9 Beginner Raised Bed Garden Mistakes to Avoid
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Date: 2022-07-18
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Comments and reviews: 15
Katie
I love how you do layers of veggies from shortest to tallest. Ive never thought of that before and will be using it in the future. Question: Do you use citrus peels in your compost? Some say yes and some absolutely not but wont ever give me a reason why? The reason I ask is my family loves oranges but I dont know if I should use it in my compost. Also, I have 3 gorgeous hydrangeas. One is purple, one is blue, and I found this amazingly vibrant hot pink one that the lady at the farmers market grows. I asked her what the secret to keep the hot pink flowers and she told me lime juice and the rinds of the limes. My hot pink one is still fairly new to me but since no one can give me an answer if citrus is good in compost Im not having to keep a regular compost and a citrus compost (still being to scared to use the orange peels. What is your theory on citrus in your regular compost?
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I love how you do layers of veggies from shortest to tallest. Ive never thought of that before and will be using it in the future. Question: Do you use citrus peels in your compost? Some say yes and some absolutely not but wont ever give me a reason why? The reason I ask is my family loves oranges but I dont know if I should use it in my compost. Also, I have 3 gorgeous hydrangeas. One is purple, one is blue, and I found this amazingly vibrant hot pink one that the lady at the farmers market grows. I asked her what the secret to keep the hot pink flowers and she told me lime juice and the rinds of the limes. My hot pink one is still fairly new to me but since no one can give me an answer if citrus is good in compost Im not having to keep a regular compost and a citrus compost (still being to scared to use the orange peels. What is your theory on citrus in your regular compost?
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Andrew
I planted many trees years ago around the border of my yard for privacy, shade and noise abatement. Years later I made 6 4x8 garden boxes south side of the house and a built a nice greenhouse. Lived in the house for 22 years and now the trees are doing there job especially in the shade department as some of the boxes used to get full sun now get partial which really changes what you can plant. I moved one box as a burr oak basically blocked it out of the sun. I love my trees so I cant trim them down. The nice thing is boxes can be moved. I would add to your list that over time trees might grow and shade out some garden locations. I really enjoy your videos keep up the good work!
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I planted many trees years ago around the border of my yard for privacy, shade and noise abatement. Years later I made 6 4x8 garden boxes south side of the house and a built a nice greenhouse. Lived in the house for 22 years and now the trees are doing there job especially in the shade department as some of the boxes used to get full sun now get partial which really changes what you can plant. I moved one box as a burr oak basically blocked it out of the sun. I love my trees so I cant trim them down. The nice thing is boxes can be moved. I would add to your list that over time trees might grow and shade out some garden locations. I really enjoy your videos keep up the good work!
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Clarity
I love all these tips! We live at 7500ft in Colorado where the sun is INTENSE! Could I use your mistake of shading the shorter plants to my advantage? Could I plant tall plants on the south side of the bed to help shade my shorter, more delicate plants such as lettuce? Or should I try to shade the from the hotter setting sun, by putting taller plants on the west side of the planter? People are telling me to shade my garden with a shade cloth, but that is going to be challenging and expensive - I'd rather work with nature for shade.
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I love all these tips! We live at 7500ft in Colorado where the sun is INTENSE! Could I use your mistake of shading the shorter plants to my advantage? Could I plant tall plants on the south side of the bed to help shade my shorter, more delicate plants such as lettuce? Or should I try to shade the from the hotter setting sun, by putting taller plants on the west side of the planter? People are telling me to shade my garden with a shade cloth, but that is going to be challenging and expensive - I'd rather work with nature for shade.
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Zoe
Companion gardening is a great way to utilize small raised beds. Plants have good friends - like the commonly known Tomatoes love carrots. I take your point on graduating the plants for proper sun exposure. Add to that the plants that like to be/grow near their friends is taking the point to the next level, I think. The other point is plant pollinators. I'm sure you know this, but hearty pollinators for your gardening zone look good and create a happier garden. In the PNW we use nasturtiums, calendula and clover cover crops.
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Companion gardening is a great way to utilize small raised beds. Plants have good friends - like the commonly known Tomatoes love carrots. I take your point on graduating the plants for proper sun exposure. Add to that the plants that like to be/grow near their friends is taking the point to the next level, I think. The other point is plant pollinators. I'm sure you know this, but hearty pollinators for your gardening zone look good and create a happier garden. In the PNW we use nasturtiums, calendula and clover cover crops.
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Victoria
Totally made the soil mistake. I put too much faith in the quality of my local gardener's store raised bed mix. My plants were all super nitrogen deficient! They were very yellow and stunted, but I noticed in time so I was able to amend it by adding dilute urine a few times. This fall I plan to add some high quality compost and mulch to help improve the soil quality for next year. A disappointing mistake, to be sure, but glad it was something I could correct in time to still have a productive garden this year!
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Totally made the soil mistake. I put too much faith in the quality of my local gardener's store raised bed mix. My plants were all super nitrogen deficient! They were very yellow and stunted, but I noticed in time so I was able to amend it by adding dilute urine a few times. This fall I plan to add some high quality compost and mulch to help improve the soil quality for next year. A disappointing mistake, to be sure, but glad it was something I could correct in time to still have a productive garden this year!
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Leo
Thank you so much, Kevin! I have always had problems growing vegetables outside. I live in Northern California but didn't grow up here; I grew up in a Chicago suburb, where the climate and soil are so different. But, after watching many of your videos and this one about raised beds in particular, I have beautiful tall productive tomato plants! It is a miracle to me. Soil structure is so important and I did everything you talked about. Thank you very much!
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Thank you so much, Kevin! I have always had problems growing vegetables outside. I live in Northern California but didn't grow up here; I grew up in a Chicago suburb, where the climate and soil are so different. But, after watching many of your videos and this one about raised beds in particular, I have beautiful tall productive tomato plants! It is a miracle to me. Soil structure is so important and I did everything you talked about. Thank you very much!
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2btpatch
Thanks for your helpful tips! One thing I would recommend is to put plants with similar nutrient needs in the same raised bed or container. I made the mistake of planting morning glory flowers in the same container as my leafy herbs. I fertilized to support the herbs with a nitrogen-rich fertilizer. They did amazingly, but the morning glories put out a profusion of green leaves, climbed to the roof of my deck and did not produce a single flower!
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Thanks for your helpful tips! One thing I would recommend is to put plants with similar nutrient needs in the same raised bed or container. I made the mistake of planting morning glory flowers in the same container as my leafy herbs. I fertilized to support the herbs with a nitrogen-rich fertilizer. They did amazingly, but the morning glories put out a profusion of green leaves, climbed to the roof of my deck and did not produce a single flower!
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Nini
I have been gardening with my dad since I was about 7 or 8, helping with the strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, etc. I started to upgrade and had about 10 plants that I crammed in my room. There is a huge window in my room so they all did pretty well. Now Im starting to grow my own fruits and vegetables in my own garden! My goal is to study botany in college and to become a botanist! You videos have helped a lot. Keep doing what you do Kevin
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I have been gardening with my dad since I was about 7 or 8, helping with the strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, etc. I started to upgrade and had about 10 plants that I crammed in my room. There is a huge window in my room so they all did pretty well. Now Im starting to grow my own fruits and vegetables in my own garden! My goal is to study botany in college and to become a botanist! You videos have helped a lot. Keep doing what you do Kevin
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Jeremy
Awesome thanks! I'm fairly new to this but grandparents taught me a lil ol school stuff when I was younger. I'm gonna watch all these vids and learn this! I really want to learn how and be self sufficient especially these days when groceries are so high and shortages are just getting worse and worse unfortunately. I want to grow the basics for my family! Thanks from Houston TX!
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Awesome thanks! I'm fairly new to this but grandparents taught me a lil ol school stuff when I was younger. I'm gonna watch all these vids and learn this! I really want to learn how and be self sufficient especially these days when groceries are so high and shortages are just getting worse and worse unfortunately. I want to grow the basics for my family! Thanks from Houston TX!
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Quinn
I've built a couple of different types of raised beds which I still use, but just ordered my first Birdies 6-in-1's from you and am looking forward to setting them up! One thing I do a bit differently from you is allowing more space between beds as I always want to be able to get a garden cart or wheelbarrow (or even a camp chair) between the beds and on my garden paths: )
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I've built a couple of different types of raised beds which I still use, but just ordered my first Birdies 6-in-1's from you and am looking forward to setting them up! One thing I do a bit differently from you is allowing more space between beds as I always want to be able to get a garden cart or wheelbarrow (or even a camp chair) between the beds and on my garden paths: )
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jane
I have another tip for you. Rotation of crops. Plant use different nutrients out of the ground so you find what plant uses this nutrient and then which plant and puts that nutrients back in by decomposing or whatever. You can also dont turn the soil. You want to get a natural circle going and we have the right worms in there. This way you dont need store fertilizer.
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I have another tip for you. Rotation of crops. Plant use different nutrients out of the ground so you find what plant uses this nutrient and then which plant and puts that nutrients back in by decomposing or whatever. You can also dont turn the soil. You want to get a natural circle going and we have the right worms in there. This way you dont need store fertilizer.
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Thermalburn
In an urban environment what is the recommended way of getting rid of soil? I have some raised gardens that I filled with soil about 2 years ago, but due to some life circumstances I was unable to plant anything. Now I'm finally going to start, but I need to refresh my soil as they've been beaten down by the sun for 2 years and abused by various wildlife.
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In an urban environment what is the recommended way of getting rid of soil? I have some raised gardens that I filled with soil about 2 years ago, but due to some life circumstances I was unable to plant anything. Now I'm finally going to start, but I need to refresh my soil as they've been beaten down by the sun for 2 years and abused by various wildlife.
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Serif
Make your own mix. Peat moss and mushroom compost. Get the composts that look like black crumbly soil with little fluff (your peat moss is your fluff.
Also, don't grow corn. Corn is a grass that relies on vast numbers of plants to fertilize and grow decent harvests. You really, really, really need fields for it. It's one of the few crops that are like that.
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Make your own mix. Peat moss and mushroom compost. Get the composts that look like black crumbly soil with little fluff (your peat moss is your fluff.
Also, don't grow corn. Corn is a grass that relies on vast numbers of plants to fertilize and grow decent harvests. You really, really, really need fields for it. It's one of the few crops that are like that.
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Nancy
Great vids! Thanks. Do you talk about bugs, slugs, etc? Can be very challenging. And also I noticed you called chard perennial in one of your videos, maybe it's perennial in San Diego? We get one season in the Northeast from Chard, Kale, Collards, etc, although some are very good at reseeding so lots of volunteers pop up in the spring.
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Great vids! Thanks. Do you talk about bugs, slugs, etc? Can be very challenging. And also I noticed you called chard perennial in one of your videos, maybe it's perennial in San Diego? We get one season in the Northeast from Chard, Kale, Collards, etc, although some are very good at reseeding so lots of volunteers pop up in the spring.
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Mandy
Your videos are so helpful! I was wondering if you could make a video to go more in depth about how to winterize and amend soil - you talk about it in this video and I get the concept of winterizing soil (great to know) but Im not sure how to amend soil and some examples of how to do that would be super helpful, thank you!
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Your videos are so helpful! I was wondering if you could make a video to go more in depth about how to winterize and amend soil - you talk about it in this video and I get the concept of winterizing soil (great to know) but Im not sure how to amend soil and some examples of how to do that would be super helpful, thank you!
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