Raised Beds

   
     One of the easiest garden features to plan for is a raised bed for your cut flowers, vegetables or other annuals. Raised beds provide a number of benefits -- especially for the clay soil we have in Chicago:

     1. They allow the soil to warm up faster, making it possible to plant earlier in the season.

     2. They encourage better drainage. This is especially important during our soggy springs. A raised bed will dry out when all the soil around it is muddy. Again, this makes it possible to plant earlier in the season.

     3. Finally, raised beds discourage human and pet traffic from the areas in which your plants are trying to get started.

     Raised beds can be built in an infinite variety of shapes,sizes, and materials. I will deal only with the simplest and most utilitarian today.

This set of packed-earth raised beds owes its avant-garde look
 to the fact that we had a heavy rain shortly after it was built. 

     The simplest beds are made with nothing more than a shovel. You can mark out your beds and paths with string. Then you dig out on the path side of the string and dump each shovelful on the bed side of the string. Rake the paths smooth and tamp the top and sides of the beds, and you are done.


     A more permanent and attractive alternative is a bed made of wood -- preferably rot-resistant cedar or redwood. The new pressure treated pine, called AC2, claims to be suitable for raised beds, but I would prefer not to use it around fruit or vegetables.

   

     You should give the dimensions of your beds some thought before rushing out to buy lumber. First and foremost, you should be able to reach every part of your bed easily from "outside the box".  (That is, you should not build beds like the ones in the first photo.)  Beds can be 8-10 feet long, but should be only 3-4 feet wide, and less than that if you can only reach in from one side. Better two narrow beds than one large one. Paths between beds should be 2 to 2 1/2 feet wide --or wider than  your garden cart or wheelchair. The beds can be 8 inches to 16 inches high or higher. Higher beds require more wood and more soil, but they also provide a better barrier to pets and make the beds more accessible to those of us whose joints are getting a bit creaky.

     For now, I am going to put my creaky joints to work on the latest snow.

Assess & Correct

Our Planning Session Took Place in Weather  like This.

     This winter between Christmas and the New Year Wan and I at last pulled off something we had done only haphazardly in the past: we actually had a meeting to plan out our garden for next spring. We dug out our original 2013 map, a few blanks for our 2014 map and a seed catalog. Then we went through our experience from last season and began to decide what we wanted to do differently this year.

     There is a lot to consider. The simplest question is what worked and what did not. And what should we do with the "did nots." Usually we have a few notions of what may have gone wrong and try to do something different this time. This is a good time to ask some questions of our seed company or research a bit on the internet. Then give it another try -- at least once. I have been known to chase a few Moby Dick's over the years. But usually two failed years in a row are enough for me. Life is too short and the list of possible replacement plants too long.

     Other questions follow in rapid order. Half the reason for planting your own stuff is because it tastes better than what is in the store. If it doesn't, either change what you are doing or plant something else. A surprisingly difficult question in the first few years is "how much?" You want to have a little more than you need for the mouths you feed, but you have to translate that into linear feet -- and it varies depending on your variety and also on the vagaries of each season. If you want to try something new, you will either have to expand the garden or reduce the space you devoted last year to turnip greens.

     And then there are the little goofs like planting taller plants where they end up shading out shorter ones. That one is good for a note at the meeting.

     I have repeatedly found that some of my plants grew much larger than I was led to believe. I had to devote more space to each plant, then add more space in each row. My tomato cages were too small; I had to make my own 6 foot cages. The little fences I used for my peas were too short. I started using my old tomato cages. My stakes over the years grew much larger and heavier. I began to feel like I had a garden on steroids, but the plants grew healthier and more productive.

This Brussels Sprout Plant Dwarfed our Original Support

     If you had more than one or two problems last season you may want to hold off on expansion plans until you are happier with the results. There is no hurry here. A "assess and correct" meeting is also a good time to consider other measures to make life easier -- like room for weeding or a stake that keeps you from dragging the hose over your plants. A review of last year's pet peeves can make next year more pleasant.

The Joy of Maps

     We left you after making several copies of a simple map of your annual garden. The maps are nothing but measurements now, but it is time to fill in the blanks -- by drawing in your plants long before you plant them.

     I like to plant annuals close together to discourage weeds, but I also need to get at my plants to prune them and pull the weeds that do show up -- without becoming a contortionist. I use the map to figure out a way I can move around in the bed. Then I look up the maximum height and spread of my plants. Not paying attention to how big your plants will grow is right up there with not paying attention to the sun when it comes to popular boo-boo's.

These plants grew a bit more than expected.

      With the pathways set and the plant spread known, I can now figure out how many annuals I can plant, and draw them in (just circles -- nothing fancy here). I write on the map the variety I am going to use as well. Now is a good time to find out if any of your annuals need stakes or cages and add them to your shopping list.

     If I am going to plant from seeds, I can dig out a seed catalog as well and even place an order. Half the battle can be won while there is still snow on the ground.

      If at planting time I realize I have made a mistake or changed my mind, that is what the extra blanks are for. I will want, however, to end up with a final accurate map. You will find out why next time.

     

PLANNING FOR ANNUALS

     Today I'll talk a bit about my veggie garden -- not so much to discuss vegetables, but to point out some of the planning involved. Similar efforts need to be made for any annual garden. My garden now is 22' x 28'. But over the years its size has varied enormously. In New York my "garden" consisted of three large pots on the back fire escape. Even it benefited from some advance thought.

     The fun part is coming up with ideas of what to plant. But immediately related questions clamor for our attention. Probably the first is how much sun do our chosen plants need. Many Beverly yards are blessed with trees, but that means they are less blessed with sun. We need to identify the sunnier spots -- and remember that what is sunny when we head off to work is not necessarily sunny at 2PM. A little observation is in order. And sometimes this means that your entire scheme has to be re-thought.

     The size of your bed will be determined in part by the size of your yard and how it is structured. Within all these constraints you should start small. It is better to end the season eager to do more next year than to end up with a sore back and a patch of weeds. This is gardening's equivalent to a 5k run. You have to work up to it. 

     Once you lay out the size and shape, you should take measurements and then draw a simple map and make several copies. You can do much of your initial work while it is still below freezing outdoors.

2013 Blank Garden Map

     This blank map shows only my raised beds and paths. I made several copies last spring. Then Wan and I filled in the blanks before planting. This way we had a record of what exactly was planted and how much.

2014 Blank Garden Map

     We will use this map for the coming season. I try to rotate my crops a bit each year by tearing down my raised beds and rebuilding them going perpendicular to the beds from the year before. This guarantees that most of my veggies don't get re-planted in the same spot year after year.

     More on planning next time.

WINTER IS FOR PLANNING

     Thomas Jefferson was one of many prominent Americans who kept garden diaries. For some time I have been eager to urge my readers to "be like him." Unfortunately, I have not been able to get it together to start one myself. So it hardly seems fair to urge one on you.

     I can, though, suggest something more modest. At the end of the season, when there is no more we can do outdoors, we should be able to find a day or even half a day during which we can review the previous year in the garden (before we forget it) and make some modest plans for the season ahead. We can put our notes in a notebook or type something on our computer, or simply throw our notes in a file folder. So long as we can can find them again in March.

     At our house much of the planning centers on our 22' x 28' vegetable garden, but it could just as easily center on an annual flower garden. Annuals start from scratch each year. So, if you let them, they can make you re-think parts of your garden every spring. Do we really want impatiens again this year? Were they too much work, or did we wish we had more? Should we try a new spot?

     Any spring planting requires making decisions. The absolute easiest decision is to do exactly what we did last year. Nothing wrong with that if it works. But we will have more fun if we escape the clutches of habit and consider alternatives. And once we actually try something new, we are engaged in an experiment and we will be tempted to take a note or two on the results so we can do better the next year. Voila! Jefferson would be proud.

     Our next post will discuss the sometimes haphazard planning that went into our vegetable patch over several years. We might follow that up with an account of the evolution of our plans for perennials.

     Now that we have finally broken 0 Degrees once more I can relish how many nasty bugs this freeze has killed off and look forward to implementing this year's plans.

Best Wishes

Best Wishes for the

Holiday Season

We Was Robbed!

     Winter arrived three weeks early this year -- much to my dismay. The temperatures in Chicago in mid November are the coldest they have been in 20 years. This is grist for the mill of my North Carolina friends, who are offering to mail me some of their tomato plants. I hope they get plastered by the big storm heading their way.

     I got caught in the middle of putting my yard to bed. The essentials were accomplished. I drained my rain barrels and brought my pump indoors. With a heavy heart I harvested all of my Brussels sprouts. They do fine in temperatures in the '20's, but I was not sure about 14 degrees and did not want to find out. So we now have enough Brussels sprouts to skip the turkey tomorrow.

     I also managed to dump my compost tumbler into the garden. The partially composted material is still sitting there in a heap, but at least it is not frozen in the drum for the rest of the winter. My snow peas -- a great source of nitrogen -- are lying about on top of the soil as well. I usually till both the peas and my compost into the soil to decompose over the winter.



     I did not have time to get in my hoses, but I at least took the various nozzles off so that any water inside that expanded as it froze would have a place to go.

     This year I found myself with a dozen or more shrubs that I did not have a chance to plant. They would be doomed to an early demise if exposed to the winter winds. Fortunately, I did have time to plant them, pot and all, in what had been my pole bean bed. The top of the pots are even with the soil surface and I have a layer of mulch spread over all. So far they are doing well. I just need to find them a home before the beans need to be planted next spring.

     I still have hopes for a winter thaw. I can then bring in all the hoses and till in all the compost scattered over the garden. I might even be able to plant a few shrubs, though I suspect that is the Utopian in me speaking. Meanwhile we can dream of an early spring, and a spring that is not too wet, and .... Hope springs eternal.

     I wish all a happy Thanksgiving.