Square Foot _ Raised Bed

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Comment by Joy Williams on May 2, 2009 at 1:20am

Peter, of course you don't have to do ANYTHING you don't want to, but yes putting down cardboard or many layers of newspapers will make a big difference in terms of weed growth.

As to 6" deep for a garden bed, I have read Mel's book, but I've found that certain plants need much more depth than that, especially tomatoes. If your tomatoes are any size at all, when they are planted they need to go into soil all the way to the top of their leaves so that they can develop an even more intense root system and produce MORE fruit. So I don't agree with Mel on that point.

He probably trenches his plants though as opposed to deeply planting them. Trenching them is ok, but you are more likely to harm the stem that way. And after I do that, it kind of eliminates the concept of "square foot" especially if you don't remember where the root system actually is in the soil.

Comment by Gillian on May 1, 2009 at 10:05pm

I have also come to the conclusion that my composted mulch was allowing too much drainage. I had leaves turning yellow and thought maybe they needed more nitrogen. I didnt want to add artifical fertilzers, but I thought it was that or lose all my plants. I got a slow release fertilizer and sprinkled it around and almost immediately my plants have new green leaves - no yellow on the new growth. I think when the water drians through so fast maybe they need to be fertilized more often. I feed them all every week with either compost tea or seaweed tea - very week since i am doing it so often, but obviosuly they needed more.

Comment by Margaret Patterson on May 1, 2009 at 12:30pm

Peter, Regarding your questions on bed depth and soil-less mixtures for your garden, I suggest you borrow a copy of Mel Batholomew's Square Foot Gardening from your local library, or you could buy a used copy at Amazon.com. They might have his video as well. In the meantime, you can visit his website at www.squarefootgardening.com; from there you can gather information from the FAQ tab regarding growing mediums and bed depth. I've been using Mel's vermiculite/compost/peat mix for some years, albeit in pots, with good success. This year will be my first year with beds, as we've recently settled after years of living as nomads. After hubby and I watched Mel's video (borrowed from the library), We decided to try 6" beds. We will also be using coir in our soil-less growing medium instead of peat. (We live in the hills. Coir is easier and cheaper for us to ship.) Good luck!

PS. Baltimore! We were in the DC area for 6 years. The forsythia should be just about popped out...and the dogwoods! We're in the hills of North Central Idaho, now. We still have snow on the ground with more in the forecast; though, we are planning on putting our beds in this weekend.

Comment by Kay Robbins on May 1, 2009 at 10:52am

I use cardboard if I have enough or several thincknes of newspaper. This keeps weeds or grass from growing in your bed. I would not skip this step. I also tack hardware cloth to the bottom of my beds because we have lots of moles where I live. Not one has ever got in any of my beds.

These extra steps take a little time now but will save you so much work in the long run.

Comment by Peter Gleason on May 1, 2009 at 9:08am

It sounds like people are lining the bottom of their gardens with something - cardboard and/or other linings. Is that necessary? I just built the raised bed over the top of my previous garden (and enlarged it a little) where I had planted tomatoes the year before. I still have time to do a lining (since I haven't filled it up yet) but would rather not. What do you think?

Comment by Kay Robbins on May 1, 2009 at 6:24am

Pema, it sounds like your compost may not have been right. When I did my first raised beds I bought organic compost because I did not have enough of my own. It was not fully matured and I had bad luck with it. It did much better the 2nd planting.

I prefer coarse perlite over vermiculite. It seems to work better in my hot Florida climate.

Comment by DuAnne Masselink on April 30, 2009 at 9:50pm

When I put in my second raised bet this spring (mostly for onions) I used 1/3 top soil, 1/3 compost and 1/3 sand.

Comment by Ivy B on April 30, 2009 at 8:50pm

Okay, thanks Peter! I guess I have a bit of a headstart on the garden :-). My celery is a few inches high, as are the onions, lettuces & carrots.
Pema, you dont have any manure in your boxes? I think that would help your garden grow. :-) What is on the bottom? Wood? Weedblock? Grass? I don't have to water every day, so I am thinking maybe you need to add something? :-)
Ivy (ny)

Comment by Peter Gleason on April 30, 2009 at 8:15pm

Ivy B asked where I was from (because of my comment, time is moving on) - Baltimore. Tomorrow is May and just seems like I should be further along! Anyway, I am hoping to get the garden bed filled in this weekend with the proper soil mix. I only made it 10" deep - reading some of the past post it looks like this might be on the shallow side. It's a start! Thanks for the comments.

Comment by Pema on April 30, 2009 at 7:14pm

Forgot to say the box is 12" deep and I live in Maui, Hawaii at sea level.

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