How to Fill Raised Beds by Using What You Have
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- Опубліковано 8 бер 2022
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ok who else is in love with that garden cart/wagon thingy! i need one!
SO, I do the same thing, BUT I buy a 50 pound bag of ALFALFA pellets (horse feed) and put a small layer over the brown material you spread and then wet it, and then put the topsoil/compost on top. You won't believe how that garden seems to just take off with the added green material! The 50 pound bag only costs $16 and it provides extra nutrients that grow magic!
Thanks for sharing.Im gonna try the alfalfa pellets in the garden boxes im building.☺
Where can I buy the pellets
So brown material (branches, twigs, dried leaves, pine cones) at the very bottom, then alfalfa pellets, then top soil, then compost?
Grass clippings are free and work the same
@@ellencox8415 True but most of us use weed killers, pesticides, fungicides.
I was real happy to hear you say you run out of engery at your age. I feel better now at 67 that I also run out of engery so much sooner than I use to.
In my own 68 years of experience gardening in NC with Bermuda grass, the only way to keep it out of your raised beds is to remove it by hand or put the commercial-type greenhouse fabric under and around ALL the beds and simply add worms to it! I have one without fabric under and it is also the only one with mice tunnels in and damage from them! Cardboard will not stop Bermuda grass, I have seen it grow through the middle of a huge sweet potato in my dad's garden and the roots are much deeper than we are told, I know from having hand-dug a large area that is now my newer garden for 2023. It did not earn the nickname Devil grass or wire grass for no reason!
From experience, I recommend to anyone watching that you make sure the cardboard is UNDER the walls of the bed. I am constantly pulling bermuda grass &tc from the very edges of my beds because I did not do this.
I even lined the sides of my (in ground) bed with cardboard, and STILL get Bermuda grass coming up (as well as over the edges if I don't keep on top of it 🙄) But Jill does use the thick landscape cloth around/ between the beds, which should be as effective as the cardboard.
Thank you so much for this extra heads up. My family and I are preparing our first ever raised bed today, and we certainly don't want weeds.
Learned this the hard way myself
Thank you for that tip.
She did say she put landscaping fabric under the edges of the beds.
It was so cute--after you started talking your chickens came over to the fence to see what was going on!! xo
Thanks. Glad to know I'm not the only one who starts a raised bed with yard debris. I usually have lots of leaves in the fall, so that's when I start them. Do about 8 inches of leaves, 2 inches of soil, another layer leaves, soil etc. to about 4 to 6 inches over the top. By spring it's just right and ready to go.
All that stuff continues to compost, the worms love it.
Other good organic matter for the bottom of your raised beds, is old split firewood logs that are too rotten to burn. When firewood gets too old, it gets really lightweight and burns really fast, so you don't get as much value out of burning it. When it's in that condition, it makes great filler for the bottom part of your raised beds. It's already gotten a head-start on breaking down and is primed for use in a raised bed. Over the winter, when you go out to get firewood for your stove or fireplace, if you come across a lightweight or rotten log as you're loading up your cart, toss it into a separate pile to be used in the spring in your new raised beds.
The wood also holds moisture, which is good for a multitude of reasons.
@Joanie S I do that too. It really works. Cuts way down on the watering.
It attracts termites and they will eat your roots!
@@yolandameier3059 Good point, but we don't have termites at 7000 feet in Colorado. it may be something to keep in mind for people who live in termitey areas though.
Good idea! I've got rotting wood but I'm leaving it for now bc it's growing turkey tail mushrooms!!
Love how your hens appear to check out the activity! They're just like my cat who always appears out of nowhere when I'm gardening! Excellent video. Thanks!!
They just want some worms....
Since I have no growing skills I love watching…but can we talk about how cute, sorta timid the chickens are coming by to see and eat something?…? Love them so much!!
I started watching your video and when you mentioned your "3 Rasied Bed Soil Mixes Compared", I couldn't resisting pausing this one and checking out your test. Impressive! Better than anything else I've ever viewed. I do comparative testing like this myself, but not in such a controlled fashion. And I've always grown in raised beds: years ago, I started with Mel's Mix but I've built several beds since then and I now fill my beds in a similar fashion.
I'd estimate I'm at least 40 years older than you and I consider myself an experienced gardener. I wish I knew at your early age what I know now. No gimmicks. No formulas. Simple principles.
Useful information. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I have heavy mole/vole pressure where I live and it's pretty frustrating to say it mildly. My son made some raised beds as a secret mothers day present and I'm forever grateful. Hindsight I would spend a little extra $$$ and get the galvanized screen to attach to the bottom of the raised beds before filling them. If you're going to make a raised bed within 15 ft of a tree you might want to put a solid bottom on the bed (if its tall enough) because the tree will put roots up into the beds and suck your nutrients and moisture out of your soil. I like the layer method so of course wood/wood chips at the bottom, all kitchen scraps and raw compost including manure in the middle, 6 inches of a good soil mix (don't be afraid to use a little clay soil in the mix) top it off with 2 to 4 inches of the finest and blackest compost you can buy. Also expect to have to put 2 to 4 more inches on the bed each year. It's better to do that at the end of your growing season to let the bed build up the soil biology during the winter. I always stack about 4 inches of shredded fall leaves on the top of all my beds to break down over winter and feed the worms too.
Great tip about moles! My yard is a playground for them! And fencing to keep deer out for many of us!
I laid down chicken wire.
That tip to not plant perennials is gold - thanks a ton Jill!
if you get a car ramp (to pull a car onto change the oil, etc) you can use that to run the wheel barrel up it and dump it without hurting your bed :) we order raid bed mix in bulk from our local place this year and trying that out, stright compost is good but has nitrogen issues (OMRI certified)
Great idea for using the ramp, I'll definitely be trying it!! I'm disabled from osteoarthritis and this just sounds like such a great idea so thank U.... from SW Oklahoma 🙂🦋🙂
Awesome idea to use the car ramp!
Love this video......4 hours is about my limit as well, but love what gardening does for your mind, body and spirit!!!
I absolutely love watching her video!! She is so likable and informative without talking over your head. I learned allot from her in just this one video. Loved it!!
isn't it fun watching someone work! i did not get anything done during the last 18 minutes
Totally agree with you
I Highly Agree!!!!! She is Absolutely Awesome!!!!
That will work. I also put down 1/4 inch galvanized wire mesh first. Stops gophers and such.
I was gifted two ridiculously tall and long planters this winter. When I done the math it was going to cost about a grand to fill plus all that soil would be a waste. I ordered a bail of hay and had it delivered for 40 bucks. We filled both up to about a 8 inch depth of hay. It worked like a charm and I didn't break the bank. It also help a local farmer unload some unusable hay. LOL I still have hay left over for other projects. Great upload 👍
Idk where you live, but in my area a cubic yard of planting soil mix is $21. And cubic yard is enough to fill up a 6'x4'x18" garden bed.
I just told hubs I was doing this and then I see you did, so now I have more faith it will work!
The thousand dollar price tag might be a result of pricing by the bag at a store, which is ten times more expensive than getting bulk like you mentioned.
Our topsoil is $25.00 a ton but I like your hay idea.
You have to be really careful with hay. If they have sprayed their pasture with grazon weed killer your beds won't grow anything for 3 to 5 years.
We have 20 acres with some woods in Southern Arkansas. During our winters and in the spring, I go into our woods and collect decayed tree material and fill my beds with it. I also use mowed fall leaves and grass clippings; our goats decayed bedding material and add plant waste material from our kitchen. I use eggshells, Epsom salt and the comfrey leaves from the comfrey I grow and spread throughout my property. I also fertilize with the comfrey tea I make and goat manure.
I too enjoyed your chickens as I have chickens that help! But what you said about using parts of your old garden in your garden bed is really helpful. I like the way you filled your raised bed. I also run out of energy at 72 and neuropathy in my legs.😂 but I wobble along and still enjoy it thanks
I did try this 3 years ago, It did save cost and works pretty great.. but I also created a haven for rolypoly/pill bugs :) sooo the potatoes and tomatoes that i started there, I had to share with them. I still retained 70 to 80% of my tomato crop for my own kitchen, and they were very healthy and put out an abundance of tomatoes. but the potato crop was nearly forfeit because roly polies apparenty really love potatoes.. but I was not really out anything as is was an experiment, and the seed potatoes were from my own storage. the second year i made the mistake of using straw from the box store... Blister bug invasion... still fighting them now during the 3rd season... I should have stuck with scrap from in and around my own property... Thanks for sharing :) all and all I'm very happy with the project, and will use this idea (and what i've learned) in the future to build many more beds :)
I filled the bottom of mine with rotting logs covered in mycorrhiza, the second year was amazing, it was filled with mycorrhiza and everything was giant sized, not much the first year but the second year was impressive
Just did four of these for my wife an I did the exact thing you are doing here hope it's a success
This is my first year doing raise garden beds . Price of soil really adds up , this video is really gonna help ! Thanks!
The best thing of having landscape barrier cloth under your raised bed is water leaches down and up into your bed. If you get a rain over several days or a frog drowner it goes into the underlying soil, and when you have a dry spell the water in the soil under the bed can wick up. It also encourages earthworms to migrate up into your bed helping to aerate it.
A great additive for any planting is coffee grounds. The worms love it
There's a video with a guy who used tree limbs. (For the bottom).
By the next year they were all broken down. Uses a large space, ends up soil.
When I went to build my raised beds I went with the hügelkultur method as well, I built these in the fall so they would have the winter to settle a bit. When I put in my raised beds 2.5 years ago I dug down 2 to 3 feet first. I filled the trench with logs, actually I cruised the neighborhoods for weeks picking up logs, branches and yard waste. At the very bottom I placed fresh cut logs and worked up to pretty rotted logs, filling in with branches, leaves, wood chips and various yard waste. Then started layering native soil from the trench plus purchased top soil and compost. It was still expensive filling my initial 3 beds, but not as bad if I had not dug down using logs as filler and the native soil. It was amazing how much they would settle the first two years. The second year I was able to make a lot of compost when I put in the remainder of my beds.
I must say, digging below the beds was a lot of work and a real mess, but it really paid off. My raised beds are doing fantastic.
Enjoy your videos.
I am doing something similar only I have access to old rotten logs and plan on putting them in the bottom. I did a bed like this years ago and it is amazing how much things sink down in a year.
@@dirtfloormotors It is amazing how much these beds will sink. It's a real bit@# when you have strawberries interplanted.
Very smart way to do it.
@@carmenortiz5294 I have a video posted on UA-cam of last years garden. The hügelkultur beds are my tomatoes, celery and big box bed behind the garage. Brian Seybert garden tour if you are interested.
@@brianseybert2189 I will watch it. Thanks.
I called it from the title. I do commercial landscaping and I’ve used stacks debris and logs when planting gardens/Landscapes/containers. It puts our lazy man compost to a higher level.
Thank you for this awesome video. I learned so much, and a bonus was seeing the cute chickens pop up in the background ever so often! :)
First time watching and subscribing. This is the method I learned from watching UA-camr, Lead Farmer 73. You could have also used large branches from your yard to help fill it quicker. I have a huge pile of pine straw and hay with chicken and goats droppings I put in my gardens. I can't wait to see mines next year. Good job!♥️
Can I fill my raised bed with 15 years of twice yearly gifted porcelain dolls? 😂 got lots of those!
😂😂😂 u can leave a few heads sticking out of the soil for the FEAR FACTOR😳😱🤣🤣😱👽LOVE THAT!🤣
These raised beds are very popular, seeing them everywhere, yet they are very expensive. We had thought of them but the price is doable, pallets can be used as well, with the same method as you are sharing. Dirtpatchaven is another great channel on gardening and she has her beds all out of pallets which most times can be gotten for free. With the prices these days the pallets are a great alternative. Enjoyed your video, thanks. In Joy
For people that don't know where you can get free pallets, the answer is: Just about anywhere. Liquor stores, big box stores, any place that receives stock by trucks on pallets--all just throw them out. Find a manager and ask for them, and they'll just give them to you as long as you load and haul them yourself.
The beds are relatively expensive to start off but they are colourbond steel and will last years and years. It’s material used on roofs here in Aus so long term they do work out cost effective.
be careful with the free pallets. A lot of them are sealed with heavy chemicals which can leach into the ground water and be taken up by your newly planted plants and thus you are eating these chemicals when eating the fuirt and veggies produced by them
Cow manure is what I use. Rabbit manure and horse manure are both good I think. I start a compost bucket with dry cow manure and grass then add coffee grounds and shredded paper, kitchen scraps. I've had people try to buy my compost!
I am doing 2 ft deep, 4 ft wide, 8 ft long beds. I am putting small tree logs on bottom with some multch
I step on it at the end, to push all the organic material down a bit. Then I add more soil and/or compost.
Great video, seeing you actually doing it is what I appreciated most. Boy what energy you have !!!
Those pine needles would make a nice leaf mould at the bottom of the bed (no they don't cause the soil to be acidic, pines just prefer already acidic soils)
I did this in my raised bed. Works great!
About to start my own journey, found this very informative, thank you!
Watching this just before filling my raised beds. Thank you. very helpful.
You have a wonderful garden layout. I love the tunnels. I’d want to spend as much time as I could in a beautiful garden like that. Love the chickens coming to visit hoping for a handout.
Just discovered your chanel and have subbed. I'm in the process of building a greenhouse and raised beds and will be following the hugelkultur method. I'm also making my own compost, leaf mould and worm castings. Good luck with your growing season xx.
This is my first year doing raised beds(our clay soil didn't work well last year...or at least as well as I wanted.) I lined the bottoms of mine with limbs and pinecones that had fallen off the trees and then put compost I let sit over winter to break down in, then started with my soil mix. Very similar. Good video.
U r adding some nice organic matter to your beds. Looking great! Thanks for sharing your wonderful tips😀
I'm a new subscriber I just found you and I love this video it's so much useful information I have raised beds in my back porch I have been doing the same thing you have but you do it totally different so I can use yours and mine and make it better soil that way so I love to keep listening to what you have and hopefully to grow super yummy food to enjoy 🥰💚💚
Good information there Jill. You could build yourself a little ramp to put next to the raised beds to run the wheelbarrow up to tip into the beds.
Great idea! Thanks for the tips and can't wait to see the progress- LOVE GARDENING!!
Thank you for the tips on how to fill raised beds with what we have! I'm a newbie to gardening & have been wondering the answer to that & you answered it. I was so impressed with you & your video that I subscribed. I am excited to learn more about gardening & look forward to watching your other videos!!! You are the answer to my prayer for the help & info that I need to start my first garden this year & hope to have a raised beds. Thank you again!
Thank you for the information.It really helps me plan my raised beds.Seeing you actually filling your beds builds my confidence as I might have thought about using what you used but I feel ok about it now that I see that other people do it too.
Talk about choping up the slow way! I bunch them up, then cut then together. You can do a lot of branches or other organic waste in a very short time. Of course, I'm just some lazy 75 year old that has not much patience. lol I tried doing hugelkultur and then a wild bunny decided she could turn it into a home for herself, and I had to forget about it for planting. Got to give it to her, her entry way is amazing. Aditional benefit, bunnies love eating branches in the winter. All I have to do is throw some new ones on top.
Your video came jyst in time. We are putting in our first raised bed next week and now I know what to do. Thank you!
Great video, Jill! I’ve been contemplating getting one of these raised beds.
Hi Jill! I always enjoy your videos. This is another great one. Thank you for taking time to make it! Looking forward to more.
Thanks so much!
I use a very similar system for filling my raised beds
I take a different approach to control weeds though I use clover as a clover as a cover cover crop to shade my raised beds it keeps bad weeds from growing and attracts pollinators I also let some dandelion grow their deep roots draw nutrients from deep in the beds and as the leaves die off the nutrients are deposited on the top of the soil dandelion also attracts pollinators I also like to plant native plants around the garden in the ground to attract predator insects to help with pest control a water feature is also helpful to attract insect eating birds and predator bugs
I'm putting in 1/2" wire cloth on the bottoms of my beds. Last year I had major problems with mice and voles digging into them. (my beds are pretty shallow) I had used the landscape fabric in the paths and cardboard in the beds..they chewed right through it. I'm hoping the wire cloth will deter the little critters, but still allow my earthworms easy passage up and down.
I'm also going to try using some old tires for a few things. I know there is some debate on their safety for vegetable growing, but I'll probably be using them more for growing flowers. I always plant some flowers for the benefit of the bees.
That's a great idea with the wire cloth. We have a pocket gopher, mole/vole problem, too, where I live. Granted, I pay a pest company a lot of money to try to keep them from getting into the house, and there are several bait stations located outside, but it doesn't get all of them. I'm going to use your idea. Very smart!
Brilliant. This is essentially a variety of hugelkultur, or maybe “lasagna” composting. My plants would be super happy with this, especially in a year or two.
Starting our new raised Bed. Knew we needed to fill it without to much dirt This Vid confirms my thoughts. Thank You.
Thanks for your suggestion, I am going to try your way, wish me luck..
When i did mine i used thick layers of newspaper on the bottom that i got from my library,i have termites in my area cardboard draws termites frim my experience. It took a few seasons but my worms finally worked up in it.
I do like the way she preps her beds. I find mulch hay works great. I usually use a half bail per corse.
I loved watching the chickens hovering, hoping for a yummy treat perhaps.
Yep, I give them enough weeds in the season they know what to expect. :)
I was going to through a bed out but kept the bottom and dismantled it and got some good wood 😁
And made a raised bed ! With the price of lumber I saved a few dollars .
First time seeing you. I was very impressed! I find when I use a soilless mix for any of my potted plants, no matter the size pot, it sinks any way. I used something like you did with a medium pot and planted a Dwarf Mayer Lemon tree in it. Since it will have to be transplanted into a larger pot in time I guess it won't matter when it sinks. I used sticks and garden debris and some fine wood chips in the bottom quarter of the pot. Hope the wood chips won't hurt the tree. Will look up your other videos.
I don't think she is using a soil less mix in her raised beds.
I've been looking for something to do very similar to this. I hope mine works as well as your pictures turned out.
This is exactly what I am doing now. I bought 5 small raised beds...have lined the bottom with cardboard and will be using saved yard cleanup as well as the dirt from repotting my houseplants. Excited to finish preparing these beds and start planting.
About many plants roots, often most of a plant is below ground, assaspsgest digs 17 foot in good conditions..
Thanks for the teaching
I use sticks, clippings, etc. I'm a cook so I have tons of veggie scraps that go into my beds. By planting time they are crawling with worms and the dirt is VERY rich - I didn't even use fertilizer and got gargantuan results.
Fantastic. If all goes to plan. Hope to make some rased beds this year. Love the video.
Excellent job on the raised beds, well done, enjoyed. Many thanks.
Exactly what I do plus my worm compost---!!!!!! Add hundreds of those red wigglers and you are set!!!!!
great!! Im going2 prune today to start filling my empty raised beds.
I lined my bed once with tree limbs, tree hunks of wood, leaves, etc... then farm soil and chicken coop clean out. Within the first few months the soil dropped down a good 50 percent. I added more soil bringing the level back up and it sank down again. It just does not keep its height😵💫. The logs have long since composted down to amazing black organic soil 😊.
In our raised beds, we used slices of Praire hay from small square bales to fill half way up. In time this will decay, then we’ll add a little of good soil now and then to top it off!
I built my raised beds out of cinder blocks. I used this method with a slight change. First, I dig a foot down and fill like you did and then put the dug dirt back. Then I layer in straw/hay and then newspaper (don't use glossy/slick adverts) and finish with my topsoil and compost.
@@southtxguitarist8926 Funny how words stick around even when not correct. One of my pet peeves is people using the word penny for U.S. currency for a single coin instead of cent. No one refers to more than one as two pennies or it being a 5 penny piece instead of 5 cents.
I’m a city girl . I don’t have too much waste around the house . I thought about using my shedder paper but worried the ink could be toxic ?? I’m wanting an organic bed . What do you think ?
@@brendachristian582 Like I said, newspaper is fine and you can use corrugated cardboard. Stay away from any glossy or slick papers like magazines or most advertisements and food packaging like cereal boxes, 12 pack soda boxes and the such. Normal typewriting/printer paper should be fine to use.
Great video- getting ready to do the same. I usually use a bucket to scoop out of the wheelbarrow then dump it into the raised bed. It goes quicker. Happy growing.
I like the cross that you have in the middle of the bed structure at 4:07 :)
I did the same thing, taking the oak leaves and grass clippings to mound up into my raised beds along with chopped up sticks. The last two years has seen amazing production from this practice. I do use my chipper shredders to chop up oak sticks into small pieces to cover my plants in May and June to reduce watering needs by a huge factor, making it much easier to manage the garden with automatic watering with watering done only every third day except in the hottest weather. Great video and I'm a new subscriber!
Not all topsoil is equal. If you have a lot of leaves in your bed that's a lot of acidity. Topsoil costs a lot more than compost, peet and perlite/vermiculite. I had pretty poor results in the midwest with my topsoil. But it was because of the kind of soil I got from the landscaper. Just make sure you check the pH of your soils so you know what you're working with or you could stunt growth for certain kinds of plants.
Hello, I've stumbled upon your fantastic uploads.. obviously you have bundles of enthusiasm and passion for what you do.. whilst watching and listening to you I have found two clear solutions for you building raised beds... First is the offloading of your barrow, second is your Time and energy... I am subscribing to your channel and hopefully you won't be offended with my comment.
I loved this video 🌱🪴Happy gardening everyone 😆
Yes new to gardening at 70 and I am fortunate to be able to do the physical part of filling the beds. I hired a young man to install cattle panels for trellises and t post. I filled mine this way.
Before putting in the expensive topsoil I place a layer of shadecloth 70-90% this keeps the soil mostly at the top while the logs and branches turn into compost
Great tip, thanks!
Good job my dear happy Gardening
If you have a lot of wild brush nearby, when you use a hedge trimmer to keep them under control, rake it up, and use that. We have a lot of Selal in PacNW, and it makes great mulch to add to a new garden.
I put branches and things on the bottom, if I have them and then straw. I use bales to insulate in places around for the winter and use it in beds when I need filler. I also throw in things like toilet paper rolls, and paper packing materials that come in boxes at work. I top them off with "raised bed" bag soil from my local hardware store. The following years I move on to composting and anything else that it needs.
Thank you so much for this video. I told my hubs I wouldn’t spend anymore $$ on the garden 😂 & I have enough soil to make my last raised bed if I do it this way.
Thank you!
you can also do small scale i start peppers inside i fill the cup half fill of wet cardboard(egg carton like) and then top with compost
I live on very shallow soil over bedrock, either flooded or dried out . For 30 years i have been using anything i can get my hands on to fill the beds including dawn raids in the local farmers ditches to finally get productive trees and raised beds though still at risk in extreme weather events as not enough water to be able to use on garden in dry periods here in supposedly wet Scotland that is now having surprising hot dry weather at times . Cardboard is under suspicion atm due to forever chemical contamination via releasing agents in production . Its a hot topic in my garden group .
Hi Jill. Great video. I did cardboard, then scrap wood I was given, paper shred, and then top soil/compost. My raised beds are only 12", but it can be done with any size bed.
I bought a raised bed like this from Vego Garden. It cost me a final cost of $196, after a $15 discount, and $11.56 taxes added on (free S&H). I got the 17" tall, 9 in1 garden bed. I just needed a max size of 3.5' x 6'. I'm glad they took PayPal, since I don't use credit cards. With the high cost of wood right now, I decided to get this kind of raised bed.
This is great!! I’ve done that in my half whiskey barrel on our patio! I want a higher level raised bed tho. We’re old!! 😜
Thank you! You did good. I thought you were going to conk out. But you filled those beds. Thanks for the tips
I use a thick layer of cow manure first, as I'm on a cattle property, they a layer of old rotted hay or straw or and lawn grass clippings.
I spread a thick layer of reasonable potting mix over all that and water very well.
I plant into that and cover with an inch of the lawn clippings.
Eventually the manure and hay rot and worms in the millions condition all the soil even in the hard red soil underneath.
The veges thrive once their roots reach the rich mulch.
In SW QLD here coming into spring soon.
Thank you Jill, you may have just saved me some money.
First time seeing you here too! Thank you for sharing!!!
No need for an exercise program when you garden, to say the least. Nice video, plan to watch more. Thank you!
Yes gardening is hard work!
Great video! Calming and educational. Thank you.
Great place to put all your less composted, lazy compost debris. Everyone should use this method
Add a dis comment before I watch the whole thing obviously. Great great job the plants and Worms will be happy