Raised bed gardening offers the advantage of light, fluffy, well-drained soil that facilitates vigorous plant growth. Stepping on the bed compacts the soil, reducing aeration and slowing the activity of valuable microorganisms beneath. To prepare a raised bed garden, follow these 7 beginner tips: choose the right bed for your space, locate it properly, and fill it. This method is ideal for those with limited space, poor soil quality, or limited mobility, and is also beneficial for keeping weeds and pests at bay.
Building a raised garden bed is a simple process if you have the right tools and plan in place. You can buy raised bed kits from garden supply centers or build your own from scratch. The ideal location for a raised garden bed is a flat, level surface with direct sunlight and good drainage. Remove any unwanted weeds, assess current plants, add soil amendments and fertilizers, water deeply, and plant Jasmine.
To prepare a raised bed for spring planting, remove existing vegetation, aerate the soil, add appropriate soil amendments/organic fertilizers, and mix them together. About an inch of compost is recommended, and rabbit manure is also suitable. Start by moistening the soil and rolling it into a ball. Choose the right location with at least 6-8 hours of sunlight daily and avoid areas with poor drainage to prevent waterlogging.
📹 5 Steps to Prepare Raised Beds For Spring Planting! 🌱🌿🌱 // Garden Answer
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What not to fill a raised garden bed with?
Raised beds, particularly small and shallow ones under 12 inches deep, should be filled with soil to avoid interference with plant root growth and water drainage. Bagged raised bed potting mix is commonly used in small raised beds, but can be purchased in bulk from local landscape companies or made by blending topsoil, compost, and sand. Alternatively, the Lasagna Garden Method can be used to fill large raised beds with other materials, such as in-ground gardens or raised beds, to create a more cost-effective and efficient gardening solution. Both methods can help maintain the soil and water balance in the soil, ensuring optimal plant growth and drainage.
What should you not put in a raised bed?
Raised beds are ideal for growing a wide variety of edible plants, but not all plants can or should be grown in them. Some plants grow too large for raised beds, such as potatoes, asparagus, artichokes, rhubarb, corn, wheat, rice, and winter squash. Raised beds can be challenging to maintain due to the need for ladders, which can be dangerous for harvesting plants. It is essential to consider the specific needs of each plant when choosing a raised bed, as not all plants can thrive in raised beds. Therefore, it is essential to carefully consider the type of plant and the space available for each plant to ensure the best growth and care.
What should you fill a raised garden bed with?
When filling a raised garden bed, consider adding organic matter like compost, well-rotted manure, and aged compost to improve soil structure, fertility, and moisture retention. Adjust the amount based on soil test results and plant needs. Adding a layer of gravel or rocks to the bottom for drainage is generally unnecessary and can create a perched water table. Instead, focus on using well-draining soil mixtures and incorporating adequate drainage methods.
Replenish or amend the soil annually by adding compost or organic matter to maintain fertility and soil structure. Adjust the amount based on plant needs, soil test results, and observations of plant health and growth.
Should I put fabric on bottom of raised garden bed?
Landscape fabric serves as a raised bed liner to prevent soil erosion and minimize nutrient loss risk. It helps maintain water-soluble nutrients from the soil, preventing water from gushing out too quickly. To make installation easier, you can buy materials separately or use bundles like the landscape fabric and heavy-duty staple bundle, which includes 3″ x 50″ weed barrier landscape fabric with 8 or 11 gauge staples. This makes building a raised bed garden more efficient and cost-effective.
What do you put on the bottom of a raised garden bed?
Cardboard or newspaper can be used to line the bottom of raised garden beds to deter pests and weeds on a budget. Choose cardboard with minimal markings and no tape for a safer option. Stainless steel gopher nets can be used for extra protection, as seen in Vego Garden’s modular cover system. Landscaping fabric can prevent soil erosion, promote water retention, and keep out invasive grasses. While it doesn’t break down over time like cardboard, it limits shallow-rooted plant growth, earthworm movement, and soil mixing. Deeper beds may not need it unless a weed problem is present.
How do you prepare raised garden bed soil for planting?
In this text, the author discusses the process of establishing a raised bed garden. The soil sample is taken, and any vegetation is removed. A garden fork or spade is used to loosen the subsoil, improving drainage and aeration. A mixture of compost and topsoil is added to the top of the bed, either in a 1:2 or 1:1 ratio. Topsoil can be purchased from vendors or mixed with compost. The soil quality is improved over time through organic matter and crop plant root growth.
If the raised bed is in an existing garden, 2-4 inches of compost is added to the top 4 inches of soil. Topsoil from pathways can also be added to increase soil depth. The author emphasizes the need to manage weeds immediately as soil disturbance can bring weed seeds to the surface for germination.
If the raised bed is on a non-permeable surface, it is recommended to fill the bed with compost and a soilless growing mix in a 1:1 ratio. Topsoil can be added up to 20 by volume for beds at least 16 inches deep. This approach ensures the plants receive proper care and nutrients.
When not to use raised beds?
If your yard has naturally deep, level, and well-drained soil, you don’t need raised garden beds. Instead, you should place your beds at ground level and create pathways around them. The soil in your pathways will become compressed over time, and your soft garden beds will remain slightly raised. Raised beds have several disadvantages, including higher heat and drying times, high costs for creating frames and soil, difficulty in using green manures or cover crops, and more work to change the layout compared to ground-level gardens.
Gardeners often find that their interests or needs change over time, making it more challenging to adapt to raised beds with or without framing. Therefore, it’s better to use ground-level gardens and create pathways around your garden beds.
How do you prepare a raised bed for the first time?
This guide provides a step-by-step guide on how to build a timber-framed raised bed. It covers the process of digging a shallow trench, positioning the first layer of timbers, screwing them together, adding the second layer, preparing the base, filling the bed, and allowing it to settle. Other materials like stone, brick, and engineering bricks can also be used for raised beds. However, skilled labor and footings are required for construction and footings. Engineering bricks are the most suitable due to their weather resistance, while domestic bricks are cheaper but less durable.
Can you fill a raised bed with just compost?
Compost is a partially broken-down organic material that can be made at home or purchased in bulk from plant nurseries, home improvement centers, or landscape supply companies. It is a soil amendment that improves soil for planting vegetable gardens, landscape areas, and lawns by improving its ability to accept and store water, aerate soil, and increase the activity of soil organisms. However, compost may not replace fertilizer, as lawns, vegetables, and fruiting trees and shrubs often need additional fertilizer to thrive.
To ensure proper application, apply the correct amount of compost to your work site, as too much can stunt plant growth and create water pollution. Compost source materials include yard debris, forestry products, crop residue, animal manures, food scraps, mushroom production waste, and compost from worms (vermicompost). It is essential to mix compost with native soil or soil mix to support plant growth.
In conclusion, compost is a valuable soil amendment that can be used to improve soil for various purposes, such as planting vegetable gardens, landscape areas, and lawns.
Is it OK to use potting soil for raised beds?
Raised beds provide ideal soil conditions for gardeners, whether deep or shallow. A 50:50 blend of potting mix and Miracle-Gro® All Purpose Garden Soil is ideal for these beds. Top-quality potting mix and raised bed soil are more expensive but provide better results. Poor quality mixes and soils can be heavy, dense, and poor-draining, making them difficult for roots to thrive. To keep plants happy, start nourishing them a month after planting with Miracle-Gro® Shake ‘n Feed® All Purpose Plant Food. Follow label directions for optimal plant growth.
What to put in a garden bed before planting?
It is recommended that compost, soil improver, and weathered manure be distributed across the surface of the newly constructed garden beds. This may be accomplished with the use of a garden fork, which will facilitate the incorporation of organic matter into the soil. This is the optimal time to enhance soil quality while the beds remain vacant. In the event that the soil exhibits a high clay content, the addition of gypsum is recommended to facilitate soil breakdown and maintain optimal aeration. It is recommended that this process be carried out with a generous approach.
📹 How to FILL Raised Garden Beds CHEAP and EASY
Today I want to share how to fill a raised bed garden and save money. I have used this method for years in my garden and the …
Many, many years ago my wife bought our two boys each a set of toy garden toys, a shovel, hoe and yard rake, none made of plastic. The yard rake is about 7 inches wide and I found that it worked excellent cleaning out our flower beds in the spring. Being metal they have lasted at least 30 years. I found another one last year while shopping so I bought it. I have replaced the short handles with longer broom handles so we don’t have to bend over as much. These work wonderful getting into small spaces between plants. I also had a small plastic rake, but just like yours the tangs broke off in one season of use. The metal toy ones have proven to be time tested. Thanks for all you share so even at 70+ yesrs old we can still enjoy learning while being entertained. Jim Light
You are one of the main reasons why I started gardening! We designed our backyard square gardens to model yours. We also put a line of Arbs behind our beds, and installed drip last year. Also I have become a little hydrangea obsessed after seeing your lime light articles! 🙂 Thank you so much for always putting out this GREAT content!!
I think it would be kind of a cool idea to do a before and after article of everything so far. It was crazy to see a tree and a dog kennel in that area, and now it’s so beautiful! (I honestly forgot what some of the areas looked like before) Pretty inspiring for me to turn some areas around my home into a beautiful garden!
Absolutely lovely to see you go through the process of prepping beds for spring💖💖 Also, great to see how the space progressed over time… it looks soo beautiful now and the formal path from there to the south garden has come along beautifully too👍 You definitely are blessed and thank you for sharing your gift of gardening with us. Btw… missed seeing the darling kiddos🙂
Really cool to see the progress of your raised bed garden! Have you thought about doing a series of how your own garden has evolved? Would be interesting to see photos of what your current garden looked like when you moved in, where it is now, and plans for the future. Maybe a good article for winter or on a rainy spring day! Thank you again for another great article.
Although we full time RV and I only have a teeny tiny container garden in my RV spot (I have 6 pots outside and 4 small ones in my kitchen window), I love perusal your articles every day. I’ve learned so much and now I actually know what to do when I see “needs light to germinate” or other such things on seed packets, haha! The way you teach makes it easy to scale down to even the smallest of gardens. Thanks for all of your articles! It makes me so excited to have a big garden someday.
Laura, A few years ago I replaced one of my raised beds with the same drip system after perusal your articles, I hope to get to the bed this year. I will amend my soil this year, something I have never done. I use the small rake that I bought my kids years ago, small enough to fit into tiny places made of metal, and gentle on plants has lasted for years! Thank you for sharing your tips, you have made me a better gardener.
Extremely helpful! Giving the steps you follow to prep your beds was awesome and the timing for us in 7b couldn’t be better. I struggle to find Biotone in our area so using bag manure is our best option. Thx for inspiring my wife and me to do more in the garden. It is our church, sanctuary and therapy.
Hi Laura! I love streptocarpus and they are the easiest ever to propagate. I live near you in Eagle and found a sad and thirsty little variety plant of this species called Lady Slippers at Edwards nursery 3 years ago. I was captivated by it. This plant is under appreciated, so beautiful and forgiving! It loves to be outside in the warm months for container color here in Idaho, and I make new plants for gifts so easily. I hope you share more about this wonderful “Cape Primrose” as I was thrilled to see it have a moment of glory on your potting table. Thank you! Katrina
💖🌿🌸🌿🌸🌿🌸🌿🌸💖After leaving my garden undressed one winter, I found my soil to be gray and dry and wimpy by spring 😞. Now I cover the soil with either grass or leaves or at least cardboard and our soil is black black in the spring and wet. I also have found alfalfa pellets meant for horses used as a side dressing fertilizer for all the garden beds to be gentle and the plants thrive. I use a light application. It’s extremely inexpensive, too. I enjoyed the succession photos of your garden development❣️
Thanks for the article! Laura, You always say you are so jealous of the people who get a lot of rain… 🙃 Please don’t be jealous, last summer we got so much rain all the tomatoes were rotting on the plants 😔 everything looked rough all summer and so tired of the rain! 🙈Dahlias were eaten by slugs, these too come with the climate… It is not always a blessing 😅 I also have to cover my bulbs all winter otherwise they would rot as well 😬 💦 Every climate has its own (dis)advantages and we can only adapt to it 🤷🏻♀️☀️ I wish u a happy growing season! 🌱🌿🌷
I see you outside, prepping for planting and I sit here with a forecast of freezing rain coming tomorrow night. I’m ITCHING to start cleaning up my flower beds but here in the NE it way too early! Gardeners in this area don’t plant annuals until end of May. We have a really short growing season. I walked my yard yesterday to look for my daffs and tulips. Not yet, only my helebore is up and blooms are almost open.
While I don’t have raised beds, I was just thinking that I want to plant some cold crops and was wondering if it is too early to do so. We are in Michigan and don’t usually plant anything till after Mother’s Day. But I wanted to plant some lettuce and herbs. Seeing Laura plant, I know we are in the same zone so I think I’ll give it a try. Spring has sprung and I am ready. Here’s to hoping Mother Nature doesn’t play tricks on us and snow
Happy Wednesday… still waiting to get started… as we’re still having abit of freezing temperatures… just want to say congratulations on been featured in the Proven Winners Gardeners Idea book for 2022…. (Jenny from Creekside showed the booklet on her website… your are both apart of this year feature congrats !!!👏
Hi Laura! This article was really helpful in doing a step-by-step explanation for setting up raised beds. You do such a good job esplaining exactly what needs to be done. At one point in the article you said that the beds are just on the native soil with no landscaping fabric underneath which I was glad to hear. I was just wondering what was laid down under the gravel? It looks like landscaping fabric but maybe it is something else?
This is my dream garden, still dreaming….but in my mind I am planning it. We have rain, sometimes too much, sometimes not…but drip allows you to leave your garden, one day when I have my dream garden, there will be drip. I’ve been planting in my raised beds, mid Atlantic, beets, peas, garlic and shallots last fall, planning, seedlings, MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR.
Hi Laura! This is how I prep my raised beds, too. I get my raised bed soil and compost from Zamzows. It’s just about time to get my 2 raised beds ready, too. We’ve used the same soaker hoses for quite a few years, but I think they’re 1/2″. I’m thinking of doing drip this year. We’ll see! LOL! I enjoyed seeing the before shot of that area. I did notice that you put weed barrier down. Thank you so much for sharing!
Absolutely the best, most comprehensive explanation of bed preparation yet!!! Since all of my vegetables are planted in pots, or tubs on my rooftop deck, I must reuse my soil and of course want optimum nutrients available for a good crop. So, your explanation of starter fertilizer plus mixture of bagged compost makes great sense for my container garden. We’re in our 70’s and schlep bags up 2 flights of stairs every year so the lighter the bags the better. Now if only I can figure out a watering system for my pots and tubs. Thanks so much for always taking care to demonstrate and explain your reasons behind your well deserved success! 👍👏🏻👍
Thank you so much! I loved this simple format (although I love your vlogs too, I learn so much from seeing you do the work in those too). After this article I might be ready to tackle drip tubing–but either way I am excited and confident to do a bit of garden spring cleaning 🙂 So appreciate all of your joy, wisdom and most especially your generosity in sharing that wisdom and joy <3
Great, timely information! Just contracted with a local landscaper to come in and level an 18×30 area for my raised bed garden! So excited! I bought 5 of the metal modular raised beds from Gardener’s Supply last year and can’t wait to get this project moving! I’m very anxiously awaiting the viewer submissions for raised bed garden designs that you mentioned not long ago! Looking for layout inspiration!
Every time you show your vegetable garden(raised bed garden) such a beautiful place and the black fence with the rose arches so, so beautiful! You need a bench there or some sort of sitting to be able to enjoy a cup of coffee over in the vegetable garden! You should work benches throughout the property to be able to sit and enjoy the garden form different angles! It’s going to be so dreamy when everything will be planted and not to mention in a few years when matured! So tranquil and peaceful! Absolutely love your articles and your garden for what it is and what will become! I envision it! It’s going to be so interesting and fun to see if my vision matches yours! 😍😍😍 Very inspiring to me!🤗🤗💜💛❤💗🌸🌲🌳🌷🌹💗❤💛💜🤗🤗
Thanks Laura I am learning so much from you. I am renting so I am trying to figure out ways to grow food that works for my situation. I have bought some huge rectangular pots that look like raised garden beds for now and I love going out there to pick herbs and edible flowers for my meals. When I have my own property I know where to come for inspiration. Blessings to you and yours 🌿
My raised bed is not set up on drip but my spigot is right there by the raised bed. During initial planting, I’m surprisingly good and consistent with watering. As the season goes along, it’s iffy but by then, everything is usually established and thriving. My biggest problem is I tend to get tons of weeds in my raised bed. Last year, I found a really great landscaping fabric that I actually put on on top of my bed that let my veggies do good and kept the weeds at bay.
Yes I’ve been waiting to hear what you do for this as most your plants are so happy and abundant! Thank you for sharing! I laughed when Aaron mentioned Greenwich CT a few articles ago, I worked for a Sotheby’s Real Estate Office 10 years ago. We had Leona Helmslys listing $95,000,000.00 was the highest I’ve ever seen however Manhattan had some upto 200,000,000.00!!! They say that her mansion is haunted now and keeps going back on the market! 👻
I am so excited! Off topic but I got my first order from proven winners today in Philadelphia zone 7A 2 at last roses 1 oso Italian ice rose and 1 limelight prime hydrangea. I was just notified that my second order has shipped and will be here by Friday! Now to research your articles for planting of the Roses! Thanks Laura for all your inspiration!
Laura, your articles are such great reminders. We are a zone lower than you and I know that “if Laura is doing her raised beds now I have about 3.5 weeks until I do mine. We love your articles, my boys are young and it is exciting to see them getting interested in plants! Funny story, I recently received the PW Idea book in the mail and my 6 yo was looking through it and found your picture and said “mom! It’s your garden lady! She’s famous!” We all got a kick out of that😂 Thank you for all you do!
I found this article very informative. I am wanting to do raised beds and have been intimated by the process. I have long leaf pines and the roots always invade my flowerbeds (they LOVE the water)but I have a space in my front yard that, I think, I could do one or two beds. I’m excited now, thanks Laura for another inspiring article! 💚💚💚💚💚💚
Just wanted you to know that at 56 years old you have inspired me to start a garden! I signed up for a local gardening class and can’t wait! You have been so helpful to my lack of knowledge! I do have a question but not garden-related. Does Aaron have a job that is not related to Garden Answer or is GA his main job? Just curious! Thank you for all your inspiration and help!
Laura I must admit to timing envy!! We are not quite ready to start here in NE though I did uncover a rose in my flower bed I planted last fall. I covered it with burlap as it was so young and I’m just hoping I did the right thing. I am beyond ready to get going but we are still experiencing nighttime temps in the 30’s along with some very warm days. It is frustrating…..🤔
great info!! i love my raised beds, just have a few but it’s enough to grow the veggies we like here.. we are trying subterranean drip this year to see if we can conserve just that much more water and hit the roots directly… i found a bag of land and sea a few weeks ago on amazon, it wasn’t cheap but i bought it and have reserved it for only using around the veggies… it’s on my wishlist for gifts, haha (we gardeners don’t wish for diamonds, do we?).. cannot wait to see what you’re planting! don’t those beds just look so clean and neat?? really satisfies the soul and brings on the anticipation!!! 🙂 ❤ thanks for the article!! 🙂 ❤
💜🎶Good morning Garden Answer..👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼. -3c cloudy high today is 5c .. I would say you are about two /three weeks ahead of us .. Belleville Ontario Canada … the daffodils are up about 2 inches.. THERE are a few places I dont clean out right away because the BUMBLEBEES are still sleeping!!!! THANKS FOR SHARING 💜🎶🇨🇦
Since finding your website a few years ago through my sister, who is also an avid gardener, I have learned so much and improved our garden beds in our small yard. My husband and I built graduated raised beds this past spring (14’, 10’, and 6’, built into the corner of the yard with paths in between). ❤️ When you amend your raised beds and add Biotone into the soil with compost, do you then still use biotone in the hole when you actually plant your veggies in those beds? Or is the Biotone that is mixed in enough for the new plants? I’ve only used Biotone as a starter fertilizer in the hole as I’m planting. Just wondering if that would be too much of a good thing. I’m in rural Northern New York, zone 4b…so quite different from where you live but get SO much great advice from your articles that apply here as well. Keep up the good work. You’re inspiring a lot of past, present, and future gardeners! Gardening, cooking, your beautiful family, antiquing, the Hartley, etc. Love it all!!
I just put our raised beds on drip this year! Each bed has its own on/off, used the staples, then at the end of the bed it has a stopper. Should I connect that back to it’s self or leave the stopper? Not a big deal I’m sure, just want it to be the best it can be. Thank you so much for giving me to convenience to even try at 53 lol. Thank you for sharing!
I totally agree with you about the soaker hoses….what a waste of money….I can’t run drip line on my property ( in the front yard ) because our water tap is in the garage….I tried the soaker hoses, and much like you, it was strong at the beginning and then nothing ….and I have a long space to soak…..so I’m back to using a sprinkler and moving it after about 45 minutes of watering ( lawn and flower beds all together ) I would love to have a tap re-routed to the front of the house
Last year I was constantly watering my flower beds by hand & since perusal your articles, I have decided to purchase a drip irrigation system. While at my local garden center I noticed they carried soaker hoses which you’ve mentioned in your article & you stated they sometimes deteriorate quickly due to harsh conditions. I am in a zone 5b in Lincoln, NE but can’t the hoses be covered up with mulch to protect them or does that inhibit the flow of water? In either case, I need FREEDOM from hand watering every day!!!
Just yesterday I was staring into my raised bed trying to figure out how to prep it for spring planting… I should have known you’d provide the answer sooner or later. Thanks for the always informative and enjoyable content! One question: if there are mushrooms growing under the first few inches of soil, it that ok or should they/the soil be removed?
Thank you! These articles are really helpful. I grow veggies only out of raised beds because I don’t have a lot of space and until I started perusal your website I wasn’t sure how to amend the soil properly. I can’t alway find Epsoma products but our local nursery has products with similar ingredients so I’m assuming they will be okay. This year I’m hopeful for some big yields- if I can keep all the critters away. 🥴
Got to thinking about your statement that you and Arron didn’t have experience with the no dig method. Granted you don’t have an area that isn’t surrounded with borders but your raised garden bed area is a NO DIG garden. Even your Hartley garden boxes are a no dig zone. You guys are doing a great service in showing us all kinds of gardening methods. Thank you so much!
Today I went to the autumn Melbourne garden show and looked at wicking beds which are prepared plastic tubs with a bottom that water is stored and the roots are encouraged to grow down to this zone. Therefore no need for water source nearby. You fill the reservoir about once a week in Melbourne heat, similar to you heat. Thought people might want to know about that option
this was so helpful. I like using bagged amendments. I tried covering in the fall with leaves but that introduced mega slugs into the raised beds… i didn’t have many before that but that year my raised bed had more slugs then I have ever seen. I have been fighting them ever since (2 yrs). So I am very careful about what I add in.
I’m slowly adding drip to my rsised beds. I’ve spent too many hours in the blazing heat, watering my beds every day! I have grass between my beds. How deep do I need to put the tubing under the grass? Do I run a non drip tube past all my beds (in the grass)then tap each bed into it with the drip tube so that each bed can be shut off?
I have inherited a raised bed that hasn’t been properly cared for in years and I have some hesitancy about the soil because I don’t know what was used in the bed before. Turning up the soil, I’ve come across several old plant tags for miracle gro plants and I want to make sure I’m properly organic in my endeavors. Should I consider replacing the soil altogether (I can use it in flower beds) or can I follow these steps as though I’ve started the bed myself?
Nothing tastes better than fresh produce just picked from your own garden but, do you save any money on produce (once past the initial cost of raised beds & drip system) with purchasing compost/fertilizers & replacing/repairing your drip system? Just curious. I have only grown a few tomatoes & some lettuces in past years & never kept track of cost . Thanks for any replies in advance.
Laura, you have the energy and stamina of a four-year-old. If you ever figure out a way to bottle it and sell it, I would like to be your first customer! I do have a question for you: Do you find the water in your irrigation system gets too hot where the tubing is exposed to the sun? I want to put drip irrigation in my raised beds this year, but when you turn the water on, standing water in any hose has become scalding from exposure to the sun.
So timely. I just cleaned out my raised bed over the weekend, to prepare for lettuce, brassicas and peas. I always have a problem removing all the roots from the previous year and making the soil workable again. Do you have an issue with this or am I just getting too weak in my old age? Thank you for all the inspiration and knowledge over the years.
I have a question about your irrigation faucets. Is the main water line that you brought in to feed the faucets coming from a timed sprinkler valve? Or, do you have to manually turn the faucets on and off as needed? We live in a similar climate and definitely rely on irrigation. I had the same experience with the soaker hose and will take your advice on the 1/4″ drip tube. Might go to 1/2″ as you suggested. We have had great success with the B-Hyve irrigation controllers. These are “smart” irrigation clocks you can access and control from your phone. So, for testing your zones, you don’t have to run back and forth to the controller. You just are able to turn them on and off remotely. If you feel something needs a little more water, you can run that zone for however long you think. Very handy. I should add that my wife and I love your website and look forward to perusal you every morning to see what new stuff you’re doing. 😊
Have you planted peas yet? I have so many questions about peas. When they give you a germination range and a maturity range, do you add those or does the days to maturity include germination? Johnny Seeds specifies maturity to be from direct seeding so I think that includes germination. Other seed companies are much less clear. And I’ve heard not to bother with shelling peas because it takes so many to get a decent amount. I have never grown enough to feed my family, just me in the garden. Ooops! LOL!
As always, a great, informative article to see how someone else tackles the veggie garden. I have a couple of questions though. I currently have a garden with just pathways between planting space and use soaker hose. I have found the same problem with insufficient water at the end of the hose. I would like to create raised beds over time using bricks. Can I still use the native soil or do I need to replace it with bagged soil specifically for raised beds? Each bed is approximately 3’ x 7’, and would start out 6″ tall. I will slowly be raising the beds overtime as I gather bricks . I currently drag a hose across the lawn to the garden then attach the soaker hose. It’s a 50’ hose. Can I start the drip tubing right at that hose end or do I need to start at the faucet with drip tubing components?
I do not think Amazon understands the impact you have on them. Shrub Rake – gotta have. Replenish my landscape staples – gotta do. When this article is over, I am headed over to Amazon to get those essentials!!! Love the website, love you guys – here is to a happy, healthy, productive growing season !!!
I recently began working at a local garden center, Cary, NC, and had a customer asking for Land and Sea compost. I said “the Laura?” She enthusiastically “yes!”. I have also asked numerous nursery’s if they carry it, and no one does. Could it be that it’s not a beneficial product for the southeast, or that our nursery’s just don’t know about it? Love your show!
Thank you for the article. I’m just building my raised beds, do you have a “how to set up/build/etc raised beds”? I’m looking for what type of soil, how to set up the irrigation, etc. If we got bulk soil from a company, what are we looking for/ what’s the type of soil called(compost, raised beds, etc? Thank you
Last year, I started strawberries in a first-year raised bed, and over the year, the dirt has settled, leaving the strawberry plants sunk down half way. Can I place new soil in and around the existing plants? How can I get those plants raised up to the rim of the bed again? Should I remove the plants, place in fresh soil, then replant? I hate to start over with new plants.
How important is it to use the appropriate fertilizer? Like if I have vegetable fertilizer; would it kill flower growth if used it? If I used Rose Tone on an azalea, would it not help it at all? I understand biotone and plant tone are universal; are the other fertilizers not? A lot of times I have veggies growing in the same garden as some flowers; is it important to use each type of fertilizer on each plant?
Hey Laura, love your articles as always! We are setting up our raised bed on drip irrigation this year for the first time. The raised bed is 24″ tall and 20ft long (straight run), 4ft wide. Would you suggest the half inch tube or bigger? We also have to branch off somehow and also run drip to two other raised beds that aren’t too close together. The second bed will be around 6ft long, 2.5ft wide and the third bed will be around 8ft long, 2.5ft wide. Both of these beds are 24″ tall as well. Would you suggest 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch for those two beds? Thank you for any information you can give me, don’t want this gardening year to be a flop lol
Plant biologist here, roots absorb all along the length of the root not just the end. The root tip is more about growth than nutrient acquisition, it is further up the root where root hairs grow where most of the nutrients are picked up. mycorrhizae help by adding a ton more surface area to pick up nutrients and pass them off to the plant.
I would love to have several raised beds but I can’t really afford to fence them in and we have squirrels and rabbits that seriously eat everything! I’ve even tried to use habanero water that is sold for this and I think they are immune! They just look at me and munch away! Geez it’s so frustrating. I love the look of your beds. They are awesome!
Laura, just FYI I was trying to purchase a POP-UP BAG just now through your link that you provided, and the link takes me to an Amazon page with a bunch of different bags… 😳I just wanted to make sure that you get credit for our purchases… Normally if I buy something through a YT link, it takes me directly to that particular item. Just FYI. Thanks for all your work! ❤️😍🙏
Привіт, я з України і дивлюсь твої відео давно . У нас зараз війна і я дуже переживаю за свою сім’ю . Але коли я виходжу до своїх рослин і щось роблю, я наче оживаю і турботи ідуть на задній план . Крокуси, проліски і примули починають цвісти, я ними любуюсь . Рослини дають мені натхнення . Дякую тобі за твій позитив і поради . Мені також допомагають мої коти і собаки відволікатись від звуків вибухів . Я впевнена, що скоро буде мир і я теж почну повноцінно садити свої рослини .
One question madam. I’m from India. I’m following your website since you have a small vegetable garden. And now you have a huge empty area. I want to ask if you don’t mind. What will you gonna do with this huge empty land ? I mean what plans you have for this land ? Do you want to make it a huge garden park?