Raised Bed Gardening Presented by Dan Pawliczak [email protected] MG – Don Schneiders

Goals For The Home Gardener  Maintaining a beautiful garden with minimum effort is a goal that most gardeners strive for – and with the correct knowledge, most can attain it.  Success begins with the garden’s very foundation, its “SOIL”. Ideal

 Is your yard the rare yard whose soil naturally provides good growing conditions for plants? If so, then it will take little more than yearly application of organic matter, such as compost, and regular mulching.

Most

 Chances are, though, your property is not ideally adapted to the purposes of gardening, most soils can be improved with the addition of certain amendments, but a soil that is really poor could require you to spend many hours testing, digging, and adding amendments to your beds to make up for the soil’s deficiencies.

Determining Your Soil’s Worth  First, you will need to assess the quality of the soil.  Checking it structure – how fast it drains, the perfect garden soil is a blend of sand, silt, and clay called loam, which clings together in a soft ball when you squeeze a handful. Neither too compact nor too loose, loam is easy to till and provides good aeration, holding just enough water to sustain plant growth yet allowing any excess water to drain off.  If your soil contains too much clay, it will prevent plant roots from penetrating far enough into the earth and will hold to much water that the roots may drown.  If the soil is too sandy, water will run off quickly and leach away vital nutrients.

Determining Your Soil’s Worth, “cont.”  Next, you’ll want to test the soil’s PH, or acidity/alkalinity balance, using a kit from your local nursery or Extension Center. The desired level is neutral or slightly acid – between 6 and 7 on the 14-point pH scale.  Familiarize yourself with local soil conditions and any special needs by analyzing your own garden and by talking to other gardeners in your neighborhood and to the staff at the extension center or local nursery.

Definition of Raised Bed  A raised bed is by definition a mound of loose soil on top of the ground.  Usually 8-12 inches high, the mound can be either freestanding or enclosed by some type of border trim.

 To create a raised bed, you will have to bring in new soil and amend it as needed. While this may sound like a lot of work, it is far easier than amending excessively poor soil – soil that is mostly clay or mostly sand.

Advantages of Raised- Bed Gardening  Building up the soil level provides a very effective solution to any drainage problem you may have encountered with your existing soil.

 Avoid compacting the soil, without stepping inside it boundaries, you avoid compacting the soil. In this way your soil will always remain porous and loose, making it easy for water, fertilizer, and air to penetrate.  Because raised beds can be built high enough to be accessible from a sitting position, they are also the perfect alternative for gardeners in wheelchairs.  Soil in the raised bed tends to warm up sooner that ground soil, your beds become the perfect place for growing cool season vegetables or early spring colors.  Finally, raised beds allow you versatility when planning a garden. By building beds at various heights, flowers and plants are better positioned to delight the eye.

Designing Your Raised Bed A raised bed will become a permanent part of your garden design, so you should give careful thought to where you place it and to such aesthetics as style and shape.

 Location - where in the world do I put it?  Size and Dimensions - how big do I make it?

 Soil Preparation - the key to a garden success  Tools you will need to have?  Material Needed - What do I make it out of?

 Watering – Providing water/fertilization to the raised beds.  Taking care of your raised Beds

Location  Sunny or Shady Area  Neighborhood – city, country, gated communities, etc.  Front Yard or Back Yard, Side Yard  Level area vs. Slope area  Do I have a problem area or will I cause another one  Decisions, Decisions  With a little planning and attention to such details, you can create raised gardens that will provide you with a long-lasting, easy-to-maintain, and beautiful addition to your landscape.

Size and Dimensions  Once you decide where the raised bed is going to go, now you want to keep in mind a few basic guidelines. Is it round, rectangle, or square; more decisions  Are they accessible from two sides – no wider than 6 feet.  Are they accessible from one side - no wider than 3-4 feet.  Shrubs and perennials, beds should be 18-24 inches deep  Vegetables, beds should be 12 inches deep  Annuals, beds should be 8-10 inches  In deciding the length of the bed keep in mind the scale and balance of your house.  Draw it out, design where things are going, benches, pergola, paths.

Demonstration Garden Raised Bed Layout (ADA compliant)

Soil Preparation Determining your soil quality and composition should have been done by now. Get your amendments: Compost

Soil needs, bagged, trucked in, etc. Peat Moss Cotton Burr Fertilizer - liquid, composted, animal, manmade

Tools  Rent a Bob Cat / or hire someone  Hardware Cloth - for pesky creatures

 Landscape Cloth  Wheelbarrow  Manpower

 Hand Tools Sledge Hammer, nails, screws, drills, drill bits, flat shovel, round shovels, crowbar, re-rods, Level etc.

Material For Structure  Landscape Timbers  Railway ties can be used w/caution (creosote is harmful to plants)  Stone, brick  2x4, 4x4, 2x10, 8x8, landscape lumber  Cinder Blocks  Treated wood, Cedar, or Composite Lumber  Landscape Blocks  More decisions

Water/Fertilizer Needs Hand Watering Injection systems

Drip Irrigation vs. Off-the-Shelf Irrigation System Sprinklers

Timers Mulching

Mother Nature

Taking Care of Your Beds Fertilizing – when, how often, time of year More Compost Weeding

Mulching

Plans For Your Raised Beds  Once you’ve decided on your raised beds, you can:

“Give your imagination free rein to create the sort of garden you really want”  Because you will be able to create the soil conditions for plants and flowers that suit your personal style; you won’t be limited to just those that would grow in your soil’s normal conditions.

Raised Beds Design Ideas

Photos Show

The End  Sign up to become a Master Gardener  Contact: Jane Kempker Administrative Assistant Cole County Extension Center http://extension.missouri.edu/cole 2436 Tanner Bridge Road * Jefferson City, MO 65101 ~ 573-634-2824 x 301 [email protected]

 Attend the Spring Seminar 2015 (Information will be on our Web Site.  Keep up to date on happenings with our: 

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www.centralmissourimastergardeners.org

 Read the local paper, Television, for more events.  Go online to News Tribune