Seven Common Mistakes In Garden Bed Gardening
Many junior gardeners plan to plant vegetables on the garden bed - there are good reasons! Those of us who have been gardening in the garden bed for many years have proved how much we like it! What are the benefits of gardening on a garden bed?
- Better harvest
- Reduce weeding
- Sharp aesthetics
- Better control of soil fertility
- Use less water and mulch
- Easier to work
- Less compaction=more air space in the soil=healthier plants
But as in any enterprise, mistakes are common. The problem with making mistakes in garden beds and gardens is that they are not easy to correct. I have a first-hand understanding of this!
If I know what I know now as a novice gardener ten years later, I will do many different things. Fortunately, I have been able to correct many of my own garden bed mistakes. I have learned to live with others, but now I know!
If you are planning to build a garden bed garden or add existing beds for the first time, this article will help you avoid many mistakes made by me and others.
If you have been gardening on the garden bed, but the results are not good, you may find some reasons here.
- The garden bed is too wide.
One of the greatest benefits of garden bed gardening is to avoid soil compaction. You want to work on the garden bed without stepping on them.
Most beginners don't realize this, but healthy soil needs air, just as it needs water! However, when the soil is trampled by machines or people (or both!), the air between the soil particles will be pushed out.
To avoid this problem, we hope to make every effort not to step on our garden bed. This promotes better soil structure and ultimately makes plants healthier.
However, if the width of the garden bed prevents you from working in all directions within your reach, you will find yourself stepping into the bed, thus damaging this main benefit of the garden bed.
Therefore, the width of the garden bed should not exceed four feet.
Most people can comfortably reach into the center of the four-foot-wide garden bed without any problem. But when I tried different sizes, I found that the span of three feet wide was more comfortable for me.
When selecting the width of the garden bed, you must also consider the position of the bed. I made a mistake by leaning two garden beds, 4 feet by 12 feet, against the fence. Not only are there weeds and grass growing between the bed and the fence, but I can't reach behind the bed to plant, weed or harvest easily.
It was so painful that we finally moved the fence.
- You didn't plan irrigation.
Unless you want to water the garden bed manually with a watering can (which will soon become old), you need to plan how to water the bed in advance.
I suggest placing a garden bed near the water source. Whether you plant an artificial watering bed or use a more efficient soaking hose or drip pipe system, easy access to water will save you a lot of time and headache.
The bottom line is: decide which irrigation method you want to try. It's better to finish this earlier. When I tell you, believe me, it is painful to add any type of irrigation after your plants grow. It is best to irrigate before planting anything.
- Wood (or other materials) is unsafe.
Although you will find countless guesses about the safety of some pressure-treated wood used for garden beds, most experts agree that: do not use pressure-treated wood manufactured before 2003.
The pressure treated wood manufactured before 2003 contains copper chromate arsenate. You don't want it close to your food garden.
- The garden bed garden soil lacks nutrients
Many soil combinations are suitable for garden beds, but some are not. For example, potted soil drains too quickly. Unless your garden bed is on concrete or rock (and therefore more like a container), skip the potting soil. You need more material than potted soil can provide.
Potted soil also often lacks nutrients to maintain garden beds and gardens throughout the season. Garden beds are not containers that need constant fertilization; On the contrary, the garden bed works best when it is full of organic and nutritious soil from the beginning.
- The garden bed is placed too close.
Working on a garden bed is the pleasure of any gardener. This is why you want to create the most comfortable working area possible.
To do this, you need enough space to work comfortably between beds - at least two to three feet. I made the mistake of only allowing about one foot between my garden beds. It is always a challenge to weed, plant and harvest from these edges.
We all forget one thing, that is, not all plants will stay in the line of the garden bed. Many plants overflow the edge (such as pumpkins and pumpkins), and other plants grow so wide that they can reach the sidewalk.
With all these in mind, when you put the garden bed on the ground, please make sure that you can put the garden cart or trolley between them. When you have enough space to do so, you can sit on a stool beside the bed to obtain a comfortable working area.
- The path is covered with weeds.
Nothing is more frustrating than going to my garden. I plan to enjoy some work time on my garden bed and find that the grass beside them has grown up.
Overgrowth of weeds and grass can always hide snakes, and weeds will cause my legs to itch. My husband and I both tried to trim the area with a weeder, but there were three acres of land to be maintained, and sometimes we could not always keep it clean.
If you do not want to continue mowing or eating the grass and weeds around the garden bed, please place a barrier before the weeds and weeds appear.
- Ignore covering garden bed
Covering the garden bed is as important as covering the ground garden bed, and may even be more important.
Although the pressure of weeds in garden beds is usually small, it is not non-existent. Weed seeds from native soil will glow and sprout. The seeds floating in the wind and deposited by birds like the fertile soil of the garden bed. For these reasons, mulch will greatly reduce your weeding time.
But more importantly, mulch can regulate soil temperature and maintain moisture - both of which are key requirements for garden beds in hot summer.
One of the advantages of garden beds is that the soil heats up faster in spring and can be planted faster. But as the season goes on, it is also warming up. Covering helps regulate temperature more than bare soil.
Covering can also regulate moisture. In the rainy season, it absorbs excess rainfall like a sponge. When it is dry, it can prevent water from evaporating in hot summer. You will find that your covered garden bed is healthier than the bed without it.