7 Beginner Raised Bed Garden Mistakes to Avoid
In this video I will share seven common raised bed garden mistakes. Gardening in raised beds is easier because you have control over more variable and can grow more in less space, unless you make these mistakes. So watch this video and avoid all 7 of these raised bed gardening mistakes.
MENTIONED PRODUCTS
Grassroots Fabric Pots & Raised Beds
www.grassrootsfabricpots.com Use Discount Code: NEXTLEVEL10
MENTIONED/RELATED VIDEO
Building raised beds (like at old house): • How to Build a Raised ...
Build Simple Raised Beds (like in this video): • How to Make a Simple &...
Winterizing Raised Beds:
• Easy Prep Now = Great ...
DIGITAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:37 - How long should a raised bed be
01:49 - How deep should a raised garden bed be
04:02 - Materials to use for raised beds
06:15 - What do you fill raised beds with
08:39 - Do you need to refresh raised bed garden soil
09:51 - Do you need to mulch raised garden beds
11:25 - How do you prepare raised beds for winter?
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Hey Guys, I’m Brian from Next Level Gardening
Welcome to our online community! A place to be educated, inspired and hopefully entertained at the same time! A place where you can learn to grow your own food and become a better organic gardener. At the same time, a place to grow the beauty around you and stretch that imagination (that sometimes lies dormant, deep inside) through gardening.
I’m so glad you’re here!
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I've built 15 raised beds of various shapes and sizes, but by far my favorites are the 4 ft. x 8 ft. beds. Most of my beds are 12" tall however the first bed I ever built was 24" tall and I made the mistake of filling it completely with raised bed mix which hit the pocketbook pretty hard so I switched to 12" tall beds to save money. One thing I do include on all of my raised beds are 2" x 6"'s mounted flat along two sides so my 70 year old posterior has a place to sit while I garden. I try to keep off of my knees as much as possible.
I have learned my lesson and I always build 24" height now. Why? Because I hate bending over. Once you figure out that you can sit on a stool and reach sideways to pull weeds or make transplants, there is no going back to that crouchy-bendy stuff. You can fill the bottom with ordinary dirt and compostables to save money on expensive compost. If you are filling several beds at once, you can get compost delivered by the truckload, it is much cheaper that way.
@@MyFiddlePlayerya that bottom 12” can start with some layers of cardboard, then throw a bunch of old fire wood/cut up trees/branches/etc, ect. Save a ton of money.
The paths between the beds should be wide enough to accommodate your wheelbarrow. 👍
I have a WAgon.😅
And wide enough for the mower if there is grass between the raised beds
I have a large garden cart and I want to be able to turn it around, so I have very wide paths, but I have tons of space. I also have rattlesnakes so I like wide paths so I can jump back if necessary without landing in the raised bed. Hasn't happened yet, but I like to think ahead. 😂
@@oldauntzibby4395 nope nope nope nope nope nope
I almost watched EVERY video about raised beds on youtube, and yet this video is THE MOST USEFUL of all! I learned a lot and cannot wait to build my raised bed garden😊
I'm broke so we use material we already have from other things. Reused materials are not only to save the planet 😂
😂 very true.
My beds are 3 x 9. I’m short so 3 ft is my perfect width and I chose 9 ft because I got 2 -12 ft boards and cut 3 ft of each one to make one bed. My beds are now 7 inches but my new beds will be 14 inches high.
We just put in two 3.5’x20’ raised beds that are 2’ tall. It’s A LOT of growing space! We used 3 cattle panels and tposts to make a 12’ long trellis over the top that connects the two beds. I love it and don’t mind walking around it at all. We made our beds out of repurposed barn tin and framed the outside panels with treated lumber. The wood doesn’t touch the soil, it’s on the outside and I lined the inside walls with landscape fabric. They turned out beautiful and I think they will last a really long time. We filled them with pine straw, leaves, and small sticks. Our local nursery has a garden blend soil we had delivered…it was our least expensive option and I mixed a ton of perlite into it. I mulched with wood shavings and everything is doing fantastic so far!
I'll soon be building the same beds with landscape timbers on the outside of the tin! My beds are on white rock so putting in the landscape fabric is a great idea.
I used cinder blocks to make my beds because wood rots quickly where I live. I can move, rearrange, or disassemble the beds any way I want. I can also use the holes in the blocks to plant extra flowers or herbs. The blocks were less expensive than the lumber.
awesome idea
When I worked construction, I had access to free cinder blocks. The contractor threw away about thirty of them from each job. Even if he was building the house on the lot next door, he threw away the excess, instead of just moving them next door. You're correct. They're great for raised beds.
That's a good idea. Locally new cinder blocks are 2X the cost of 2x6 boards but they won't rot. (I got truck load of used pavers plus some cinder blocks.) Even pine wood holds up for a decade but I had blocks with no other use. To keep them in place I filled with dirt. I could plant an onion or border plant in each opening.
Then theres the fly ash argument Used when making the cinder blocks 😂
4'x8' beds made of cinderblocks.. if it's 12" high, that's a TONNE of work
Brian...thank you for this. This year I built new raised beds in my small suburb garden to maximize the production this year....as I was building them, I was recalling all your tips from your how to videos on building them. Hope today is a restful day with your family...have a great week!🍅🏡
We built one area to plant using basic cinder block and it works great. We also use the large totes with rope handles (made for your kids toys) to plant in and they have been wonderful! We line them down our arched cattle panels for a 16 foot arch for cucumbers and beans to climb....this year we are adding pie pumpkins and tiny watermelons. The only thing we plant in the ground is corn, this year we may add some carving pumpkins under the corn. For our tomatoes and some flowers we use the black buckets the floral department at Kroger displays in.....they give them away here and work wonderfully! We don't have near the size garden you do, but with our health issues what we do have is a lot for us!
We also used 4 cattle panels to make a long arch trellis for our cucumbers and beans. Looks awesome when everything is grown up and over the top. Easy on the back for sure. 😊
You are one of my most favorite people on KZhead! I learn more from you every day! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Thank you for taking the time and work to make these invaluable videos!
Amazon has provided a huge amount of cardboard for the base of my raised beds. I should probably stop shopping now 😬😂
😂😂😂 Ya, right! 😜😁🥰
😂
I feel the same way😂 about Amazon.
Amazon's shipping cardboard goes through my Amazon-branded heavy duty paper shredder and gets mixed with water for compost. Earthworms love the stuff.
@@willdwyer6782 Looks like I’ll be in the market for a heavy duty paper cutter!!!
Lots of good advice! I made the paths around my raised beds a little wider than the width of my garden cart, to make it easier to haul compost and mulch in and weeds and other debris out.
So glad I discovered this video and channel. I've seen a lot of gardening channels that offer really helpful advice. But this one (Next Level Gardening) is the BEST I've come across on KZhead. Great tips, concise to-the-point info and I love how he also tells you what to avoid. I checked out another of his videos on how to grow squash/zucchini vertically, something I had no idea you could do. Great channel!
I’ve used scrap scaffolding planks for my first raised bed. A bit long at 13’ x 5’ but it does the job. Next time I used corrugated iron and pressure treated wood to build an 8’ x2’ bed , two planks high which works well. Filled the bottom with logs and crap brushwood and then my own compost. Mr first crop of over-wintered broad (fava) beans is flowering mid-April and looking great. Thank you Brian for so many great tips.
So glad you talked about the cloth beds and sweet potatoes and sizes.
Brian, it was great seeing your old garden beds. I had forgotten how blue they were. Thanks for another informative video.
I work at a warehouse, so naturally I built my beds out of pallet wood. Been about 6 years and they are finally starting to rot. I figured I’ll go one more year and then make them again. I filled the bottom half with sticks and limbs and mixed my native soil half and half with compost I made. I finally amended it with bone meal after years of gardening in the same spot. It’s not as difficult as some people make it out to be. I do need to bring in some more woodchips. That’s about all I’ve ever paid for. Cheers.
Excellent
I've heard a way to make the lumber durable against rotting is by burning its surface.
Pallets are often made of treated lumber. Not all of them, but there are grade stamps that help identify what kinds of preservatives, if any, are used. Do a little homework and figure out if you are using something poisonous for your bed, or not.
Brian, I continue to be a fan of Next Level Gardening and always come away with something to make gardening in my 272 square feet of raised beds a little easier. 78 next week and I'll never quit the fight 😂. Thanks for your help, Brian. 👍
Wow! Sharp! Button down shirt. Very nice. Very helpful raised bed tutorial. I always cover the beds for winter but, would dig before adding new compost. Very good point. I won’t dig; didn’t want to anyway. Laughed again! Thanks, Brian. Many blessings
Good informative video. In 2020, we converted one of our field gardens into a raised bed and container garden. Best gardening decision ever! We made 12 4'x16' raised beds and have not regretted the decision to make them full-length -- we use oak fencing boards for our wood and the beds are a foot high. We have 12 raised beds plus 40 5-gal container grow bags. We lined each bed w/ hardware cloth to keep out moles/voles. Two beds are dedicated strawberry beds and we just started one more bed for strawberries. We're Zone 6B and grow a great deal of our foods, canning or freezing our excess. The raised bed garden is fenced to keep our dogs out -- we used cattle panels for that. We have not found that the 16-foot lengths are a problem at all, in fact, it is good to walk lengths to keep an active eye on everything. We also have another garden (a field garden). We won't convert that garden over because it was expensive to make our raised bed garden. Plus at our age, we're not sure we can keep up with the demands of 2 large gardens in years to come...who knows. We used premium fill (mushroom compost and a soil blend - purchased from a reputable business). And we filled our beds to the top. We ordered bulk (2 dump-truck deliveries). Costly, yes, but this soil blend has been fantastic!! Now that the fill has settled, we topped-off the fill this year and the fill-levels are back at the top so that's 12-inches of lush growing soil with fairly decent substrate. In all, our raised beds were done as an investment -- it continues to pay us back in so many ways. We wish that we had done this a decade or 2 ago.
This video is perfect timing for me. I have a new house and am planning my garden area. I have 3 deep metal beds to set up for starters. Spring planting in my area usually starts just after Mother's Day, and I'm not sure they'll be up and filled in time for this season, so I will probably be using grow bags.
Great video I might be the poster child for all 7. Thank you again.
Well done. I learned a lot. I am 77YO and a gardener. Just enough knowledge to know how good your advise is. Thank you.
Sooooo glad I saw this!! I was about to make a couple of these mistakes!!
Your video on winterizing raised beds was so helpful
Great video. I can relate to the comment about "feeling lazy in the fall". I often neglect my raised beds after summer, much to my chagrin....
I really enjoy your content, Brian. Your presentation style is great. However, for me, the overload of information is causing severe "cerebral flatulence". I watch a video, go to my garden, and forget what I just learned! You keep doing what you're doing. I'll keep working on me. Eventually, I WILL get it! Thank you and Blessings to all.
pretend you're back in school and take a few notes! it's the only way I can remember lol
I literally took 7 pages of hand written notes and put the play speed of the video at .75x so I don’t miss anything!
I was just coming here to say that….take notes. Saves a lot of time.
Lol! What they said! 📝
I have dedicated a whole hard cover planner for gardening notes and I love it. I just make a title per two pages and if I happen to later get more information about the same subject it doesn't matter I just make a new title about the same subject. I have drawn pictures and made plans for future season in it and the end result is very valuable to me... before this I had separate paper notes and it was a mess. I proper hard cover planner is really needed. I make notes whenever I get new information that I consider valuable now or later.
Good afternoon, that was exceptionally helpful, answered so many questions even though i do not have the ability to have a raised bed, at the moment, that might change in the future. It is nice to know where to go for answers to my questions. Have a lovely day!
Woo hoo!!! Congratulations on 1 million subscribers 😊. Actually, you are already higher than that as I type this. That’s a huge accomplishment and lovely to see your hard work has paid off. Thank you for sharing your knowledge on this and your other channel. My husband and I really enjoy your channels.
Enjoyed your presentation and content! Beautiful voice to listen to. Waiting for delivery of 2 7x3x1 metal raised beds.. so am tending to seedlings and planning. Zone 6, southern Ontario near Niagara Falls. 18 month old mini Schnouzer - not a jumper and not much of a digger- so ‘garden safe’ and wonderful company! Happy gardening this season!
Great info for raised beds. You are very through with instructions. Thanks Brian.
I always enjoy your take on all things gardening.
We used composite 1x6 planks that came off a nearby project. 8' lengths. Beautiful and will last a long time.
Thank you as always love your content. Just started my beds and I’m getting there. I know it’s a bit late , but I’m getting there
I'll be using tree’s i cut down on my Off Grid land for raised beds, free lumber all around 😉. Black soil comes from my marsh area.
I Would look into using marsh soil. If you are amending with it, its prob not too big a deal. If you use too much, I've read somewhere there have been issues with commercial soils using too much marshy soil. Keep in mind it comes from an anaerobic environment. I'm not saying its bad cuz I'm not sure as I've never used it. I just want to urge caution and recommend research so its not an overwhelming task to fix.
@@jeil5676 Tnx for your concern, I'll take a deeper dive on this topic. I'm way Off Grid, boat, float plane and sled access only.
Yup, using the trees I have cut this summer. 4'×8'×16"
My parents land had a forested area on it which had the soil that leaves and trees had fallen on for years and became great top soil and he used it for his gardens which had a lot of clay in the ground.
Same! We have 33 acres and we share 100 acres with my sisters. We don't have enough time mill our own lumber for offgrid build but lots of time to use our own trees for greenhouse and raised beds. We already compost and have for years and a neighbour has horses and we can take their manure for free. My back is struggling and I don't want to put all of the gardening on my husband. I'm wondering if we use logs for walls, could we make garden beds kitchen counter height in the greenhouse?
Good advice for sure. I made raised beds using 2x4’s and metal roofing. Framed them with the 2x4’s and the metal roofing was on the inside so the lumber has no contact with the soil. We love them because they’re 4’ high and no bending over to pick the strawberries.
Thank u for ur video!! Its my first time really taking a wack at this gardening thing an i found ur video reall helpful :) thank u 😊
AWSOME system you have CONGRATS👏thank you for sharing ❤
Do not use walnut leaves or branches as they poison the soil so nothing grows. I reinforced my beds on the outside to maximize internal grow space. I tried to line inside the bed walls to keep the arsenic from the roots. I also placed hard plastic on the top of my fencing so the squirrels could not climb in. I need to make chicken wire covers for my 4X4 beds so the birds can't eat my strawberries, before I can. Every thing else you spoke I agreed with. I also have to use a grabber to plant with and pull weeds because I can no longer bend down far enough to do it by hand and it works well for me. Another great video Brian. Keep on growing with it. May the Lord keep blessing you and yours.
Working with chicken wire is hell on earth 😫how do you make it convenient and non-spiky...?
@SimonHaestoe I attach it to a frame that will fit over the top of the raised bed. I use wire or nylon string to attach the sheets of chicken wire together. If it is going on top of fence panels, it needs to be slightly larger than the panels to sit and rest on top of them. I would use screw with washers to attach to the frame or whatever would hold the wire in place on the frame. Hope this helps.
So that includes all poisonous plants not to use as a filler???
@sylviacisneros6933 Yes, of course. Most you wouldn't want to handle like poison ivy, poison oak, and others. Lots of people don't know about black walnuts' effect on soil which is why I mentioned it. If in question or doubt, keep it out.
That means Oleander bushes, Brazilian pepper tree branches, and Wisteria vines would not be good fillers too.
Pressure treated wood and corregated roof panels for the win this year for me. The soil isn't touching the wood. No regrets except not doing it sooner before my back and joints got old 😅 18" - 24" beds instead of ground level is going to be nice!
That's how I make mine. You can sit of the sides to work if you want to. Great for an old back. Perfect height.
Wooden shipping crates are perfect in all sizes and lengths. I jacked em up on stumps, filled with drainage rocks, leaf litter, worm dirt and mulch. Learning lots from you! Teach on my friend! #onelove
I have a raised garden, and I used treated deck lumber and never had a problem. But I also had this around so something to be said for using what you have. Also have been using leaves and grass clippings in the fall to cover my garden in the fall. Has worked well for me for 30+ years.
I always put mulched leaves on top as my mulch. I also never had issues with the grass clippings. I'm sensitive to smells and it never smells bad.
A very inspiring way of gardening
Your videos should come with a warning to always have your pen and paper handy to take notes. I think you are a great teacher and I’m learning more than the brain can absorb. So glad these are videos that can be rewatched!
I suggested to another viewer what I do… video play speed at .75x and a notebook! I actually have a 3 ring binder of notes I’ve organized all my notes for gardening in! Just wanted to share because that helps me a lot!
I used 2 x 12 unmilled hemlock for mine. They are 16 years old and just starting to need board replacement here and there.
Building 3 beds today, and started some tomatoes and peppers from your videos. You've been incredibly helpful to a new Gardener!
A well made and super informative video which I certainly needed.
Thank you for the great tips Brian.
You always make sense! Thank you again for the info!!!
I’m so glad I subscribe to your channel. Thank you. 🌱
I absolutely love my Grassoots pots! Thank you!
Glad you like them!
Thx for sharing that that 12 inches above hardware cloth is sufficient. Something (gopher, mole, vole ???) digs holes in areas of your I want to convert to garden. Thinking hardware cloth under raised beds is how I need to go and been concerned about enough depth for plants.
We just filled a new 12x3 foot , 18inch deep bed . The first 8 inches of fill was millings from the local lumber mill . It is basically mulch you get at Lowes but it is not bagged . You may want to check the price of mulch at Lowes and get the stuff without the dye . It is usually $2 a bag so 40 bags is very reasonable in price . We then added P-15 Planting Media and a mixture of manure and mushroom soil we bought from a local Amish Plant Nursery .
Brian, Great advice--thank you! 😊
I live in Alberta with cold winters so all my beds are Wood 4' x8' with weed cloth stapled to the bottom. I made them 12" high using 12" wide planks and they are 2 feet in spacing as I'm 5 feet tall. I have sandy soil and it works just fine just add some vermiculite and peet for water retention.
I love raised beds since I started doing them. I will say that after 6 years my cedar frames started to get weak and rotten so with my next version I went with cinderblocks. Like everything it has pros and cons. I like the sustainability aspect of them but they are much wider so you need more space. Thanks for the videos!
Great tips, thank you!
Such great advice and inspirational too!
Thank you for your expert knowledge.
Wonderful information .
You forgot the best bed walls of all, cinder blocks.
,4ft is to wide for short handicapped people I need I need 3,2/2 ft wide only, I love this video, great info. Thank you,,♥️
Thank you! Such good, succinct information.
very clear and concise thanks
BTW your nasturtiums are beautiful! I love adding blooms to salad for their peppery flavor!
Thank you for the great information!!
Hey man thankyou. This was a great video. You’re easy to listen to
Thank you for this video on bio char. I just found your channel here on KZhead and all your videos stand out because you get right to the point you don’t waste my time. I have a question about bio char, I currently started about 60 pounds inoculating. I’ve got quite a mixture, compost, lake water on a ranch with cows poop in i,t deer antelope cow and chicken manure.. The slurry it’s inoculating in it’s pretty hot stuff meaning it would burn plants if put directly into the garden. Do you rinse the bio char when done? What do you do to recently inoculated bio char before applying to the soil?
1I added 2x6 on my 2x6 this / to help with getting ri d of it if bindweed i was given a roll of cardboard so put over existing bed then added my boards an soil hoping it kills out some of the bindweed this year
"You want a light, fluffy texture that you can just dig your hands down into. You'd never be able to do that in the ground." No raised beds here, and our soil has a lot of clay, but after gardening for 13 years, adding compost every year and mulching in the fall, we can dig almost a foot into the ground in our garden with our bare hands. We'll be digging up the soil to take to our next home where we plan to build raised beds! I didn't follow rule 7 for the first 10 years though, and since we started mulching in the fall gardening has gotten SO much easier!
Thanks for sharing. Your video is very helpful. 👏🏽👏🏽
thank you very very much for your useful tips :) the most important for me was the fact to not mix the new annual soil/potting soil with the old from the last year, to avoid spores, deseases or other bad things..this year i will only get rid of the weeds and then put the new soil on top :)
Thanks for the tips❤
Another topic that I’d like a video on please is how to keep track of what you have done and plan to do in the garden. By this I mean, I planted X seed on Y date, so should expect to harvest on Z date. And I need to fertilize A bed on B date. And recorder experiments - I tried C amendment and got D outcome. Please share how you suggest keeping track of this.
Thank you Brian.
I just finished my tiny garden surrounded by chicken wire that is buried down into the ground. It will keep the bunnies out but not the squirrels. My sugar snap peas are about an inch and a half tall now. I just hope they'll actually come to fruition. 🤞 I love your gardening channel! I just need to make more time to watch them and adhere to your expertise.
Great content Sir
I agree 4' X 8" is the perfect size for a raised bed. I have one that is 6' X 12' and I really have to stretch to get to the middle. I also like a bed 24" tall so I don't have to bend over so much.
Very informative video thank you so much, stunning
Thankyou. Such valuable information. Xx
I read a lot that you should rotate crops. How do you go about crop rotation with raised beds? Would adding new compost and soil be enough to amend it? I only have a couple beds so rotating crops doesn't really work for me because I plant such a variety in the small space that I have. What do you suggest? Thank you as always! Your videos have given me so much confidence to try and build my first large garden this year 😊
Hello! I absolutely loved reading your book! I am a relatively new gardener and it was the foundation upon which I am learning everything! You had mentioned oats being a cover crop, and then you cut them down for mulch, but when do you do that in Midwest climates? Also, we are planning on growing wheat, oats, and sorghum for the food, and using the straw that comes from it for the garden. Would you recommend companion planting around the edge of the wheat, sorghum, and/or oat patches? If so, what would you recommend? This is the only plant group that I’m still struggling with, as your book was beyond helpful! Thank you so much in advance!
Excellent presentation whether you agree or disagree with everything.
Thank you!
I use treated lumber. However I covered the bottom with fabric paper. I covered the sides and the top edge with plastic. I used the bags the mix came in. I split the bags from the sides so that they're longer. Covered the top edge and interior walk sides with it. The bottom edge is about 2 or so inchs under soil inward. Overlapped ends. Tacked down with roof tacks. White side of bag/plastic toward soil. Then, I used furring strips on top edge and trimmed excess plastic off on the outside for clean edge. This helps ensure the lumber isn't next to soil to block leaching. And helps nutrients and moisture stay put as well. Yet bottom fabric paper allows drainage. 13:16
Just found your channel. I have raised beds and they work for me. My question is pathway around the beds…I’ve been using mulch, but it is breaking down now and the weeds are coming up. Suggestions? Should I have put something underneath it? Good video. 👍🏻
Thanks for timely tips. Have 4 ft diameter grow bags left over from when renting. Have 1 newer 4x8x1 metal bed. I am now challenged with rolling/slopped ground & aging joints. I’m moving to smaller beds to make reaching middle & leveling a bit easier on this old body. Have 7 galvanized 3x4 beds to put together asap & fill with home compost and 48 cubic ft of bagged soil. Have to haul bags in trunk of small car so every trip to town getting 6 bags.
Oh I am so happy about this video. I have 8x4 metal beds I just filled one with black cow manure compost and peat moss do I need to add in potting soil? I was using the blue stuff potting mix with it , but after a video I watched I'm off the blue stuff. Please let me know❤❤❤
Now, we grew gardens on my grandparent's farm. We did not use fancy "store bought" "dirt". Out vegetables did very well. So, how do you condition regular soil for beginning in town gardening? I guess, on the cheap.
Hey Brian, great to see you're new garden doing so well! I moved cross country,from green pastures to a dessert climate, about a year bf you made your move. You're issues have been my issues, and your video posts a real life saver, starting w/ the Grazon scare and gopher issues!! Automated watering is both a blessing and a curse. Definitely can't do wo it in a dry climate, but completely confusing, especially in raised beds w/wire mesh. persistence is my new motto. However, _my question,_ if you're still monitoring this post, is about _wood chips._ I have access to a lrg amount of walnut shaving/sawdust _but am told not to use it in the garden or compost because of the _compound juglone._ The raw cut lumber was dried and stored in a barn for over 50yrs and with materials being so scare in the desert,I was hoping to make use of it. _After 50+ yrs,do u think its likely to still prevent plant growth?_ The answer alludes me...plz help! Thx, _Long_ Time Subscriber fromOh/toAz
My 2 cents, if you staple plastic sheeting (I think it's made from hdpe, or ldpe, #2 or #4 plastic) inside, I think it should work. I'm also a desert dweller, im trying to make wicking beds from old IBC totes and old milk jugs (both #2 plastic, hdpe )
I have also heard, ( I think from Geoff Lawton videos??) That if the black walnut wood rota down with fungus, the juglone breaks down. May be worth searching
@@dunedainmom Thx! I'll definitely look into that
Your Nasturtiums are beautiful ! GREAT video . I just watched a video from MI Gardener about the scams potting soil companies get away with . The top one is Raised Bed Soil . He said there is no difference between regular potting soil mix & raised bed soil mixture . Perhaps it varies between companies .
Brian, I was thinking about using 5/4 x 6 x 8 composite decking boards & know would have to add at least 2 dividers for side support. what are your thoughts, i know it's more expensive than wood but won'r rot over the years & looking for long term beds & cost of those corragated metal beds is way too much $ Appreciate your comments & learning so much from ALL your videos 🤗
the last advice on avoiding weeds...need to mow BEFORE you see flowering because those little monsters keep 'ripening' even when cut so it may put out seed when laying in piles.
Many years ago when we lived on a farm, I splurged and had 5 yards of "premium top soil" delivered, thinking it would be a good starting point on a new 20x20 plot. I was wrong. It compacted and solidified quickly and I ended up spending a small fortune on bagged potting soil and coconut fiber to lighten it up. We since moved to a condo where my only option is fabric plant bags that I filled with 1/3 potting soil, 1/3 composted cow manure, and 1/3 hydrated coconut coir, with 8 pounds of fish, bat guano, and worm castings to make it more nutrient rich. I use the same media every year by screening and hydrating with 50:50 hydrogen peroxide:water to kill any pathogens in the mixture and add another bag of compost every Spring to replenish lost volume and nutrients. Works great for me. I use absolutely no bag fertilizers or chemical boosters and only supplement with a top dressing of calcium once a year to avoid blossom-end rot. I employ root-zone water drippers to save water and avoid damp leaf fungus problems. All the bags are mulched with at least an inch of pine shavings.
Thanks for the great tips
Good advice! Except I take issue with your statement at 6:44 that you could never just dig your hands into the ground. I have been using "piled up" raised beds for years, double-digging the,m, never ever walking on them, and adding compost every year, plus mulch. My native soil is heavy clay, but by the time a bed is a couple years old, I can just dig my hands into the soil. Even in my ornamental gardens, which don't get the nearly the TLC I give the soil in the vegetable garden, the soil gets pretty loose after a few years of repeated mulching. This year I am expanding my vegetable garden, changing the layout, and adding wooden sides to the beds. I'm filling the new beds with excess "nurtured" soil from the established beds, plus lots of compost made from yard and kitchen waste. I mulch vegetables with grass clippings (or shredded leaves in the early spring) and I mulch ornamental gardens with purchased wood chips.
Great vid!
I'm curious what your thoughts are on wattle fencing made into raised beds... I see possibilities for air pruning, free material (for me anyway), and a cute project.
GREAT VIDEO! Thank you!
A good time of year to start your raised beds, IMO, is in the fall if you have access to fallen leaves, yours and your neighbors.( run the leaves over with a lawn mower to break them down smaller) Layer leaves, soil, leaves, etc and end with leaves. Leave it all winter, and start your garden in the Spring as things break down. You can use white clover as a cover crop and it will act like a mulch. God Bless!😊❤