Why Garden Off the Ground? Program Recap

Thank you to Patricia Donahue from the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Monmouth County for her presentation on gardening off the ground. For many of us, gardening in smaller, self-contained areas is more conducive for our lives and can be just as fruitful and rewarding. Raised gardening has its own set of challenges and considerations, but can have many advantages that will save you time and effort.

Raised Bed Basics

Raised beds offer many advantages over ground or plot gardening, especially if your soil is rocky or your yard has poor drainage. These advantages include:

Ability to garden anywhere
Find the right place for the right plants
Less labor intensive
Better soil quality and easier weed control
Easier access, especially for watering
Grow more in less space

When deciding where to place your raised beds, and other types of off-the-ground gardens, it is important to consider the following things:

Amount of sun – try to locate your garden/containers where there is full sun, unless you are specifically focused on full/part shade plants. It is recommended that your garden have a North-South orientation and have at least 6 hours of full sun; 8 hours for vegetables.
Access to water – make sure your location is close to a water source so it does not become a burden
Animals – what types of animals may try to get into your garden
Level site – try to ensure your garden is on a level area

Creating Your Raised Bed

There are many ways to create a raised bed, from wood (rot resistant or untreated), cinder blocks, bricks, stone, or steel/aluminum. Depending on the size of your garden, the cost of materials may have a greater impact on your decision. You want your raised bed to be at least 6 inches deep, with 10-14 inches being preferable so that you do not need to water as often. Each bed should be no more than 4 feet wide so that you can easily access all parts of the bed for water, weeding, and other care. In the same light, you should leave ample space between beds, especially if mobility issues are a concern.

Once you have your bed build, the next important step is to prepare the bed and soil. To get a better understanding of your soil, you should test your existing soul for nutrient levels and pH. It is strongly recommended to not exclusively use existing soil to fill in the beds or brand-name commercial mixes. Instead, create your own mix by using 60% existing soil, 30% compost, and 10% potting soil (peat moss, perlite, vermiculite). If you want to conserve moisture, you can use trickle irrigation. Additionally, you can use mulch or bark chips on the surface to reduce water loss.

Straw Bale Beds

Straw bales (DO NOT USE HAY!) can be a great way to create raised beds with additional advantages over traditional raised beds. Straw tends to warm earlier than the ground so it can extend your growing season. Because the straw acts as the soil, you do not have to worry about soil borne diseases and you can plant in the sides of the bales. They also hold water very well, are easier to weed, light weight, and overall less labor intensive. Straw bales, however, also come with some important disadvantages to consider:

Dry out quickly and need to water more often
Need to add fertilizers and other conditioners, such as compost
Need new bales every 1-2 years
Cannot plant perennials
Disposal of old bales

If you want to create a straw bale bed, you should do it over a hard surface such as concrete to prevent unwanted weeds/plants from growing up through the bottom. If you have to place them on your grass or yard, place the bales on top of weed paper, newspaper, cardboard, or other durable coverings. Be sure to leave the bales tied and if you are planting on a slope, make sure the bails follow the slope up and down. Before planting anything in the bales, they should be conditioned with water and liquid fertilizer with a 2 week waiting period before planting. While many vegetables and plants can successfully grow in straw bales, you should avoid top heavy plants like corn and running or vining plants that spread by offshoots.

Container Gardening

For some of us, we only have space for containers, which can offer many advantages, including:

No digging or tilling
Weed free and inexpensive to start up
Container location
Plant protection and season extension

Just like with any garden or planting, the most important thing to make sure you pick an optimal location. Make sure the area is well-lit and near a source of water because they will need to be watered every day. Make sure they are on a level space, but be aware that draining water can stain concrete and wooded decks, so you may wish to use trays.

There are a wide variety of containers from light-weight plastic to heavy wood, clay, ceramic, and metal. Depending on what you wish to grow, you will need a different container for each plant. For example, peppers need a minimum of a 2 gallon container while radishes only need 1 pint. When filling your container DO NOT USE garden soil as it is heavy, brings in weeds and soil disease, and does not drain well. Instead, use commercial soil-less mixes because they are lightweight, drain well, and hold water and nutrients.

To view a recording of this webinar, please visit https://youtu.be/bf-aquwyeOc. If you have any questions, please reach out to the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Monmouth County at Catherine.VanBenschoten@co.monmouth.nj.us.