Creating a Raised Bed.pdf

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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 th
at 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 fa
ct, it might just cause them to bloom more lushly. However, other pla
nts don’t cope as well, and it will cause them to die a gruesome, blo
ated death. You should always find out about the drainage required fo
r 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 ret
ain, 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 u
p again. If the 2nd hole full of water isn’t gone in 10 hours, your so
il has a low saturation point. This means that when water soaks into i
t, it will stick around for a long time before dissipating. This is un
acceptable for almost any plant, and you are going to have to do somet
hing 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 addin
g 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 drainag
e will be improved by this small modification. If you’re planning to b
uild 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 h
ave 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 pu
t in the proper amount soil and steer manure. Depending on how long yo
u plan to wait before planting, you will want to adjust the ratio to a
llow 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 so
d 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 t
he edges of the sod and get under it. Once you have turned it all upsi
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de down, it is best to add a layer of straw to discourage the grass fr
om 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. I
t 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 le
vel. The whole point of creating the raised bed is to keep the roots ou
t of the soil which saturates easily. Having long roots that extend tha
t far completely destroys the point.
Once you have plants in your new bed, you’ll notice an almost immedi
ate improvement. The added soil facilitates better root development.
 At the same time, evaporation is prevented and decomposition is dis
couraged. All of these things added together makes for an ideal envi
ronment 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 s
imple process as I’m sure you’ve realized, and the long term results
 are worth every bit of work.
PPPPP
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