements. A double skinned wall provides an air pocket of insulation that minimizes the temperature fluctuations and drying out of the soil in the garden bed.

Raised-bed gardening - Wikipedia

Sometimes raised bed gardens are covered with clear plastic to protect the crops from wind and strong rains. Each material type has advantages and disadvantages. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Why 8 inches of concrete? What is underneath the concrete, soil? Is the 8 inches of concrete instead of soil, so you can save on soil? As for filling around the concrete, do some homework on what you want to grow. Some plants need a good 12 inches of soil, minimum, but some experts recommend up to two feet of soil so plants can spread their roots.

You could spread a little newspaper over the concrete but it will not last long; it may be better to fill with good organic soil and save the paper newspaper for possible use as mulch. To a certain extent, this will be an experimental season for you. We are changing over from a straw bale garden to a wood raised garden. Has anyone seen any free designs for a raised bed that is about 3 foot high but only want the depth of the bed to be about inches?

My husband is concerned about the best method to stabilize the bed since it will not be supported "by the ground", but elevated. Has anyone tried stabilizing old large tires for a raised garden bed? Is the rubber safe for use when growing food? I also prefer finding new uses for products to help reduce our ever growing landfills. This would also be economical for me.

In the short term, yes you can make a planter out of old tires. However, over time the tires will degrade and release toxic carcinogens into the soil. I plan to make elevated beds for my vegetables and wanted to know if my choice of soil mix is suitable. Equal parts if Composted manure, shredded peat, and vermiculite.

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I also have earthworms I want to add. The soil mix you describe is essentially a potting soil mix, which has excellent drainage. The peat will make the soil slightly acidic, so keep that in mind when deciding what to plant. Your mix is good for wet regions, draining well and not retaining too much moisture. Lastly, it is a good idea to get a mixture of different kinds of compost for a mix like this, as compost from one source will be lacking certain nutrients.

I built four 4x8 untreated pine raised garden beds. They are about 12 inches deep.

How to Build a Raised Garden Bed

I added hardware cloth and cardboard on the bottom of the beds to prevent critters and weeds. I am concerned that they are not deep enough for all kinds of vegetables to grow. Six inches is a minimum. Plants need at least a 6- to inch rooting zone, so 12 inches is ideal. My hubby and I have decided to give the raised bed a try in our garden this year; he'll be 75 in 1 month and I turned 71 just 2 months ago.

Thanks for the great info on building raised beds, it came at the perfect time for us. All our watering is done with the black soaker hoses - similar to a drip-system - and I'm sure that will work great for raised beds. Thanks again for the great info. Thanks for the kind words, Thelma! My yard is on the side of a hill, with some very tiny areas that are only "sort of" flat.

Small raised beds placed in the few level-ish areas have allowed me to have productive garden space without having to worry about my garden being washed down the hill during a heavy rain. In fact, I have managed to find appropriate places for six 4 foot by 4 foot raised beds. That is 96 square feet of garden space. My family, friends, and neighbors enjoy the vegetables from these small raised beds. Good for you, Maria! We hope that other gardeners who read these comments take inspiration—and confidence—from your success.

In warm climates like we have here in southwest Florida nematodes can be a real problem. At this point there is no effective chemical control for these microscopic worms available to the residential gardener; however raised beds do offer the great advantage of easy solarization. During the off season when the beds are fallow, cover them with a heavy gauge, UV resistant plastic sheet and secure it well so that it doesn't blow away. The plastic should extend all of the way to the ground on the outside of the bed. Temperatures that high will kill virtually every seed, insect egg, bacteria, mold spore, some viruses, and nematodes.

Our fallow time here is in the summer, so this method is probably not too effective in colder climates when the summer is the height of growing season. Skip to main content. By The Old Farmer's Almanac. Tags Raised garden bed. What do you want to read next? How to Build a Raised Vegetable Build Cheap and Productive Raised Raised Bed Gardens and Small Plots. How to Lay Out a Vegetable Garden. Stars of the Fall Garden. Planning a Square Foot Garden.