by Amanda Moon
Many of us living in Central Texas have accepted the fact that a garden of beautifully tilled rows and furrows is an unattainable dream. If we have soil at all it is usually quite shallow (mine is 4 inches, then caliche) or full of basketball-sized rocks. This is not mid-western gardening folks!
Our solution is to build up and create raised beds in which to grow our veggies. We put good money and hard labor into building these, but often can’t quite achieve the results that we’re hoping for. The soil dries out too quickly, or becomes hard and unmanageable; plants grow to only a fraction of the size that they should.
Raised beds are a necessity here in Central Texas, but they can be a real pain when not planned and executed properly.
One of the biggest problems is that they dry out too quickly. This is due to several reasons including lack of mulch, breaks in the raised bed structure, improper soil, and an uneven surface.
When you create a new raised bed, make sure that you have good drainage at the bottom, and make sure the sides of the bed are as close to being water-tight as possible, or water will seep out of the sides and be wasted.
Also you need to be sure that the raised bed is as level as possible; even a slight slope can pool water on just one end and lead to stunted, dry plants at the top.
The soil that you use should be on the lighter side. Too much top soil or heavy sand can cause the bed to dry out too fast and become compact, making it tough for the plants to grow and seeds to sprout. Also make your new bed at least one foot high; 18 inches is better.
After you have planted your raised bed, mulch and proper watering are critical for healthy plant growth. Vegetables need constant moisture (not soggy wet, but evenly moist) to grow and produce.
After transplants have been dug in and the seeds have sprouted, run soaker hoses throughout the bed, pinning them down with landscape pins. Cover with a layer of mulch. Newspaper, weed and herbicide/chemical-free hay and pinestraw are great mulch options as they will compost down over the season, adding to the garden soil, but keeping moisture in at the same time.
Raised beds need to be watered at least several times per week in the spring and at least every other day in the summer. This is more than regular gardens. A timer is a good tool to have to make sure that you get enough water on the garden without watering the neighbors’ too.
Harvesting and weed control are also concerns with raised beds, and should be thought through before you begin construction.
When building your raised bed, make it no wider that twice your reach (about 5 feet give or take). That way you can reach the center of the bed to harvest without having to climb into it. The length can be whatever the space allows.
To control weeds, first try to kill as many as possible before building the bed. This is especially true for bermuda grass and nutsedge. (Keep in mind that nutsedge killer poisons the soil so don’t use near gardens.) Next, place a thick layer of cardboard on the ground where the raised bed is to be built, coming out with the cardboard about 6” from the outside of the frame.
Make sure your source of soil is weed free; don’t use soil from the yard as it could contain weed seed that will be nearly impossible to get rid of. Mulching with newspaper not only keeps moisture in, but helps keep weeds out. Veggies are very sensitive to herbicides, so keeping the weeds out to begin with is the best course in the long run.
Finally, remember that you are essentially container gardening and so fertilizing and composting are so much more important than if you’d planted directly into the ground. Your raised bed will become depleted of nutrients after a time and the addition of organic fertilizers, compost and compost tea will go a long way to keeping the raised bed producing for years to come.
Happy gardening everyone!
If you have a gardening question, send it via email: [email protected]. (Please put ‘Ask Chris Winslow’ in the subject line.) Or mail your letter or postcard to: Ask Chris Winslow. It’s About Thyme: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748
