Everything you need to know about building and starting a raised garden bed! This post will help you begin with confidence!
Are you trying to redesign your outdoor space with limited fund? Check out our inexpensive raised garden bed ideas for new inspiration!
Learn how to build super easy, fast, and attractive raised garden beds! This is a 30-minute DIY project & is perfect for growing your own vegetable garden!
How to Make a Raised Garden Bed Cover With Hinges: This Instructable will take you through the process of making hinged covers for your raised garden beds. This will help you keep all the wildlife out of your garden and prevent them from eating all your plants. A bunch of my plants that were well …
Get the inspiration & know-how to build your own raised garden bed with these six inexpensive raised garden bed ideas!
Learn which flowers should be planted in your vegetable garden. Companion planting flowers and vegetables, yeilds better, healthier plants.
Come check out my lazy girls guide to growing colorful zinnias from seeds. Tips and tricks in one spot to help you create a cut flower garden!
Once you have assembled your Vego organic gardening raised beds, the next task is filling the raised garden beds before planting. One of the most common questions we get from new gardeners is how to fill a new raised bed and still save money. There are many different methods out there that work well! From our experience, the Hugelkultur method is the easiest and most cost-efficient method to use. Summary Hugelkultur is the process of layering organic garden waste inside the raised garden bed, before adding soil to save on costs, in addition to attracting and preserving moisture. Of German origin, hugelkultur translates to “mound or hill culture.” It is especially applicable in areas where soil retention and drainage are poor, which is typical of soils found in urban areas. The materials used include large rotting logs, sticks and other debris that are layered with grass clippings, coffee grounds, compost, and other organic matter. As the material breaks down, it creates a flourishing environment for beneficial fungi and microbes that mimics the natural landscape of a forest. There are many advantages to the Hugelkultur method, including soil quality improvement, minimal maintenance, and water retention. The Hugelkultur Method to Fill Raised Garden Beds To create a bountiful garden bed, organic matter such as rotted hay, plant waste, and compost is added to the soil. Wood debris decomposes slowly, making it a stable source of organic matter. The optimal kind of wood used is one that is starting to rot, which can be obtained from branches cut from a dead tree or logs from an abandoned wood pile. This organic matter will decompose over time, and plant roots will travel deeper into the raised garden bed soil to obtain the nutrition. It will also work as a big sponge, retaining water to maintain an ideal moisture level. In the Hugelkultur method, for filling a raised garden bed, the large pieces are laid at the bottom as they will take the longest time to decompose. In the picture above, the piling logs may take up to 5 years before the base sponge breaks down into rich, wonderful raised garden bed soil. The smaller pieces are placed on top of the larger pieces to fill space, such as branches and sticks, and then grass clippings, leaves and kitchen scraps. Compost and topsoil are on the top two layers for your raised garden bed so you can start planting as the organic matter beneath decomposes. Some Considerations While Filling a Raised Garden Bed Using Hugelkultur Method Pests: Something to be aware of are termites, especially if you live in a wooded area with a high termite distribution, which can be attracted to the large amount of buried wood. However, most termites tend to live in dead trees that are still standing, rather than buried logs found in hugel beds. Garlic can be grown for pest control. Make sure to be vigilant against pests such as slugs, snails, and pill bugs. You can use organic pest control such as beer traps if slugs become a problem. Various Hugelkultur Methods: The classic method requires you to dig a deep trench around 2 meters and fill it with large logs, adding progressively more logs until it becomes mound-shaped. Most gardeners dig a shallower trench that is about 1 meter. Vego raised garden beds provide a convenient alternative that only requires you to fill the container on the ground with the appropriate contents. They provide structural integrity through an enclosed terrain that is easy to manage and will last for many years, making it the perfect framework. That way, you don’t have to spend time digging a trench or placing a fence around it, which can be burdensome and labor intensive. Additionally, it is more aesthetically pleasing than just a mound on the ground, which is unsightly to some. Wood Type: The right type of wood is important to consider. Hardwoods are recommended as they break down more slowly and hold water longer. However, softwoods are also acceptable. The woods that work best include birch, alder, maple, cottonwood, willow and oak. Avoid allelopathic trees like black walnut, red oak, and sycamore, as they contain chemicals that inhibit plant growth, as well as rot resistant trees like black cherry and black locust. Preparation: Be sure to add a fresh layer of compost on top prior to planting. The combined layers of organic material above the wood should be as deep as the wood base. This means a 30" bed can have up to 15" wood in it, while a 15" bed will have 6" wood to allow enough space for the growing medium. Moisture Levels: Maintaining moisture is an important aspect of hugel garden beds, as dryness is a commonly reported issue. Therefore, it is important to shift the soil into crevices to eliminate any dry pockets. One way to accomplish this is to continuously water the bed during construction to make sure there are no gaps. You should also use a good quality organic mix soil, which improves water retention. productarticletag_emailll[email]emailll_productarticletag Hulgelkultur Method Advantages Using the Hugelkultur method for filling raised garden beds has many advantages and has been proven to work. If you are seeking to cut down on costs, or looking for a sustainable gardening technique, then this method is for you. The vertical nature of the mound helps maximize surface area, which is useful in compacted, urban areas. Therefore, it is a method that is suitable for farmers, gardeners, and homeowners. Cost Efficient: Buying bags of soil from a store is quite costly, which can amount to over a hundred dollars for large garden beds. The Hugelkultur method turns garden and kitchen waste into useful material for filling raised garden beds, allowing you to save a substantial amount of money. You can also repurpose fallen tree branches or dead branches cut from trees instead of carting them away or burning them. The organic waste will decompose over the years, enriching the soil and providing steady nutrition for plants to use. Environmentally Friendly: When branches are burned, gasses and nutrients are released into the atmosphere, which contributes to global warming. By retaining them in the ground, they undergo carbon sequestration, a process that reverses CO2 pollution and mitigates climate change. Water Retention: Hugelkultur tends to hold water very well since the garden waste works as a sponge to hold moisture, releasing rainwater into the soil during dry seasons. This allows gardeners to save on water costs by reducing the frequency of watering. In addition, you don’t have to worry about overwatering your plants to the point they become waterlogged, which is detrimental to root growth and can choke out oxygen. Soil Temperature: While compost is decomposed by bacteria, hugel beds are primarily decomposed by fungi. As the organic matters decompose, they will heat up and create a microclimate under the plants, and warm the raised garden bed soil, which can be very helpful in colder climates. Soil Improvement: Hugelkultur also creates a mini biosphere consisting of microorganisms, fungi, and insects, emulating the natural landscape of a forest, with its spongy, nutrient rich soil teeming with microorganisms. Because the soil is naturally aerated, it employs a gardening technique known as no-till gardening. Plants grown in this manner are more resilient to disease, pests, and environmental stressors. They are also more flavorful due to the abundant nutrients. Minimal Maintenance: Although the initial setup takes some effort and preparation, there is not a lot of maintenance involved in these garden beds once they have been constructed. You only need to minimally maintain the garden bed by occasionally adding a couple inches of compost and fertilizers to the top to replenish it. They also require minimal weeding compared to conventional beds. Below is diagram for Hugelkultur in our Extra Tall 32" Raised Garden beds. You can use the same concept to fill your 17" tall garden beds or any other beds. You can build the garden in a sunny or shady location. Hugel beds are very versatile and can support many types of plants, including vegetables, herbs, and fruits. Make sure to match the plant to the appropriate growing conditions. Vegetables grow best when exposed to full sun. Greens like lettuce and spinach and root crops like carrots and beets will tolerate partial shade. You should try to plant a wide variety of crops, including both perennial and annual plants, as diversity offers more opportunities to harvest and results in a more plentiful yield. It is important to note that root vegetables such as carrots may have difficulty growing in Hugelkultur beds due to the depth requirement of at least a foot of soil. Tubers like potatoes can also disrupt the structure. For more detailed information, consult plant tags and garden catalogues for the climate requirements of other plants you plan to grow in your Hugelkultur garden. productarticletag_article[academy/difference-between-garden-soil-and-raised-bed-soil,academy/how-much-soil-do-i-need-for-a-raised-garden-bed,articles/how-deep-should-raised-garden-beds-be]article_productarticletag
28 Best DIY raised bed garden ideas: easy tutorials & designs to build raised beds or vegetable & flower garden box planters with inexpensive materials!
Starting a vegetable garden such as a Victory Garden of the past will ensure you have fresh vegetables. We needed to get started right away, so we decided to build some raised garden beds with reclaimed wood from pallets. Growing your vegetables is both healthy and delicious, but what to grow? We started by planning
raised beds, raised beds on a slope, vegetable garden, building project, diyDesignFanatic.com
Want to learn how to cover a raised garden bed to protect your crops from pest or extend your growing season? Check out this post with helpful tutorial.
Here are the 10 best flowers for vegetable gardens. I bet you grow most of these seeds and flowers in your garden already! Start planting these flowers today!
So you want to start a cut flower garden but you're not sure where to start? Check out this post for my tips and tricks to get you started!
See how to rejuvenate and recharge your raised bed soil this fall and bring it back to life to grow better than ever next year!
Are you planning on making cinder blocks? There are a lot of options when it comes to the material used to build garden projects. Apart from using wood,
These long-lived perennials are all low-maintenance plants with beautiful flowers that you'll enjoy in your garden for many years to come!
Follow these step-by-step directions to build your own cold frame to fit over your raised garden bed and protect your plants from frost and snow in winter.
Learn how to install an easy, automated raised bed drip irrigation system connected to tap or faucet. Step-by-step video included!
If you're planning a raised bed garden for the first time or adding to your existing beds, avoid these 7 mistakes common in raised bed gardening.
Learn how to refresh the soil in raised beds for the next time you plant, fast and simple! In this video, you will also find a complete guide to explain what NPK fertilizers are and how you can use...
If you're thinking about putting in raised beds this year, save yourself some major headaches and read this article first.
1.
Get the inspiration & know-how to build your own raised garden bed with these six inexpensive raised garden bed ideas!
It's never too late to plant seeds in the garden - except when it is covered by snow! Let's not skip seasons too rapidly though, we are still in the abundant harvest of autumn. There
Learn everything you need to know about planting flowers in raised beds! Choose the perfect blooms to attract pollinators and add beauty and color all season long.
How to fill a raised bed without having to use lots of new compost. That will feed your new plants and seedlings.
There are benefits of using raised garden beds but with time and experience the negative aspects started to outweigh the positives.
If you're adding a new raised garden bed, you may wonder if you need to line it and how you should fill the bottom. Here are your options.
Building raised garden beds is an easy, cost effective way to grow fruits & veggies. Follow this simple how-to raised garden bed tutorial.
Learn the advantages of using cover crops in raised beds or any home garden. How to cover crops work and what are the best choices for your home garden. Improve crop yields tremendously.
how to DIY garden bed cover for your raised bed to protect your vegetables from animals. DIY garden cover witth chicken wire for a garden enclosure with fence.
Ever wonder the best way to go about planting potatoes in a raised garden bed? Here is a solution that I've come up with over the years for a simple, easy way to get the most
How to naturally kill cucumber beetles and keep them out of your garden! This easy method uses just 1 ingredient and always works for me.
As a beginning gardener, Melissa K. Norris gave me helpful gardening information at the basic level I needed. Today she talks with me all things gardening.
Click for an up close look at this potager design layout for a raised bed vegetable garden. The detailed diagrams have great examples of companion planting and intercropping.
Learn easy ways to fill a raised garden bed organically that won't cost you very much money!
Learn how to grow, harvest, and prepare okra - A delicious, healthy addition to your diet and a beautiful addition to the garden.