Garden Bed Preparation

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

Planted by: Jennifer Tidwell
Date: Tuesday December 1, 2009
Planted in: Garden Planning,Grow Your Own Wedding Flowers,Wedding Flowers

**I’m including this as part of a series about growing your own wedding flowers, but the information can be applied to any flower bed.

If you really want to grow spectacular flowers, preparing the growing area (beds) ahead of time will make a huge difference in the long run. If you are in an area that has mild winters, there is always something to do in the garden, even in the winter. Building the beds now will give them time to settle in before you plant in the spring.

I’m a big fan of lasagna bed gardening and I don’t believe in tilling, so that’s what I use for most of my flower beds. By building a raised bed, you are providing what most plants need – well drained, nutrient rich soil.

To prepare your beds you need to gather the following things:

Weed blocker of some sort – I use cardboard and newspaper because they are biodegradable.
Soil and compost – If you aren’t composting you will need to purchase a good quality soil and compost to fill the bed.
A bed border of some sort – This is completely optional, but you can use anything that will hold the soil in one place. Bricks, large rocks, logs, lumber, or purchased edging will all work. I’ve even seen upended beer bottles and wine bottles stuck in the ground as a bed border. Be creative and match the style of your yard or current garden.
Mulch – Mulch is a great way to keep the weeds at a minimum and conserve water.
Seeds, bulbs or plants – This may not be immediately necessary, but you can start collecting seeds now and begin shopping for bulbs and plants.

If you are going to go with a borderless bed, lay out the cardboard or newspaper and layer with several inches of soil/compost and then mulch. I don’t recommend planting into a bed like this immediately. Give the newspaper or cardboard time to disintegrate and the grass under it to die. If you let this sit long enough, the soil underneath the weed blocker will become easier to plant. Keeping a borderless bed edged is a bit more difficult, but I think it blends into the landscape better.

For a bordered bed, lay out the weed blocker, place the border and fill with your soil/compost mixture up to a few inches below the top. Fill with 1-2″ of mulch, leaving a little space at the top to keep your soil from spilling out.

People like to make gardening more complicated than it has to be, so if any of this sounds terribly simple, that’s because it is. The hardest part of gardening is the labor involved. Hauling, weeding, digging and planting are hard work. If you want to make your life even easier, consider installing some drip tape. Drip tape puts water right at the roots of the plant where it’s needed and helps to conserve water. It’s also a lot easier than it sounds! The folks at Drip Works have all the supplies you need, and free videos to show you how to put it all together.

Garden Bed Preparation

Backyard Grown Gardens

Admin

Subscribe

Community

Resources

Topics

Archives

Credits