Creating a Raised Bed
If your current planting goals involve plants that require good water
drainage, I am sure you know how frustrating it is to have a yard that
just won’t cooperate. Some plants can handle the excess water that
comes about from being in an area that doesn’t drain properly. In fact,
it might just cause them to bloom more lushly.
However, other plants don’t cope as well, and it will cause them to die
a gruesome, bloated death. You should always find out about the
drainage required for every plant you buy, and make sure that it won’t
conflict with any of the areas you are considering planting it in.
In order to test how much water your designated patch of soil will
retain, dig a hole approximately ten inches deep. Fill it with water,
and come back in a day when all the water had disappeared.
Fill it back up again. If the 2nd hole full of water isn’t gone in 10
hours, your soil has a low saturation point. This means that when water
soaks into it, it will stick around for a long time before dissipating.
This is unacceptable for almost any plant, and you are going to have to
do something to remedy it if you want your plants to survive.
The usual method for improving drainage in your garden is to create a
raised bed. This involves creating a border for a small bed, and adding
enough soil and compost to it to raise it above the rest of the yard by
at least 5 inches. You’ll be amazed at how much your water drainage
will be improved by this small modification.
If you’re planning to build a raised bed, your prospective area is
either on grass or on dirt. For each of these situations, you should
build it slightly differently.
If you want to start a raised garden in a non grassy area, you won’t
have much trouble. Just find some sort of border to retain the dirt you
will be adding. I’ve found that there is nothing that works quite as
well as a few two by fours. After you’ve created the wall, you must put
in the proper amount soil and steer manure.
Depending on how long you plan to wait before planting, you will want
to adjust the ratio to allow for any deteriorating that may occur.
If you’re trying to install a raised bed where sod already exists, you
will have a slightly more difficult time. You will need to cut the sod
around the perimeter of the garden, and flip it over. This may sound
simple, but you will need something with a very sharp edge to slice the
edges of the sod and get under it.
Once you have turned it all upside down, it is best to add a layer of
straw to discourage the grass from growing back up. After the layer of
straw, simply add all the soil and steer manure that a normal garden
would need.
Planting your plants in your new area shouldn’t pose much difficulty.
It is essentially the same process as your usual planting session. Just
be sure that the roots don’t extent too far into the original ground
level. The whole point of creating the raised bed is to keep the roots
out of the soil which saturates easily.
Having long roots that extend that far completely destroys the point.
Once you have plants in your new bed, you’ll notice an almost immediate
improvement. The added soil facilitates better root development. At the
same time, evaporation is prevented and decomposition is discouraged.
All of these things added together makes for an ideal environment for
almost any plant to grow in.
So don’t be intimidated by the thought of adjusting the very topography
of your yard.
It is a simple process as I’m sure you’ve realized, and the long term
results are worth every bit of work.
|
|
Choosing a Garden
One that is Perfect for You? If you're thinking about starting a
garden, the first thing you ...
read more
Choosing and Planting Perennials If you’ve been growing a vegetable
garden for a while, you might be feeling slightly disgruntled ...
read more
Creating a Raised Bed If your current planting goals involve plants
that require good water drainage, I am sure you ...
read
more
|
|
|
Disclaimer: The Publisher of
this
website has
strived to
be as accurate and complete as possible in its creation,he/she
does not warrant or represent
at any time that the contents within are accurate, due to
the changes that can occur rapidly with regards to the
Internet.
This site is a common sense
guide. In practical advice websites, like anything else in life,
there are no guarantees of income made. Readers are cautioned to reply
on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act
accordingly.
This site is not intended for
use as a
source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. All readers
are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal,
business, accounting, and finance field.
Any perceived slights of
specific people
or organizations are unintentional.
|
