Photo courtesy MelindaMyers.com
Raised beds and raised gardens provide easy access to gardens and can increase the space for growing vegetables and flowers. You will enjoy convenience and easy access when you install one or more in your garden or on your patio, patio or balcony.
Proper care of these raised planting areas will ensure the highest possible harvest and a vegetation period filled with beautiful flowers. Adapting planting and care strategies to the needs of these unique growing spaces can help reduce maintenance.
It starts with creating and maintaining a healthy foundation for growth. Fill your flower beds with a quality planting mix, which consists primarily of topsoil and compost. Or create your own mix of plantations using lasagna and hill culture techniques. These methods allow you to convert prunings, compost, and a minimal amount of soil into a high quality planting mix.
Raised gardens are basically containers with legs and are usually filled with a high quality, soilless planting mix. The lower weight makes it much more suitable for this type of gardening. Look for a product that will provide drainage while retaining moisture. Both of these properties are important when gardening in small amounts of soil.
Make sure you have easy access to water and that your gardens have ways to drain excess water. Limited soil mass and increased exposure to wind, heat, and sunlight cause plant mixes to dry out faster than buried beds. Always water generously to encourage deeper, drought-tolerant roots.
Extend the time between waterings by up to 25% by using a sustainable organic product like Wild Valley Farms Wool Pellets (wildvalleyfarms.com). These wool waste granules absorb moisture, store it and release it when the plants need it.
Buy an elevated yard with wheels or add wheels on the legs if you need to move your yard for entertainment. Take advantage of the increased mobility to move your planter in the sun or shade as needed during the season.
Use space saving techniques to maximize the productivity of your gardens. Place the plants far enough to reach adult size. Plant fast-ripening vegetables like radishes, lettuce, and beets among tomatoes, peppers, and other greens that take longer to reach full size and start producing. You pick short-season vegetables in the way that larger plants need space.
Look for compact varieties of flowers and vegetables that will help you make the most of every square inch of these gardens. All-America Selections Award-winning Patio Choice Yellow Cherry Tomato produces up to 100 tomatoes on an 18-inch plant. Mascotte Compact Bush Bean and Patio Pride Peas are great growers suitable for these gardens and small spaces.
Expand your pleasure and crops with successive plantings. After harvesting a row or block of vegetables, fill in the blank spaces. Refresh ornamental plants by replacing weathered flowers with new, healthy varieties. If necessary, add more planting mix with balls of wool.
Train vines on trellises or other supports to save space and reduce the risk of disease. Attract them by letting the herbs and flowers fall over the edge of these flower beds.
If you increase growth success and reduce maintenance, raised beds and raised gardens become a practical and productive addition to your gardening work.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 books on gardening, including Small Space Gardening. It includes The Great Courses' How to Grow Anything DVD series and the radio and television show Melinda's Garden Moment, which is broadcast nationwide. Myers is the columnist and editor-in-chief of Birds & Blooms magazine and was hired by Wild Valley Farms for her expertise in writing this article. Myers' website is http://www.MelindaMyers.com .
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