Raised Garden

[jrfrmn]

I need to raise my garden for better drainage. I need to raise it at least 4''. I am going to use yard waste compose, free from the county landfill. To finish it I will till in one load of compost cow manure. Any ideas?

[bearmgc]

I would till the bottom soil thoroughly before raising the garden bed and adding new soil and compost. Mix in compost and yard waste by tilling into the existing bottom soil. Then put the raised garden in.

[OLDHandgunner]

I add lawn clippings, mulched leaves in the fall and well rotted horse manure to mine every year.
If this will help. I make each row a raised row 8-10" high. It takes a little more time to rake the row up but it keeps the seeds above the ground. Always have great crops with no rotting. Then in the fall I level the garden flat again with the tiller.

[charles p]

Mine has been mulched for about five years.  Last year I added drip irrigation.  I cover the ground completely with wheat straw.  It rots by yearend and keeps down my weeds and keeps the moisture from evaporating.  I irrigate for 2.5 hours, twice per week.  Each nozzle allows on gallon per hour.

[steg]

Not sure if I would trust that free compost. you really don't know what can be in there!........steg

[blind ear]

charles p, is yours covered solid, rows middles and all wall to wall? Do you till it in ever or just keep pileing on mulch?

[Drilling Man]

  Mulching in HEAVY is the only way to go, i'm now half way there in my front garden,



  then till it all under in the fall, so it feeds the next years plants.

  DM

[steg]

Drilling Man, nice plot, be sure to turn that mulch under as soon as possible after the gardens done in fall, all that mulch will tie up the nitrogen in your soil until it's completly composted.......steg

[Bob Riebe]

I read about this, and did this once.

It is a way to fluff up a garden that has become too compacted.

It is a LOT of work:
Dig a trench 12 inches deep, 12 inches wide, the length, either way, of garden and transport that dirt to the other side of the garden on the edge. Now move over apprx. 24 inches and dig another 12 incb trench putting that dirt into the first trench.
Do this the entire length of the garden and then move back the other direction doing the spaces missed by digging every 24 inches.

It raises the garden, my dad was amazed it worked, and brings newer soil to the surface.
Bob

[Drilling Man]

Drilling Man, nice plot, be sure to turn that mulch under as soon as possible after the gardens done in fall, all that mulch will tie up the nitrogen in your soil until it's completly composted.......steg

  I never get in too much of a hurry, as my soil is pretty much all compost these days, as i have been doing it this way for many years.  I can always add turkey poop to get the N where i want it for my sweet corn, like i did today,



  With that done, i went out to get a load of mulch, and a deer came out to watch me work,



  Anyway, i did get the TP topped with a thick layer of mulch, so this garden is now done!



  And now, it's on to finishing up my "back" garden!

  DM

[steg]

Bob, that method is called Double Diging, and it does do everything you mentioned, it also allows a great chance to add some manure or compost to the bottom of the lower trench before replacing the soil. Its also recommended that you turn over the soil in the bottom of the trench before refilling it. Another way of making it easier on you is to fill a wheelbarrow with the top soil and move it out of the way, loosen the soil in the trench you just made and refill that area with soil taken next to the trench, loosening the bottom and so on until you are finished, thats when you replace the soil you removed in the first place, dumping it in the last opening in the garden...........steg

[charles p]

In response to the question about my drip irrigation, my bed is laid out so that narrow rows of black plastic pipe run parrallel with my garden rows.  I do not ridge my rows very high, it at all.  I can pull all the black pipe back to a manafold pipe at one end of the garden.  This allows me to use my tiller each spring.  If my ridges are too tall, the drip water will not wet the ridges, only the middle of the rows.  I've found that my avoiding ridges entirely, I get better results.  Since my garden is raised, it drains very well and water does not pond in it after hard rains. 

I think a raised garden requires more fertilizer because it leaches out faster.  Adding mulch constantly might change the pH also.  I do a soil test every year.  My requirements have always come back 1lb of nitrogen per 100 sq feet and nothing else.  My adjacent lawn requires 6-18-18.