Not too long ago I was speaking to a group of people about my upcoming book, The Vegetable Imperative, when I mentioned I like to garden in raised beds. Not to my surprised the old question soon came up, "Why Raised Bed Gardening?"
I thought would share my thinking in today's blog post.
There's nothing like a well-tended vegetable garden with lots and lots of abundant crops, weed-free and lush, sparkling in the afternoon sun. The truth is, it can take years of hard work to create such a garden. And for some folks, all that "work" is the joy of gardening: amending the soil with wheelbarrows of compost, the annual readying of the beds — and, of course, lots of weeding.
Even if you don't have a lot of time for gardening, you can still have a productive vegetable garden, no matter the size. How? Start with a raised bed. It's the shortcut to a plentiful harvest, even in the first year. Here's why:
I thought would share my thinking in today's blog post.
There's nothing like a well-tended vegetable garden with lots and lots of abundant crops, weed-free and lush, sparkling in the afternoon sun. The truth is, it can take years of hard work to create such a garden. And for some folks, all that "work" is the joy of gardening: amending the soil with wheelbarrows of compost, the annual readying of the beds — and, of course, lots of weeding.
Even if you don't have a lot of time for gardening, you can still have a productive vegetable garden, no matter the size. How? Start with a raised bed. It's the shortcut to a plentiful harvest, even in the first year. Here's why:
- More food in less space
- Better soil
- Fewer weeds
Choosing a Raised Bed
Raised beds can be set up in just minutes. I built mine with just a few boards, a drill and eight 3-inch screws for each bed. Made from a composite of recycled wood and plastic boards, or beautiful cedar, or stone blocks, or logs, or rocks or even empty wine bottles, raised beds are a quick and easy way to get a garden going. They are full to build, fun to fill, and fun to harvest!
Raised beds range in height, starting at about 6 inches. In general, the more soil depth that's available to your plants, the more freely their roots will grow. More soil also holds more moisture, so a deeper raised bed will require less frequent watering. But truth to tell, I now build all of my raised beds just 6 inches high – I find that to be just fine for everything I grow (except my carrots and parsnips they get a special 10-inch high bed). It is possible to install a raised bed on poor or very compacted soil, or even on concrete. If this is the situation you have, buy the deepest bed you can afford. A depth of 10-12" is preferable. Keep in mind that the deeper the bed, the more soil you'll need to fill it.
How many raised beds should you have? If your space or time is limited, you might want to start out with just one. If you're trying to produce lots of your own fresh vegetables, you will probably need at least three or four beds.
Raised beds can be set up in just minutes. I built mine with just a few boards, a drill and eight 3-inch screws for each bed. Made from a composite of recycled wood and plastic boards, or beautiful cedar, or stone blocks, or logs, or rocks or even empty wine bottles, raised beds are a quick and easy way to get a garden going. They are full to build, fun to fill, and fun to harvest!
Raised beds range in height, starting at about 6 inches. In general, the more soil depth that's available to your plants, the more freely their roots will grow. More soil also holds more moisture, so a deeper raised bed will require less frequent watering. But truth to tell, I now build all of my raised beds just 6 inches high – I find that to be just fine for everything I grow (except my carrots and parsnips they get a special 10-inch high bed). It is possible to install a raised bed on poor or very compacted soil, or even on concrete. If this is the situation you have, buy the deepest bed you can afford. A depth of 10-12" is preferable. Keep in mind that the deeper the bed, the more soil you'll need to fill it.
How many raised beds should you have? If your space or time is limited, you might want to start out with just one. If you're trying to produce lots of your own fresh vegetables, you will probably need at least three or four beds.
Location and Set-up
For optimum plant health and productivity, most vegetables should receive at least eight hours of full sun each day. The more sun, the better, so it makes sense to locate your garden in the sunniest part of your yard. Avoid low, wet areas where the soil could stay soggy. Because your garden will need to be watered during the growing season, you'll want to have relatively easy access to a hose. If you live in an area of the country that gets very hot in the summer, you may want to think of providing afternoon shade to less hardy plants.
Good soil is the single most important ingredient for a good garden. Raised beds give you an immediate advantage over a regular garden, because when you fill your raised bed, you can fill it with a blend of soil that's superior to the native soil in your yard. Soil that's loose and rich with nutrients and organic matter will allow the roots of your plants to grow freely, and ensure that they have access to the water and nutrients they need to sustain healthy growth.
It is recommended that before placing your raised beds in their permanent location, you remove grass or perennial weeds from the area. Use a garden fork or shovel to loosen the native soil to a depth of 6-10". This will improve drainage and moisture retention in the raised beds. It also means that even with a 6"-high raised bed, your plants will think they're growing in a bed that's 12-18" deep — plenty of room for carrots, potatoes, full-size tomato plants and most any other vegetable you'd ever want to grow. For me, I do not bother. I simply lay down a layer of cardboard or newspaper right on the grass, then dump in my soil mix. In my experience this provides plenty of deterrent to the weeds and requires no digging on my part!
For optimum plant health and productivity, most vegetables should receive at least eight hours of full sun each day. The more sun, the better, so it makes sense to locate your garden in the sunniest part of your yard. Avoid low, wet areas where the soil could stay soggy. Because your garden will need to be watered during the growing season, you'll want to have relatively easy access to a hose. If you live in an area of the country that gets very hot in the summer, you may want to think of providing afternoon shade to less hardy plants.
Good soil is the single most important ingredient for a good garden. Raised beds give you an immediate advantage over a regular garden, because when you fill your raised bed, you can fill it with a blend of soil that's superior to the native soil in your yard. Soil that's loose and rich with nutrients and organic matter will allow the roots of your plants to grow freely, and ensure that they have access to the water and nutrients they need to sustain healthy growth.
It is recommended that before placing your raised beds in their permanent location, you remove grass or perennial weeds from the area. Use a garden fork or shovel to loosen the native soil to a depth of 6-10". This will improve drainage and moisture retention in the raised beds. It also means that even with a 6"-high raised bed, your plants will think they're growing in a bed that's 12-18" deep — plenty of room for carrots, potatoes, full-size tomato plants and most any other vegetable you'd ever want to grow. For me, I do not bother. I simply lay down a layer of cardboard or newspaper right on the grass, then dump in my soil mix. In my experience this provides plenty of deterrent to the weeds and requires no digging on my part!
If you'll be filling more than one raised bed, you might want to buy your soil in bulk — by the cubic foot or cubic yard. For most situations, I recommend these proportions:
- 50% topsoil
- 40% compost
- 10% soilless growing mix that contains peat moss, perlite and/or vermiculite
Keep in mind that proportions are approximate because soil volume varies from source to source. If you do not have access to quality topsoil, an acceptable substitute would be a 50-50 blend of soilless growing medium (often called "potting soil") and compost. If you want to add peat moss to the bed, it should not be more than 20 percent of the total mix. Peat moss is naturally acidic and is not a good medium for growing vegetables.
What should I plant in my raised bed?
Fill your garden with the types of vegetables you like to eat. If you're big on salads, plant head lettuce, a lettuce cutting mix, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, radish and carrots. If you love cooking, plant onions and peppers, leeks, potatoes and herbs. Try to include at least one vegetable that's new to you. Discovery is half the fun you know.
Gardening in a raised bed is all about maximizing productivity. The challenge is to grow as much food as possible while resisting the temptation to squeeze in too many plants. Overcrowded plants never reach their full potential because they're stressed by poor air circulation and competition for water, nutrients and root space.
A bush watermelon, such as Sugar Baby, has 3 ft. to 4 ft. vines, while the vines of a full-size watermelon, such as Ruby, can be 15 feet long. Likewise, in Texas, tomato plants often get to be over 7 feet tall, yet in Vermont they usually top out at 4 feet. With experience, you'll gradually get a sense for just how much space each type of plant requires. It's also important consider how each plant's growth habit (bushy, climbing, trailing) will affect its neighbors in same the bed. Planting lettuce next to carrots is fine; planting lettuce next to a sprawling cucumber plant may be a problem. Stakes, ladders and cages will help keep unruly plants from competing with their neighbors. They will also keep the garden neater and more manageable.
Though most of the vegetables you'll want to grow could be started directly in the garden from seed, in many cases it's best to start out with a transplant. Starting with a plant usually shortens the time to harvest by a month or more. In cold regions, where the growing season may be less than 100 days, a tomato or pepper plant that's started in the garden from seed will not have time to mature before frost. When you're putting in just one or two plants of a particular type of vegetable (such as broccoli or tomatoes), it sometimes makes more sense to purchase a couple plants rather than invest in an entire packet of seeds.
Vegetables that can be sown directly into the garden from seed include root crops, such as carrots and beets, beans, peas, corn, cucumbers, squash and salad greens. In some cases, these crops are direct-sown because they do not transplant well and it's best to sow the seeds right where they're going to grow. In the case of salad greens, which germinate well and grow quickly, it is simply more economical to purchase a packet of seeds than to purchase multiple six-packs of lettuce seedlings. Potatoes can be started from seed but almost nobody does so. It's much faster and easier to grow a new potato plant from a tuber rather than from a seed. Onions can be put into the garden as seeds, but more often they go in as plants or as "sets", which are simply tiny mature onions from the prior growing season. Garlic and shallots are usually planted from sets as well. Leeks go into the garden as young plants. Some herbs should be put in as plants, some (cilantro and dill) should be seeded right where they are to grow since they do not take well to transplanting.
There are several factors to consider when deciding when to plant your garden. First is the type of plant you're putting in. Some plants, including lettuce and broccoli, can tolerate cool weather. Others, such as basil and tomatoes, are likely to be damaged or killed by temperatures lower than 40 degrees. My best advice on the ‘What to plant when” question is to contact your local county extension office, chances are they have a file on their website that you can download with all the info you will need! Other important considerations are frost dates and soil temperature. In planting zones 3 to 7, the primary gardening season falls between the first and last frost dates. Cold-sensitive plants must not go into the garden until all danger of frost has passed. This typically falls somewhere between March and May, depending on your growing zone. If you don't know your growing zone, check the USDA zone map.
If you garden in zones 8-10, it may be heat — not frost — that determines your planting dates. Warm-climate gardeners often plant in the fall rather than the spring, to avoid midsummer heat. Others gear up for two planting periods each year: early fall and late winter.
Soil temperature is also an important planting-time consideration. Most plants thrive in a moderate soil temperature of 60 to 70 degrees F. Some, such as peas and spinach, will germinate well and grow just fine in cool (45 degrees F.) soil. Others, such as eggplant and melons, will not germinate, nor will they grow properly unless the soil is above 60 degrees F.
Some vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, squash and corn, are typically planted just once each growing season. Other crops, such as salad greens, roots crops, peas and beans, can be planted and harvested early, and then be planted again later in the season for a second harvest.
Once the seeds have been planted, the area should be watered thoroughly, to a depth of several inches. The soil should be kept consistently moist until the seeds germinate and the young plants have established their first sets of true leaves. Most seeds have a hard coating that must be softened for a period of several days before the seedling inside can emerge. If the soil dries out during this time, the process will be interrupted, the seeds will die, and you will need to reseed. Covering newly planted areas with garden fabric (or shade netting in the summer) helps keep the top layer of soil consistently moist. This cover can be removed once the seedlings are up and the plants are established.
If possible, young seedlings should be transplanted into the garden when the weather is calm, cool and drizzly. Tender seedlings will suffer if they're planted out on a sunny, hot or windy day. If the weather doesn't cooperate, water your new seedlings thoroughly after planting and then cover them with garden fabric for several days. The plants need time to establish new roots before they are able to extract moisture and nutrients from the soil. If you do not cover them with garden fabric, you may want to find another way to shield them from the sun and drying wind. Be sure to water these new plants every day or two for the first couple weeks.
Some vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, squash and corn, are typically planted just once each growing season. Other crops, such as salad greens, roots crops, peas and beans, can be planted and harvested early, and then be planted again later in the season for a second harvest.
Once the seeds have been planted, the area should be watered thoroughly, to a depth of several inches. The soil should be kept consistently moist until the seeds germinate and the young plants have established their first sets of true leaves. Most seeds have a hard coating that must be softened for a period of several days before the seedling inside can emerge. If the soil dries out during this time, the process will be interrupted, the seeds will die, and you will need to reseed. Covering newly planted areas with garden fabric (or shade netting in the summer) helps keep the top layer of soil consistently moist. This cover can be removed once the seedlings are up and the plants are established.
If possible, young seedlings should be transplanted into the garden when the weather is calm, cool and drizzly. Tender seedlings will suffer if they're planted out on a sunny, hot or windy day. If the weather doesn't cooperate, water your new seedlings thoroughly after planting and then cover them with garden fabric for several days. The plants need time to establish new roots before they are able to extract moisture and nutrients from the soil. If you do not cover them with garden fabric, you may want to find another way to shield them from the sun and drying wind. Be sure to water these new plants every day or two for the first couple weeks.
The fun begins – Tending your new garden
Planting intensively keeps weeds to a minimum. In the early spring, you may need to weed a little every week, but by midsummer your weeding chores should be over. When weeds do crop up, you'll want to remove them quickly so your vegetable plants aren't competing for moisture, nutrients and root space. In a raised bed weeding is far, far easier than in the traditional garden. The soil in a raised bed doesn't dry out as fast as it does in a regular garden. The sides of the bed help retain moisture and the plants shade the soil to reduce evaporation. Once plants are well-established, your watering chores should be minimal except in hot weather and periods of drought. Crops that grow take three or four months to mature usually benefit from a second, midseason application of fertilizer, although if you start the bed off with a good soil mix containing lots of really good compost, this is not always necessary. Almost all vegetables appreciate a monthly dose of some type of fertilizer, especially one that includes humic acid, seaweed and/or fish emulsion. Personally, I like to use compost tea or worm casting-tea. The water-soluble nutrients in these teas are immediately absorbed by plants and help keep them healthy in periods of stress. This is an easy way to minimize pest and disease problems.
You can begin harvesting food from your garden just as soon as it looks ready to eat. Crops are usually tastiest and most nutritious at or just before their peak of ripeness. Remove any spent fruit or foliage, as well as any damaged or diseased plant material. Keep an eye out for pests and address any issues promptly.
Some plants, including pole beans and most tomatoes, need a cage, trellis or another type of support to grow properly and produce a good crop. Plant supports also save space as they allow your garden to grow vertically! This provides more area for production of fruit, helps keep the garden neat and makes it easier to access plants for harvesting.
In a perfect world, Mother Nature would provide an inch of rain each week to keep our vegetables and flowers perfectly happy. Because that's probably not going to happen, it's up to us to make sure our plants get the water they need to thrive.
A rain gauge will help you keep track of how much rain has fallen, but that's really only part of the story. Different types of soil have different abilities to hold water. A clay-based soil holds onto water because each little particle of clay has lots of surface area for the water to grab onto. Sandy soil, with its bigger particles, lets water pass through quickly. A good loamy soil retains some moisture, yet is also well-drained.
Whether you are dealing with “clay-gumbo” soil like I have in my Texas backyard, rocky thin soil, loamy soil or sandy soils adding compost to what you have improves its ability to supply your plants with just the right amount of water. Good compost is like magic! Think of sandy soil like a wire basket full of golf balls: turn the hose on and the water runs right through. Adding compost is like adding sponges — water still runs through, but some is stored in the sponges. Compost also helps improve clay soils by aerating them and providing better drainage. Plants absorb oxygen through their roots and can drown if the soil stays soggy for weeks at a time. Raised beds and compost can help prevent this from happening.
The best way to monitor soil moisture is with your hands. When you stick a finger down into the soil, it should feel lightly damp – like a sponge that has been wrung out. Don't just feel the surface; get your fingers down to the root zone (3" deep or so) at least once a week. In hot weather, plants may wilt during the heat of the day. This isn't always an indication that they're moisture-deprived. In many cases, it's simply a way for the plants to reduce moisture loss through their leaves. Checking the soil with your finger tells the real story.
Planting intensively in a raised bed garden minimizes moisture loss. Plants shade the soil surface and help protect one another from the wind. Mulching around plants with 2-3" of shredded leaves or straw or wood chips is another effective way to retain moisture and add organic matter to the soil.
If you determine that your garden does need water, there are several options. A watering wand will deliver quite a bit of water quickly, and get it right where you want it. Too busy to water during the week? Going on vacation in August? Buy a water timer to automatically turn on a sprinkler or soaker hose. Soaker hoses and drip irrigation systems with emitters leak water slowly right at soil level, and are a very efficient way to water.
To keep your plants healthy and productive, don't let the soil dry out completely. If delicate root hairs die back, the plant must direct its energy to re-growing them, rather than to producing fruit. Water-stressed plants can also become bitter and tough.
The best way to monitor soil moisture is with your hands. When you stick a finger down into the soil, it should feel lightly damp – like a sponge that has been wrung out. Don't just feel the surface; get your fingers down to the root zone (3" deep or so) at least once a week. In hot weather, plants may wilt during the heat of the day. This isn't always an indication that they're moisture-deprived. In many cases, it's simply a way for the plants to reduce moisture loss through their leaves. Checking the soil with your finger tells the real story.
Planting intensively in a raised bed garden minimizes moisture loss. Plants shade the soil surface and help protect one another from the wind. Mulching around plants with 2-3" of shredded leaves or straw or wood chips is another effective way to retain moisture and add organic matter to the soil.
If you determine that your garden does need water, there are several options. A watering wand will deliver quite a bit of water quickly, and get it right where you want it. Too busy to water during the week? Going on vacation in August? Buy a water timer to automatically turn on a sprinkler or soaker hose. Soaker hoses and drip irrigation systems with emitters leak water slowly right at soil level, and are a very efficient way to water.
To keep your plants healthy and productive, don't let the soil dry out completely. If delicate root hairs die back, the plant must direct its energy to re-growing them, rather than to producing fruit. Water-stressed plants can also become bitter and tough.
I’m a big fan of raised-bed gardening. I love being able to start fresh with high-quality soil, instead of testing and amending and re-testing and re-amending (or just planting and hoping for the best). I also love the aesthetics of raised-beds. Those neat wooden rows speak to the part of my heart that loves to make order out of chaos. And, whatever you grow, raised bed gardening provides a better growing environment for your plants and, best of all, a low maintenance environment for you! Raised beds are extremely versatile and can be used for both permanent and seasonal planting. They can also be constructed from a variety of materials to suit you and your garden. Whatever you like to grow, be it ornamentals, vegetables, fruit, or cut flowers to decorate your home, raised beds can make your gardening much more rewarding and productive - not to mention a whole lot easier!
Happy Gardening!!
Happy Gardening!!
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