PART 4 of 4 : Today is the 4th and last postal service of our four - part serial , Planting A Simple Garden Using Raised Row Beds . If you missed any of the the previous calendar week ( part 1,2 or 3 ) – you could select the highlighted text below to view.1.Growing Simple – call down Row Gardening – Click Here For Part 12 . prepare And Planting The Garden – snap Here For Part 23 . Planting And keep Your Garden – Click Here For Part 34 . keep open Your Beds Productive – Today ’s mail
Keeping Your Beds Productive:
Whether you have a leaven rowing bed garden , a tidy garden patch , or plant your garden in containers – keeping your soil productive and full of life is the Florida key to dear yields twelvemonth in and year out . With a few simple tone , you’re able to have peachy fresh vegetables every summertime . Here are 3 way to keep that garden soil working for you !
1.COVER CROPS :
Cover crop bestow organic issue to your grunge and keep worthful topsoil from eat away over the winter months
Cover crops add organic matter to your soil and keep valuable topsoil from eroding over the winter months
In the surrender , after your plant life have run their course and the last of the harvest has been convey in – it ’s time to really increase your soil ’s verve . covering crop are really the key to a tenacious - term garden ’s achiever – and they are easy to plant ! They contribute back tons of nutrient to the soil , keep other sens from getting established in your row , and facilitate keep territory erosion to a minimum . No need to till your ground – just rake out your rows , existing garden , or your raised beds in the fall after harvesting – and scatter the seed ( one-year rye is a neat pick ) as if you were hold grass seed on your lawn . Next , just lightly rake it over and you ’re done ! It ’s okay if you still see seeds on top – they will sprout shortly enough and you will have a great covert crop growing ! Early next Spring , simply compass it under and constitute your garden . We do n’t habituate a cultivator at all in our lift row beds – just a pitchfork to turn it over , and we are ready to establish . We actually have a unadulterated tutorial dedicated to cover crop benefits that you may check out here : Planting Cover Crops
2 . Add Organic topic Any Chance You Get :
constituent matter empty the deviation – peculiarly when it come to making and adding compost .
Organic matter makes the difference – especially when it comes to making and adding compost.
In addition to using cover crops – adding even more organic topic to your garden will pay off huge dividends . One of the great advantages to the raised row scheme is that you may keep up by contribute available fabric to only surface area you grow your craw in – not wasting it in the take the air rows .
What can I add ? Leaves , Grass Clippings and Compost !
If you have access to extra leaf or clippings in the nightfall and spring – you’re able to contribute at once to the words – and let them molder in good order in the soil as your plants or cover crops grow . Make a small 6″ trench in the centre of each row and eat up a 3 to 5 inch level of the shredded material , then cover back up with grime . you’re able to do this in the fall before you imbed your cover crops , or in the give before you imbed your beds . This is also a great fashion to impart compost to your rows if you have a tidy sum of it available . We also use generous amounts of compost in every planting hole and as a mulch and side fecundation for plants to keep enriching our soil .
Rotating what you grow and where will help to keep your plants and healthy and soil borne diseases at bay.
If you do n’t currently compost – get start out now ! Compost is the key to retentive - term healthy plants , soil and gardening – and without stimulate to use expensive and soil damaging plant food ! We have write several articles on composting – but here is one that really tally it all up for those that need to get go : Composting 101
3.Rotate Your Crops :
Rotating what you grow and where will help to keep your works and good for you and land borne disease at bay laurel .
Salad Straight From The Garden
It ’s so important to apply crop rotation – even on a modest - scale of measurement garden footing . If you keep planting tomato in the same spot – you wo n’t keep getting the same outcome . Different plants ask dissimilar food – and soil begins to lose those food if the same crop keep going into the same place . In accession – soil borne disease that can wreak havoc on garden plant can take hold well-situated if the same soil and flora are together year after year . So verify you plan out different spaces for plants in your garden plan each class to rotate those crops .
So there you have it ! The close of our four - part series on upraise rowing Gardening ! ensure to appear for more posts in the coming calendar month about horticulture , DIY and more . If you would like to postdate along through the coming year and receive our hebdomadary DIY and Gardening Posts – be sure to sign up to follow our blog via email , Twitter or Facebook in the right column .
Shared OnGnowfglins , Transformation Thursdays
Salad Straight From The Garden
