Beginner Gardening Raised Bed Do's & Don'ts

This was great information in a well thought out process! Thanks!

I’m in a new development in Myrtle Beach and it seems like the ground soil is sand. I want to start with tomato’s but I’m not sure how high or how much width

I’ve planted my first garden bed and am worried about squirrels and the occasional rats I’ve seen in my neighborhood. Any ideas for keeping them from helping themselves.

What a great video for a beginner! All the questions I’ve started to look up individually you’ve covered. Looking forward to your next self watering video. Thank you!

How deep should a bed be for flowers vs vegetables

Annoying voice. Could not watch.

I have a large area w 9 raised beds – i battle weeds on the “floor” of the garden. Looking for suggestions. I did purchase an eco friendly (root thru weed barrier) and had planned to put that down and then put gravel over it. Not sure if that is the best route??

I have some physical challenges over the last few years but want to break out of only containers. I thought about it and realized that it's the harvest or flowers I want to have the most access to.

Because of this, I will be determining with each plant where I want to be able to see or tend to it the majority of it's life. Them I will work backwards to determine the height of that bed, taking in account the root system of course.

This will be new to me this year. So much to configure with doing that and also taking in account all the other things we learn in your cohort course I joined a few weeks ago.

Why am I not seeing a link to do with raised bed soil solutions???

Very interesting

Do you buy or build your own beds?

Great information and comparison.

What is the "comfortable" width you have between your raised beds in number 5?

Awesome tips, so clear! Spring's our first garden planting as new homeowners this year.

I think the rustic look of the "warped" boards is attractive and I like aged things. I'm not a great fan of steel or plastic.

Great presentation. Clear, straight-to-it, and giving us everything we want and need to know. Thanks for the sharing!

I have spent a couple months in the Fall and early Winter prepping 30 new raised beds for the Spring. All but one are metal with the one being a 14 x 3 cedar board bed. It is designed for my tomatoes, and leafy greens as I am installing a 20 x 7 mesh greenhouse over. I purchased this property (1.2 acres) in the country because it had a major selling feature—concrete pads in the back. They were used as foundations for buck barns previously I filled in the cracks in between with concrete so I had a massive continuous pad. I spaced my beds 3ft apart so accept my wheelbarrow. Since I had recently moved I kept all my boxes and removed the tape from them to use as the flooring material for each bed. I had my landscaper collect twigs and small branches from his customers and used those on top of the corrugated board foundation. I then used stump grinds (I had three trees cut down and stumps ground) which made excellent base fill. I then measured powdered Urea onto the stump grinds because I knew the twigs and stump grinds would suck up the nitrogen. Becuase filling that many beds would have been impractical to fill by bag, I ordered several tons of top soil with an equal amount of compost. I then added 150 soaked and expanded coco coir bricks along with several yards of vermiculite. I took a tiller and tilled the top soil, compost, vermiculite and coco coir mix together. That was used as the primary raised bed fill. I bought 8 bags of Royal Oak Wood Charcoal and put each in a contractors bag and ran over it with my vehicle several times to crush it. I bought a metal tamper from Harbor Freight and dumped each bag into a 20 gallon bin. The balance of the charcoal wa crushed to a small grade no larger than a marble to form my biochar. The biochar was innoculated or charged with approximately 3 gallons of Compost Tea diluted so that I had over 100 gallons of biochar that charged for about a week. This was distributed on the top soil/compost mix. I then mixed shredded paper (no print colors or tape) along with equal parts pine mulch to form the top protective layer. This will sit for about four months. I have also been making four tumblers of compost for several months to use to supplement bed material that sinks come Spring. I will gather some soil samples and send off for analysis and be prepared to add worm casings and alphalfa pellets to get a balanced NPK. I was raised with a garden and garden as an adult all through grad school before giving it up. As an engineer I knew I could maximize my productivity and yields if I took the time and learned soil science. What did I find out? I knew very little about soil science before and there is so much to learn. Having spent about five months studying soil science, I am eager to see the results this growing season.

I have to question the height of the first beds in the video ,you say are 30 inches tall. You were standing next to them and i could see your inseam must be 36 to 40 inches comparatively speaking. Maybe they are just 24 inches ???

really helpful video, i’m going to try this out

Conrcete cinder blocks are cheap and last for a long long time.

thanks enjoyed watching

Most gardeners are missing the boat. Consider using discarded upright Freezers or refrigerators for a raised bed. They are just the right size for weeding and harvesting at waist height, making them ideal for wheelchair access or seniors, or those with back problems. One or a dozen, it 's up to you. It took me two weeks on Craigslist to get an even dozen boxes, and that was being picky. No stainless steel, or black refrigerators, no side-by-sides, only white boxes. They come insulated, and the type of soil they have is up to you. No more gophers, moles, rabbits, either! Just remove and discard the doors and shelves, fill and plant. Water with a garden hose, or plumb them with an irrigation system from below. Ideal for an apartment with a small patio, or a big yard. No more bending to weed! Best of all, they're free, and you keep them out of the landfill! Details to your questions if you like

Excellent video! I really love your videos.

I noticed the chicken caged run and wanted to get some information on how to build these for our chickens.

2 things about the width between the beds: 1 make them wide enough for a mower. Grass and weeds will grow in those spaces, so if you want to keep them short with a mower, make the width wide enough to push a mower through. 2 Leave enough space not only for a wheelbarrow, but extra space so you can walk past a wheelbarrow that's there, otherwise you'll have to walk around the other side of the bed to get past the barrow. Additional tip: the paths between the beds may become muddy in certain times of the year. Think about putting something down to prevent having to walk through mud while doing your gardening.

I put oregano and mint in with my raised beds. Dang, I may have to take them out!

I'm not finding the link to the free guide 'Raised Bed Soil Options"… did I miss something?

Which part you are .

At the beginning of the video, you showed your 15” garden. What was the brand? Can you share a link to it?

I use metal beds sliced in half horizontally,, makes excellent border beds,, no drying issues,, decent native soil makes it practical at 6" depth…

Very helpful!!!

Excellent comprehensive presentation. Thank you.

i liked how she highlighted that you dont have to build all the reaised bed you need to fill out the empty space in your backyard. im pretty sure some of us do feel that we need to fill it out right away. But if we are in a budget patience do go a long way.

Chickens in the background crack me up. Looks like they sooo want to get into that garden. Lol

I dont understand the benefit of raised beds? Slugs and snails seem to hide around the base, and they dry out quickly..

I have two raised beds that I made, one wood, the other corrugated steel. Both and about 2 1/2' tall and both have issues with the soil drying out faster than ground soil. The steel bed drys out very fast because the steel gets very hot from the sun. I made domes for both so I can grow crops into the fall and early spring.

Wow excited to find your channel, I started gardening last year!
What kind of compost do you usually use?

Thank you Hun that’s being very informative I’ve learnt a lot. I’ve been gardening for 20 years and I’m always learning

You are so correct…good soil makes all the difference in the world…..great video

Thank you.

1. Consider height. 2. It will take more than one season

Another decision for height of a bed is the soil underneath. If your ground is a heavy clay or something that doesn't drain well, or I should say has poor drainage then a taller raised bed will probably be helpful in having good drainage and water holding capacity without your plants drowning. You may even need to have some places where water can drain depending on how heavy the clay is.

I can tell you that regenerative farmers (working directly in the soil) use either a 36" or 42" width bed because 48" is hard to deal with for people growing veg for a living. So, instead of going all the way out to 48" maybe cut that back to 42" if you're a pretty good height (not short) or if you're a shorter person stick with 36". Having said that if you have a taller bed and you are taller THEN a 48" bed isn't so painful trying to reach into.

36" is a good gap between beds, 42" if you're a bigger person who may want to sit down or don't like to feel crowded. Regenerative farmers get by with smaller pathways, but they also don't have wood frames they can collide with and are used to working in tighter places, but you have to be able to get a wheelbarrow through that space.

Good info THANKS!

So glad I watched…wheel barrow width paths!

Thank you!

All wood will warp.

Nice

I have 13 raised beds 4×8 and 5×8 all made from Trex, going on 20 yrs, best thing we ever did, also husband piped water to each bed individually so I can control watering based upon plant, and stop watering when a crop is done.

Thanks for your info. I live in Hungary and need all the help I can get.