Top Tips: Creating a Raised Bed for Your Garden
If you're planning to plant annuals, perennials or other plants that require good water
drainage, I'm sure you realize how frustrating it can be to have a yard that just
doesn't oblige. Some specimens can handle excessive water that arrives from
being in an spot that simply won't drain properly. In fact, some plants might even
bloom more lushly. But, other varieties of plants won’t survive as well, and it may
cause them to die a slow, water-logged death. Before planting, You should always study
the drainage requirements for any plant you purchase, and ensure it won’t
conflict with any of the spots in which you intend to plant.
To test how much water your intended area of soil will retain, start by digging a
hole about 10 inches deep. Fill this up with water, and return in a day
when all the water had gone. Refill it again. If the second hole full
of water hasn't disappeared in ten hours, your soil would appear to have a low saturation point. This
means that when water soaks in, it will remain for a long time before
disappearing. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable for most any plant. You will need to
address this issue and remedy it for your plants to survive.
The typical method to improve drainage in your planting area is to build a raised
bed. This involves building a border for a small bed, and adding sufficient soil and
appropriate compost to it to raise it above the rest of the low point of the yard by at least five inches.
You will be amazed at how much drainage will improve with this small
modification. If you do plan to build a raised bed, or your garden area is
either on grass or on dirt, you should build it slightly different.
If you plan to start a raised garden in a grass-free zone, you shouldn’t have much
trouble. Simply find some sort of border which will retain the dirt you will be adding.
From my experience, nothing works quite as well as a few 2 x 4's.
After you create the wall, you should fill in a sufficient amount soil and steer
manure or compost. Depending on how long you plan to wait before planting, you will want to
adjust the ratio to allow for any settling that may occur.
If you’re planning to install a raised bed where sod already exists, you might have
a slightly more difficult time. You should cut the sod around the
perimeter of the garden area, and turn it over. Although this may sound simple, you will
need something with a very sharp edge (like a spade) to slice the sod edges and get
under it. After turning it upside down, add a layer of
straw to discourage the grass from growing back up. After the straw,
simply add all the soil and steer manure or compost that a normal garden would require.
Planting your plants in your new area shouldn’t be too difficul. Essentially the process is the same as your usual planting session. Just ensure that
the roots don’t extend too far into the original ground soil level. The whole point
of creating a raised bed is to keep the roots away of the soil which saturates
easily. Having long roots that extend too far completely defeats this purpose.
You’ll notice an almost immediate improvement once you have plants in your new bed. The added soil facilitates better root development. At the same
time, evaporation is reduced and decomposition is discouraged. All of these
make for an ideal environment for almost any specimen to
grow. Don’t be intimidated by the thought of modifying the slope or level of your yard. It is a rather easy process as I’m sure you’ve seen. The long
term results are worth every bit of effort you invest in the beginning.