Raised Bed Questions

[Pumperkinz]

Hi all,

We bought a house back in October that has a nice enclosed raised garden area w/ three separate beds approximately two 10x3 and a 7x3 bed. My questions is should I be concerned w/ what the previous owner did with the beds? I didn't get any history as this was just a nice perk they had with it. It's made out of cedar as well for the beds and lined already.

I figured worst case replace all the soil but don't really want to have to do that as it would be a lot of work.

Thanks!

 

[Debbie292d]

If the previous owners cared enough to buy/build those raised beds, I think it'd be worth trusting it's got decent dirt in it. What you won't know is what they planted, such as if it were tomatoes or flowers, so it might be lacking something that you want to plant will need. It would need something added to it to amend the soil/replenish nutrients every year regardless.

You could buy a PH tester for $10 or so on Amazon, but what I'd do is in the spring, add some potting soil, compost, or manure, mix it in, plant what I wanted, and see how it looks as it grows. If it seems to be suffering, you could fertilize.

 

[Acre4Me]

I’d guess that they have decent soil in them. As for what they previously grew, there isn’t too much problem one yeaf to the next. Our first year, the previous owners left a few raised beds….the soil was terrible, as if they searched for the highest clay content to fill the beds. We ended up starting from scratch, and enlarged the garden area. But, I think that was the exception.

You could grow peas early season and fill them in/turn under, to provide some “green manure” in the beds. Then around late May to June, plant your regular season items.

What do you plan to grow?

 

[Pumperkinz]

I haven't even thought of what to grow up here. I know in the south where I was at previously we had good success w/ peppers of all sorts.

I need to do a bunch of research on what is doable up here but it looks like they didn't grow anything last year as they were preparing to sell just a bunch of weeds no pea/tomato stalks etc. So I might have just lucked out. I'll start out w/ a soil tester and then amend as needed.

Thank you all for the good suggestions!

 

[Sally PB]

@Pumperkinz, As for what to grow, first, find out what agricultural zone you're in. Then, look for first/last frost dates in your area and how many days long your growing is.

If any of your new neighbors have gardens or talk about gardening, ask them questions. They would be one of the best resources you'll have, because they are so close.

 

[homesteading101]

Throw some compost in there and mix the soil. You can check pH if you want. You also don't know if they used synthetic fertilizer and that could be a problem. There's ways to check but should be fine. Watch your nitrogen, try to find a fertilizer such as 0-7-0 and 0-0-22 around there. These numbers represent NPK, Nitrogen Phosphorus and Potassium. You can never really have enough of phosphorus and potassium but if you throw too much nitrogen the plant won't flower correctly, it'll grow nice and big but no yield. Excess nitrogen prevents the plant from absorbing the other nutrients.

After that growing is easy going and a great experience. Throw in some Epsom salt (magnesium) and calcium. Brewers yeast for other nutrients. Have fun!

 

[gtaus]

My questions is should I be concerned w/ what the previous owner did with the beds? I didn't get any history as this was just a nice perk they had with it. It's made out of cedar as well for the beds and lined already.

Sounds like the previous owners put some money into those cedar raised beds with liners. They probably filled those beds with some quality soil. Personally, I would not be concerned what the previous owner did with the beds. I would just mix some fresh compost into the bed like I do every year before planting. That works for me.

Nothing wrong with testing the soil and amending it if needed. I just add fresh compost and grow stuff. As long as my plants grow well, it's good enough for me.

I figured worst case replace all the soil but don't really want to have to do that as it would be a lot of work.

Well, if your plants don't grow this year, then it may be worth the effort for a major overhaul. Nothing worse than planting every year and getting nothing in return for your efforts.

Have you dug down into the raised bed to check out the quality of the soil? I don't know a whole lot about soil chemistry and such, but I can visually see the difference between a good soil and a poor soil.

And if you have chickens, I recommend you start making some chicken run compost for your raised beds. That's some of the best compost I have ever used for my gardening.

 

[Pumperkinz]

Sounds like the previous owners put some money into those cedar raised beds with liners. They probably filled those beds with some quality soil. Personally, I would not be concerned what the previous owner did with the beds. I would just mix some fresh compost into the bed like I do every year before planting. That works for me.

Nothing wrong with testing the soil and amending it if needed. I just add fresh compost and grow stuff. As long as my plants grow well, it's good enough for me.



Well, if your plants don't grow this year, then it may be worth the effort for a major overhaul. Nothing worse than planting every year and getting nothing in return for your efforts.

Have you dug down into the raised bed to check out the quality of the soil? I don't know a whole lot about soil chemistry and such, but I can visually see the difference between a good soil and a poor soil.

And if you have chickens, I recommend you start making some chicken run compost for your raised beds. That's some of the best compost I have ever used for my gardening.

I just got some chickens a few months ago and plan to start doing composting asap.

The beds are in great shape thankfully, and they haven't been used in two seasons so just having to prep cause it's still getting below freezing somedays up here in the mountains. I should be able to start working on the beds and soil in the next week as it will be in the 50-60s daily. I've got some supplemental soil as well, but there is a lot of worms in the soil so it looks to be doing very well and I don't see any crazy warning signs of it being bad/an issue.

I'll keep this posted or make another post as soon as I get things started more .

 

[gtaus]

I'll keep this posted or make another post as soon as I get things started more .

Looking forward to hearing more about your raised beds. Sounds like you got a nice setup that just needs a little work to get it back in shape for planting.