Raised Garden Bed Spring Preparation
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- Preparing raised beds in spring prepares you for success and gives your garden a great start. Bed repair, soil amending, and mulching gets raised garden beds ready for plants. Gardener Scott explains and demonstrates the steps to improve soil and prepare garden beds before spring planting. (Video #263)
Other Videos:
"Spring Garden Cleanup - Part 1" - • Spring Garden Cleanup ...
"Spring Garden Cleanup - Part 2" - • Spring Garden Cleanup ...
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💚 i'm a little ahead here in Arizona🎋Our last frost date was April 10th. I amended my beds last fall, pine needles, eggshells, and old leaves. No grass clippings here, lol. This spring my beds are looking and feeling great! Yes, I feel the soil with my bare hands and it feels good!.
@ Gardner Scott is truly a good knowledgeable friend to have. I've never planted anything and I'm getting ready to start. Due to all that's going on is a must, but following Scott I do feel comfortable I'll know what to do thanks.
Thanks Scott. I'm going to amend and straw spread on my beds Thursday. My last frost is the same day so we get the snow here for the next 6 weeks too... Happy gardening :)
Hi Gardener Scott, I thought you'd get a kick out of this story. A guy I know called me to tell me he left a couple tomato plants at a friends for me but when I asked him what variety etc they were he said "I don't know they are red and round!" lol..I gave him a lecture about tagging his seedlings and told him to start watching you! I don't know if I want to plant them now either, like you, what do I do if I like them...ha ha
Red and round is a good start. 😂
I would give them a try if there's enough room in the garden. I like a mystery plant every now and then.
WOW still 6 weeks away from planting... I feel for you northerners with a short growing season. I've already got my garden fully planted here down south. Then again, we here down south do suffer with the long summers of heat and humidity. Come July and August much of our summer crops come to a stop because it's too darn hot.
@@DebRoo11 Nice! I like the cool weather crops too. Luckily I can grow them from late fall to early spring, so I always have something growing in my garden year round.
I'm in the same zone as gardener scott, on the cusp of zone 6, and we planted out our entire spring garden in the first week of march. It grows slowly from then to now but the radishes are starting to pick up and the perennial greens have been delicious for a week or so. Perennial greens are a huge part of closing the hunger gap in the spring, that and chopping and dropping to make room for the summer plants in the next week, if the long term forecast holds up well enough.
Oh I feel you, we just ended our warm weather, and during our hottest Jan-Feb, things just bake.
Many, many thanks. Getting prepped for Spring in Zone 9B
🇨🇦🧑🌾Constructing Raised Beds from Reclaimed Lumber is how we did it. Great video!
Thank you sooo much for explaining how to prepare raised beds!
Thank you! That's what I'm doing as soon as it stops raining.
Where I live there are many trees and my garden is surrounded by walnuts, maple, crabapple, elm, and a whole host of weeds and wind! We built a raised bed a year to have a better chance at growing. My soil is mostly clay and the garden is on a hill, no flat space anywhere! We filled the beds with the best soil mix we could afford. But I’ve noticed the beds began to get weedy! So now I cover them with a cloth to keep the seeds from collecting in the beds! My! What a difference!
I prepare my raised beds and ground in the Fall and put a thick layer of mulch to protect the soil. Spring is really easy.
We kept shredded leaves on our raised beds all winter, and today raked it all up and laid solar mulch on the beds to warm the soil for a few weeks. Afterwards, on a whim, I checked the soil temp. 50 degrees already! I'm tempted to start sowing, even though it's February.
THIS VIDEO, MAJOR THUMBS UP!
Hey Scott. I was just looking over my raised beds thinking, it’s almost that time and BAM there’s your video. Thank you for your time and effort’s. Now to start mulching.
Scott man. Lol every time man....... its a good time man. Dig it, grow it , love it!
Thanks. Nice to see the whole process.
Thanks Gardener Scott. I learned how to amend my raised bed from watching gardener Scott. I amended my beds in the fall and recently added biochar to it and covered it up with pine straw. I am going to try to incorporate more cover crops this season.
Thanks Scott this weather here has been hard with snow tonight my new flower bed is in need of love, between that and lawn it’s going to be a great year!
Thank you for another great video
Perfect timing as always! I was just about to go outside and randomly decide what to do to prepare my raised beds. :-)
Thanks!
Thank you, Bernadette.
As always. Another great vid! I’m with you on the straw! In Michigan I had access to it. Now in FL, it’s something I don’t see. Found a compressed bag of it at TSC. $13 🤪. Crazy, but I bought it. Down here I harvest slash pine needles. Thanks for your expertise! Love your channel! Have a great sunshiney day!
Got the notification for this video just after I came inside to hide from the rain that interrupted my assessment of my raised beds. Love watching your videos on release simply because they're so timely to what is going on in my garden.
Should you wait to put straw on your bed if you've recently planted short carrots and green onions? Or do you think they'll be okay? FYI.. I'm not in the zone with the potential for frost.
@@minaw6654, this should really be it's own comment. I would pull any mulch back away from your sowing location for carrots. Onions will usually sprout fine through mulch, but thinning the mulch for them will get them to the sun sooner.
Thank you. 😊 I thought I had posted it in its own feed, but not... lol. Thank you again for helping me. Have a wonderful day
Thank you!
Thank You for this timely video! I amended and put straw on my raised beds last fall and was wondering if I should leave it on or take it off now. I will leave it on.I am sure glad I followed your instruction and amended the beds in the fall. I bought lots of organic straw and had trouble with the straw blowing all over my yard. I will have to come up with a solution for that this fall.
Lay large sheets of cardboard across it all. Weigh them down with blocks or bricks.
Showing how to cut and dry a multiple chited potato was extremely helpful. I did that for my first time this year and was worried that when the cut turned black after a couple days left to dry that it might be mold and render it inedible. Thank you
Thank you
I really enjoy your channel, Scott.
I have everything going really well right now. At the end up spring and summer when I amend my beds, what should I do with the layer of straw I have on my beds? Should I remove it first, or mix it into the new soil/compost? Never mind minute 9:27 you answered my question. I’ll leave this up anyway
Thankyou
Good afternoon
Gardener scott. Two things i do for a bad back. 1. Learned from 30 years of construction very rarely lift the shovel with out the support of the knee allowing resting of your on the side giving added strength. Ne er ever lift the shovel out of the earth. You can be a little less effective but try pulling shovel back one inch and turn shovel over in ground without lifting soil above ground. Way less exertion on lower back. You might need 20 extra shovel turns but your ba k will ve the better for it
Rest elbow on side of knee when lifting. And try not take shovel our of ground when turning over or mixing cement
Great video!
Definitely looking into repairing my bed boards and trying to keep them from splitting given the incredibly price of lumber. Just replaced my two oldest 4x4 beds and the lumber cost $70!!!
Vườn rau nhà anh thật rộng lớn quá
We are in the middle of Autumn prep for our beds, just working each bed over the last few weeks to swap our warm weather crops for cool weather ones. It's sad pulling out the watermelon vines, but we have now lost most of the heat and are down at the 15 to 20c temp range (59-68F). So in goes more organic material, and carrots, onions, cabbages etc. We don't really got cold until winter really hits, 1000+ chill hours and never below 0c tho lol
This year I am trying new varieties of veggies, I have the greatest hope for the Giant Japanese snow peas lol
Just a few days after I sifted compost and fine mulch nature thought she would blow most of it off with 60 mph winds. I know how frustrating losing mulch to wind can be.
Love your videos! Wish I could find straw around here but all we have is wood chips (which are good too but break down slower)
The bright side of wood chips is you don't have to test for persistent broadleaf herbicides (like aminopyralid or chlopyralid) that will kill a lot of food plants. I love wood chips. Wish I could get my hands on more.
My back hurts just seeing The Maestro working with that short handled digging fork. LoL Wonderfully thorough educational video, as always. Thank you.
I hope you are starting new composting bins because I hate to see you buying bags of compost. Great vids as usual. I am well along in my garden here in zone 9b Sacramento, I have many flowers on my tomato plants already.
My spring was in March and unfortunately I can’t let my beds rest because we plant all year. Can you touch in what we few can do to amend out beds during the growing season.(all year)???? @gardenerScott
During the season if I amend, I try to plan the bed so all (or most) of the plants are harvested at the same time, and then work in finished compost and a slow-release balanced fertilizer.
Oooh what were those two light blue/turquoise containers you showed at the start of the video? Look very handy and stylish for the garden indeed
They are troughs I turned into raised beds. Here's the video on that: th-cam.com/video/I1Sm5nU6iyY/w-d-xo.html
Hi Scott! Question for you.. if by turning over the weeds or old plants can benefit the soil, how is it possible that it won’t regrow again?
Most plants, including weeds, won't grow again when cut and buried. You need to know the plant.
Thank you for all your expert advice. Love your videos. May I ask your advice? I'm new to raised bed growing and I plan to use the hugelkulture method to fill my bed. 1/3 wood products/leaves, 1/3 top soil and 1/3 compost (Mels mix). My bed is 8x4x16". Am I on the right track? Is mushroom soil ok to use as the compost, mixed with peat moss and vermiculite? How much top soil and compost should i get? Thank you!
You're on track. Mushroom soil is different than mushroom compost, but is usually a good amendment. You really don't need vermiculite unless you need extra drainage. Aim for 25% compost for the volume of soil.
Gardner Scott, what did you do with the garden that last Fall you added compost, leaves, perlite, and peat moss. You turned so that there was only a little bit of soil on top. Now dou need to turn it and mix the layers or just sow seeds directly in it?
I covered the soil with light mulch after amending in fall. Because I mixed the ingredients in fall I'll sow and plant directly in it.
13:05 - is that case (putting to soil 1-2 months before) also with biochar?
I have seen better results with biochar that had months to inoculate naturally.
I've always been leery of using cinder blocks or galvanize metal in my vegetable garden for fear of leaching posable chemicals . Am I worried for nothing ? With the prices of lumber these days I would like to try a different type of material for my raised beds . Very nice garden area you have started Scott, Thanks for your informative video's .
In California you should have few concerns about cinder blocks leaching because they are concrete blocks, similar to a sidewalk's effect on grass. Galvanized metal might leach some zinc in acidic soil but it doesn't harm plants and is actually an element plants use. I have both galvanized metal and cinder block beds and have had no issues with plants in them.
@@GardenerScott Thanks for your reply
science behind I look forward to your history lessons science full of knowledge an wisdom education people good job
In addition to weeds, we have some wild strawberries that have suckered out and spread across the raised beds. Should we turn those over or let them go?
They won't harn anything unless they're in the way. If you're ready for them to benefit the soil, turn them in.
Can you do a video on identifying weeds and what is native weed to your most all the channels take about weeds are bad but thay don't talk about how beneficial weeds are
I started to take photos of the first leaves of stuff that comes up so I can identify it before I pull it..it really helps...but don't ask me what the names are! ha ha
I do have a video where I discuss the benefits of weeds and identify a few. I do have more weed videos planned. Thanks.
Thankyou for your time
Are you going to do a video on your spaghetti plant lol
@@GardenerScott are you going to do a video on your spaghetti plant lol 😆
You dont want Robins eating ur worms either huh? It's so painful seeing those plumb well fed robins decimate all the worms in my raised beds. But I want to get my plant starts in before i mulch. I know I could just move over the mulch and just plug them in. Probably should do that
Thank you so much for this video! I was wondering if I could plant my trans plant at her about 6 to 18 in into the garden at night? I've heard you should plant them in the morning but I didn't know why. Thank you so much!
Planting in morning or evening reduces stress on the plant. The most stress comes during the heat of the day.
@@GardenerScott thank you so much! I appreciate all you do! I have a lesion in the base of my brain I saw I messed up on some words in my post, I apologize! Ill plant my plants tonight then ❤️ thank you so so much
Gardener Scott, I recently found your channel and your videos are so immensely helpful! I'm hoping you can provide some advice. I'm realizing after watching this video that I would add compost too late in the spring. I've been adding compost to my raised beds and then sowing or planting my seedlings shortly after. I'm about four weeks away from my last frost date right now, so this weekend I plan to prep the beds in anticipation of doing most my planting in several weeks. However, it's time to sow my spinach, shortly followed by carrots. I didn't not amend my beds in the fall. Since I need to sow some seeds now, what's your recommendation for amending? Thank you!
Hi, Katy. When I amend in spring I often add a nitrogen fertilizer if the organic matter is fresh and not decomposed. The nitrogen helps in the decomposition process and ensures nutrients are available for plants. If the compost is mostly decomposed that may not be necessary with a month to go.
This video was very helpful! I'm in the Pacific NW and will bee seeding my raised beds outdoors early May. This gives me just about 6 weeks for the bed prep and they are now covered with straw. When you seed, do you add soil over the straw and seed or do you remove it completely and don't add any soil? I also watered them down but we won't get rain until 5 days from now. Should I water them again? Thanks so much!
When I seed I'll move aside the straw. Depending on the seed I'll put it in a hole and cover with soil or spread on the soil and cover lightly. As plants grow mulch is reapplied. Water regularly to keep the soil moist.
Thank you!
I'm curious what seedlings you have in the raised bed when you still are in possible frost/snow season
There are many options. Here's some: th-cam.com/video/p11ZQXg5fCs/w-d-xo.html
@@GardenerScott Thank you so much that video was a huge help. Its amazing you live in Colorado cause every time you speak of weather in your area I could swear you live in Ohio. Do you have a video to see if old seeds are still good?
@@jend7103 I do. Here it is: th-cam.com/video/lL4zSCSIqBI/w-d-xo.html
I'm having trouble with my beds pooling in low spots and water running to corners. My husband leveled all the beds when making them but I didn't level the soil well, obviously. Do you have a video that shows how to level the soil and make sure the soil in the beds is level after they have settled? Thanks!
I don't have a video on that. With level beds I just move the soil so that it is the same distance from the surface to the top of the bed in all directions.
Do you turn the old growth , leaving roots on the unwanted plants?
It depends on the plants. I turn in most old growth and smaller roots. I pull big roots of bigger plants like tomatoes and peppers.
is it ok for using pre treated lumber for the raised bed. not the board that is touching the ground but the board above it
Yes it is. I explain more in this video: th-cam.com/video/6fu4TIMWaH4/w-d-xo.html
Hi Gardener Scott! Last fall we took all the leaves from our trees and put them in a round chicken wire pen ( I didn’t shred them). If I wanted to use them as mulch on my raised beds, could I shred them now and place them in the beds once I have plants planted?
Sure. They may be partially decomposed which can make for a good mulch.
Scott what about your early/cool season beds? I'm on the Colorado Front Range as well and cool season planting is tough with 70 -80 degree days followed by 15 degree and snow.
I made removable 'greenhouse tops' for a few of my raised beds here in a Canada. I have my lettuce, spinach, beets, bok Choy etc. growing in them. We just had a deep freeze of - 15 overnight and snow. I covered the plants with straw and a thermal blanket under the top and all are doing good! Weather went up a bit so I took the blanket and most of the straw off today 👍🏼
It is tough. I often cover the early beds with hoops and plastic, but it requires extra effort to open and vent the plastic on hot days. With the crazy heat this year I'm not covering the beds and hoping the plants survive the drastic lows.
I used a bale of straw I bought from the garden store as top mulch. It sprouted grass all over the bed, and was a nightmare to pull out. Is their a specific type of straw I should buy? thanks, love your videos.
I had that same problem last year. It used to be that straw bales were mostly stalks but now they seem to have more seed heads. Looking closely at the bales can give an idea of its quality.
@@GardenerScott thank you
I have a question. I added grass clippings and straw back in the end of fall and there is still a good top layer of straw on my beds. We are entering spring now and want to know what to do with the layer of straw? Should I work the straw into the soil? Scrape it off before sowing seeds? Or put a layer of topsoil/compost on top of it and then sow the seeds when it’s time? Some of my beds need more soil in them so I am not sure what step to take to adding more soil to them as well. Thank you.
You can work it into the soil for extra organic matter. Or you can move it aside, add compost, start seeds, and spread the straw back as the plants grow. If I amended the bed in fall, I do that. If I'm amending in spring I like to add compost and mix it into the soil along with the straw and grass. It will take a few months for it to break down so if you plant early you may need nitrogen fertilizer to aid the decomposition.
Hey so I’m building some garden beds for tomatoes and peppers and I’m not sure what kind of dirt to put in them. Would a top soil and compost mixture 75/25 do? I’m sure you have a video talking about this but can’t seem to find it since you have so many videos which I LOVE.
That basic mix can be a good way to start.
I started no-dig gardening in my raised beds. Last fall I added a couple of inches of homemade compost and topped with shredded leaves. I have just received some 6 yr old cow manure. Much of the leaves remain. Would you suggest I add some of this manure over top of the leaves or should I remove leaves and add manure or would it be too much to plant into the manure and best to wait to add it in the fall? Your thoughts please.
While I like leaves as a mulch, they can cause nitrogen depletion when buried. I suggest pulling them aside, adding a light layer of manure, and then spread them on top again. In fall you can turn all of it into the soil.
What type of straw should we add (or how to prep it so it doesn’t grow weeds) I like to stay organic, however one year I added alfalfa straw and weeds grew like crazy!
Organic is great but I use what is available in my ranch supply store.
Is "dirty mulch" ok to cover my newly filled gardens? I had bushes ground up and then I removed all the chippy soil, replacing it with soil that grass will grow in.
The dirty mulch I removed is just sitting unused in my yard.
I'm not sure what you mean by dirty mulch but if it's all organic matter it should be okay.
@@GardenerScott mostly dirt with wood chips mixed in
R Yzerman 😊
Last fall I put lots of dried leaves on my garden bed with a tarp on it. The leaves are still on my bed. Should I turn them with the compost or take away the leaves ?
I would consider keeping them as mulch. You can move them aside when planting and return them with plants in the ground.
@@GardenerScott I will do that thank you
Is dog poop detrimental to the soil where one wants to grow a vegetable garden?
It might be. It doesn't negatively affect the soil, but it can have pathogens that can harm people and isn't recommended in a vegetable garden.
Will the white mold that forms on the peat pots hurt my tomato seedlings?
It won't.
Hi there Scott, just watched your video, new subscriber.
Question for you, the cinder block raised bed. Is it food safe, with the cinder blocks? Thanks for the video.
Hi, Joanne. Welcome to the channel. The concrete blocks are safe for growing edible plants.
Hey Gardener Scott. What would you recommend for irrigation in a raised bed? Used your videos to get an 8x4 put together but I'm not sure if I should manually hose water or do drip irrigation? Thanks!
I prefer hand watering so that I can see my plants every day. Soaker hoses can be a good option. I don't use drip irrigation in my vegetable garden because I grow different plants in the beds over the course of a season.
@@GardenerScott thanks Scott! I'll probably do the same
Is there a chance of overcomposting?
Compost can reach a point where nutrients are lost to the atmosphere or leached out if the pile decomposes too long.
Scott, do you use green manure (siderates) ? If so, which plants should be used for this?
I do. Most recently I grew winter rye over the winter. And I grow hairy vetch every year. This year I'm thinking of adding some clover and field peas. There are many other options. Here's a site with some seeds options: www.pjtra.com/t/2-452104-242240-153185
@@GardenerScott Thank you very much for your reply! I'm just watching your compost video. I have a small backyard and I use container plantings - this year I decided to add mustard as a siderat and was a little hesitant :))
For a new raised bed what kind of soil is best and what ratio to compost mix? I used mostly compost and it will not hold water. After a good watering I can dig down two inches and it is still dry. Thanks.
Native soil amended with organic matter is often best. Mixing 25% compost is a good start. You may need to start the season with a good soaking and then water just to maintain the moisture.
@@GardenerScott Thanks. I have about 75% compost and the rest raised bed soil. Should I take half out and put it in more soil? 4'x8'x8"beds.
You can add more soil or wait for the compost to decompose further.
@@GardenerScott Thank you.
I only have one raised bed. What should I plant next to each other
And what should not be next to each other???
I have other videos that discuss plant selection. I suggest growing what you want to eat and that have similar water needs within the bed.
You told us on the other video, mulches will keep the soil cool and it’s better to remove the mulch close to planting time to warm your soils. Now after you amended it you cover it up with mulch, I am confused and you’re making it hard. By the way, I enjoy gardening
It’s not hard. He mulched now because he has 6 more weeks before planting and wants to keep the moisture and nutrients where it belongs in the soil. If the ground isn’t warming up in time, he will remove it closer to planting time.
This mulch cover is just to allow the beds to rest before planting. For the beds I planted or will plant soon I remove the mulch, or don't add it, so the bare soil warms up as you see in the video.
Should I also add worm castings or bone meal into my compost when amending my soil in spring? Or just add compost alone ? what about alfalfa as a amendment also?
Worm castings are always good but bone meal is only necessary if you need phosphorus. Compost and alfalfa are good amendments.