When to build a new raised garden

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M

MFC

New Member
Hi - I want to put in a raised bed garden. Should I put it in this fall or wait till next spring?
If I put it in this fall can I plant anything now to leave over the winter?
I'm in central Ohio - zone 5 in the seed and plant maps.
 
We have some other Buckeyes on here that can probably give you a good answer. My thought would be that you could plant garlic in the fall. Were I to do thet here, I would cover the top of a raised bed with material from our horse stall. That would allow degradation through the winter and enrich the soil. Your winters are more severe than we have here in Oregon.
 
The answer is yes, and no to answer whether you can plant as soon as you build your raised bed.
You will need to let the soil settle before you can plant!
That is, if you do not tramp the soil down as you add it to the raise bed!
Tramping it down will help settle the soil, but will not help in creating a soil structure with all the various organisms components such as bacteria, worms and ants....!
The freeze/thaw cycle also helps create a soil structure and helps the soil nutrient cycle to set itself within the soil!
The only things I would plant this fall would be things such as spring bulbs!
Just remember that the soil level will drop after all the rain and winter snows tramp down and forces out unwanted air pockets in the soil!
Remember to add as much organic matter to any topsoil you will be using!
A good ratio would be equal amounts of topsoil, compost, well aged manure and peat moss!
 
reply

Thanks for the info

RonsGarden said:
The answer is yes, and no to answer whether you can plant as soon as you build your raised bed.
You will need to let the soil settle before you can plant!
That is, if you do not tramp the soil down as you add it to the raise bed!
Tramping it down will help settle the soil, but will not help in creating a soil structure with all the various organisms components such as bacteria, worms and ants....!
The freeze/thaw cycle also helps create a soil structure and helps the soil nutrient cycle to set itself within the soil!
The only things I would plant this fall would be things such as spring bulbs!
Just remember that the soil level will drop after all the rain and winter snows tramp down and forces out unwanted air pockets in the soil!
Remember to add as much organic matter to any topsoil you will be using!
A good ratio would be equal amounts of topsoil, compost, well aged manure and peat moss!
Click to expand...
 
MFC, I'm pretty new at gardening, but I have been real sucessful with raised beds. I live in middle tn., and all my gardening, including flowers and veggies are in raised beds , The Lasagna garden style where I layer all materials, including horse and cow manure, straw, old hay, some lime, some peat moss, grass clippings, mulched leaves just about anything except meat products. I am in the process of building several new beds for the coming spring. I will build them up from 18 inches high to 24 inches high. By next spring they will be about 6 to 8 inches high, and ready to plant. Ron and all the rest on here are really helpful and I'm sure they will be a big help to you as they were and still are to me. without these people on here I would be a "lost Dog"in the garden!!
 
It would be a no brainer to start building a raised garden bed if the solid in your area is poor. The basic idea is that instead of battling against poor soil conditions, you build above ground, where you exhibit control over everything from texture to using the ingredients that you prefer to appear. You get a pretty good advantage during the spring season as you allow them to warm quicker; enabling plantation earlier.
 
I also have a question related to this topic. How many days or weeks after the snow has melted for me to be able to start planting on my garden?
 
That all depends on the soil temperature and what you are planting. If it is potatoes or onions or peas as soon as the soil can be worked. tomatoes will require a much higher soil temperature. see what I mean?
 
MFC, Welcome! Glad you found us.

For Trist & MFC

Sounds like you both are interested in raised gardening. A few basics no matter what your zone.

Light, water, food.
Place your beds where you will get at least 6-8 hours of daylight. 12 hours is optimal but not always possible especailly in some seasons.

Make sure you have good drainage. You do not want your plants sitting in "soup". It will root roots and cause diseases.

Food, wether organic or man made you must supply the nutrients needed. Compost is easy and free and does a wonderful job of building poor soils.
This link is pictures of raised beds my husband builds for our neighbors. It is about $300 in materials, But they have proven well worth the cost.

http://www.gardenforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2088&highlight=Raised+beds

Good luck and keep us posted on what your progress is.
 
I just got through today (did'nt take all day) building a 38 inch wide x 50 foot long lasagna bed. All my flower beds and veggie beds are lasagna bed which are raised beds. some I build 4 sides 4x6 or 4x8 but some I dont use sides. I just mound it up. I start out with newspaper, wetted down anout 5 layers. I dont dig up any grass or weeds just cover them woth newspaper. then I put down leaf mold, which I have plenty because I have woods on my property. then I put down a 3inch layer of grass clippings, then horse manure, them more leaf mold, then old hay, then leaf mold , then straw, and so on until the bed is about 20 to 24 inches high. I have planted in this just as soon as I have finished, and every thing did quiet well. The one I built today will sit all winter, this is to be my tomato bed for next yr. ,
This is just my way and it works for me.
Errol
 
here are some pics of my new lasagna bed, measures 38" wide x 50 feet long, this is the new tomatoe bed for 2012. it is 22" high, I dig an 8" wide x 3" deep trench down each side, this acts as a border and also catches alot of rain water. two lasagna beds with day lillies that was made this past march and was planted in the same day, there are 2 new lasagna beds that has purple iris's, and one bed with the reblooming iris's. none has sides, I perfer just mounding lasagna beds. I have 5 square foot garden beds. they did ok but will work you to dealth trying to keep watered, So I am going to convert these over to lasagna beds and will keep the sides on them.

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thanks Randy & Ron. It is lots if work but lots of pleasure also. I have to give much credit to reading garden books and to this forum for I knew very little about gardening before retirement. Always was to busy making a living. Now its "play time"!
I'm going to try my hand at winter sowing in a couple months so wish me luck.
thanks again
Errol
 
Good idea. I tried planting peas here in the fall one year. They germinated, but they stopped growing after that. It was apparently too cold for them to grow on to maturity.
 
Randy said:
Good idea. I tried planting peas here in the fall one year. They germinated, but they stopped growing after that. It was apparently too cold for them to grow on to maturity.
Click to expand...

Randy I planted peas just in the middle of spring between April to May. They grew up to be healthy and they produced plenty of seed pods. I suggest you plant them in spring so that you can harvest them by summer until fall. :)
 
I did that too. Actually, I planted them about the end of February. They did very well at that time, but there were enough people on the forum talking about fall planting that I thought I would try for a second crop. It didn't happen.
 
WOW your lasagna beds look great ...this is how i garden also ... layering/lasagna gardening....Just love the fact I just have to dig a hole for the most part and not till much at all after a few years...still getting beds built up here...Enjoy your beds ...look forward to seeing pic's of plants growing in them
 
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