Gardening Care Tips

You should definitely cover your vegetable garden for winter. Winter is the toughest season for the garden and you should definitely give some protection to your plants and soil. You need to cover your garden to protect it from winter rain, frost, and freezing.

During the time of frosting, many plants get injured. So don’t wait for the winter to come and ruin your garden. You better prepare your garden for winter.

If you are new to gardening and don’t know how to cover your garden, here I am to help you in this matter.

So, relax and let’s find out what you can do. Let’s dig in deeper!

When should I cover my vegetable garden?

Many of you may think now when should I cover my vegetable garden? At the beginning of winter? In the middle of the winter? Oh, this may seem too confusing, right?

Don’t worry, for clearing all the confusion, I am adding a chart here. That chart will represent the lowest tolerable temperature of some veggies.

So let’s take a look.

So according to the tolerance level of the veggies, you need to give them protection during the time of frosting.

Frost protection is needed to protect tender plants like tomatoes, eggplant, pepper, beans, cucumbers, sweet corn, and squash. If you can’t protect these tender plants, then harvest them as early as possible.

The root crops like beets, carrots, and potatoes will withstand a light frost. Also, the cold season crops like cabbage, Swiss chard, broccoli, onions, parsley, peas, radish, spinach, turnips, and Brussels sprouts withstand a hard frost.

So, based on the weather forecasting, you need to give coverage to your garden. Keep a close look at the frost dates during the cold months.

Note: On weather sites, many frost dates are based on a 50% chance of frost. However, as a gardener, you should look at a 30% chance of frost. After all, you must not want your plant to die because of frosting.

What you can do for covering the garden?

So, now you know that you need to protect the garden during frost times. But have you thought that what are you going to do for the protection?

Well, you can use physical covers like plastic, and fabrics, for covering plants with organic materials like straw mulch, and leaf mold, covering the soil and underground veggies, or plant winter cover crops for saving the garden soil in the cold months.

Here is a chart of the coverage products that you can use to cover the garden.

Let’s take a look.

So, you need to cover your perennial plants and ground during the cold season. Let’s know about the guards one by one.

What you can use to protect the perennial plants?

• Bed sheets, drop cloths, blankets, polythene covers, and plastic sheets can make suitable covers for vulnerable plants. It is easy to create a temporary cover for the perennial plants or annual plants to give them warm air and protection.
• For vegetable gardens, covering with black plastic or a layer of cardboard, or even an old carpet, is another option. Cover the ground with this product for the whole winter months and remove them before spring planting. Your land will also remain good till the spring.
• You can buy “row covers” from your nearby garden center. It will give you better protection.

Note: Drape the plants loosely for proper air circulation. Stake them with bricks or sticks and don’t let the coverage touch the leaves.

Use clean and dry materials to cover the garden. Before covering plants, you can water them lightly.

Apply the cover in the early evening when the winds go down and remove it the next day in the mid-morning to give warm sunlight to your plants.

What you can use to protect the ground?

Well, you need to cover the empty garden space so that the weeds can’t make their habitat there or the soil temperature doesn’t go down and freeze the soil. On the other hand, if you are growing root vegetables, you need to give them protection too, right?

The ground covers will help you to resolve these issues as well as they will also work as soil amendments.

So, let’s know about 5 amazing ground coverage materials that you can use to cover your ground.

1. Winter Cover Crops

These cover crops are also known as green manure. It is basically planted for giving protection against weeds or for improving the soil quality. These crops cover the ground and prevent the soil from erosion during the winter rain or frost. They also prevent the weeds from growing.

The cover crops with deep roots help to improve the soil structure. They break the soil. For example, there is mustard that has lush foliage. By the time the foliage of this plant mixed with soil and works for boosting the organic materials of the soil.

Mustard is good for heavy soil like clay soil. Dig in some of this cover crop seed before winter so the frost will break the plants instead of the soil. Prolific salads such as mache or corn salad can also be grown in this way.

However, some cover crops add nutrients to the soil directly by working as a nitrogen fixer through their roots. Winter field peas, fava beans, clover, and vetch are some of them.

These legume-type veggies are great and plant them before the planting of some nitrogen-hungry brassicas like cabbage.

It is good to plant these cover crops in winter as there may be a lacking of nitrogen in the soil during the time of winter.

2. Straw Mulch

Straw mulch provides effective ground coverage in dormant garden beds. It is mainly used in vegetable gardens.

Put a 2-inches thick layer of mulch and it will prevent the weeds from germinating in the empty ground. A thick layer of 4-inches will insulate the soil and protect the tender perennials from temperature fluctuation.

Also, it protects the plant roots from dying because of the cold weather.

3. Wood Mulch

A deep layer of it will help you to insulate the soil as well as keep the weeds away. Wood chips mulch breaks down slowly and so it works well in perennial beds where you basically don’t till in the mulch each year. 

As this mulch decomposes slowly, you need to replenish the layer during each fall to maintain the layer of mulch throughout the cold weather.

4. Yard Waste

Yard waste, including grass clippings, pine needles, and shredded leaves, also can provide cover over dormant winter beds. Dry leaves or cut grass can help reduce weeds although these materials decompose quickly and some perennial weeds can penetrate them.

Especially, the shredded leaf mulch can work as insulate over tender perennials. Just apply a 4-inch-deep layer. 

Yard waste quickly breaks down into compost and this compost nutrient leaching into the soil improves the soil quality. You can add your kitchen waste to the compost pile too.

5. Inorganic Mulch and Newspaper Mulch

If you want to keep the weeds away and that’s the motive behind using cover, then you can easily choose inorganic mulch. Cover the empty beds with black plastics or traps.

Weeds can’t penetrate them at all and so there will be no weeds during spring planting.

The inorganic winter covers work best for annual vegetable garden beds as the soil beneath the covers receives no moisture and air during winter. Besides, black plastic helps to get the soil warm quickly.

Alternatively, you can use newspaper sheets to cover the garden area for the winter months. It is an organic matter and you can till it into the soil during spring planting.

Few Last Words for You

Should I cover my vegetable garden in winter?

During the month of winter, you need to cover everything if you don’t want frost damage, starting from the garden to bed.  

Besides, if you want to keep your garden space free from weeds or weed seeds for next summer or spring planting, you need to cover the garden soil.

You can add physical cover for covering the plants. You can use winter mulch to cover the garden soil for increasing soil nutrients, reduce soil erosion, and getting healthy plants for the next gardening season.

So, give your garden winter preparation by covering the ground, plants, or bed for winter.

Happy gardening!

What else will be better than a raised bed vegetable gardening when you are a beginner and want to make an outdoor vegetable garden?

Many beginners select a big size land for their vegetable garden, as a result, they can’t handle their garden properly. They get frustrated at their failure and decide to give up. Don’t do this mistake!

Guess what? Now I am going to give you some amazing tips about making a raised bed vegetable garden. So let’s dive in deeper!

6 easy steps to make your raised bed vegetable garden

Many people think that making a garden is really hard work. But believe me, it’s not. Especially, it’s easier to make and handle a raised bed garden though you have to work a little bit.

Just follow the following steps to make your raised bed vegetable garden.

1. Choose a land

The first thing you have to do for making the garden is select suitable land. This is not a tough task, right? All you have to make sure that your location should have enough sunlight, a proper drainage system, and nutrient-rich soil.

Sunlight for your bright veggies

Most vegetables need plenty of sunlight to grow. So it’s good to place your garden in a sunny place. But too much sunlight can be harmful too!

The fastest-growing vegetable plants need direct sunlight for 6 to 8 hours daily. On the other hand, some leafy veggies and root veggies can’t tolerate too much sunlight.

You can plant some leafy plants like salad leaves, and lettuce in the shady part of your garden. Also, you can plant the root vegetables in a place where the sunlight stays for at least 4 hours.

Besides, in the case of growing cool-season vegetables, you can give the plants a summer shade.

Keep the soil hydrated but don’t let the water stay

Good soil is well-drained as well as holds onto enough soil moisture for steady growth. Too much water can cause rotting roots while too little water can dry out the soil. Both situations are harmful to your plant.

So make sure your land has a better drainage system. Also, it will be convenient for watering the garden if there is a water source near your garden.

Besides, don’t water too frequently if they don’t need it. If you water them regularly they won’t be able to adjust to the environment and survival chances will get low without water.

Don’t forget to check whether the water is reaching the root properly or not. Otherwise, you will continue watering the plants, and still, they will die.

Good airflow but that doesn’t mean too windy

An open space is good but too much wind can harm your garden. If the location is too windy, it can uproot the young plants of the garden. Besides, wind can keep the pollinators away from the plants.

Also don’t plant the plants too close to the fence as the wind can make them fall on your plants. However, don’t think that air is not necessary.

Good airflow is needed not too much! Proper airflow will keep the disease and pests away from your garden. Also, it is needed for the sturdy growth of your garden.

Your plants need nutrient-rich soil

The plant collects all its basic nutrients from the soil through its roots. So, along with sunlight and water, you have ensured that the soil of your selected land has enough of this food. Well, I mean to say nutrients.

For providing nutrients make sure you know what your soil need. You can test the sample of the soil in a nearby lab to find out the nutrition lacking.

Also, check your soil texture. Based on the texture you can add fertilizer, compost, mulch, or soil amendments to your soil. Besides, the water drainage level and presence of nutrients sometimes depend on your soil texture.

2. Select the appropriate bed size

After choosing the location, it’s time to know the bed size of your garden. Here are the guidelines for the bed size for your garden –

Height: the ideal height for your garden beds is 12-18″. Most feeder roots are in the first 6″ so it will also work for your beds. But the higher the beds, the roots will go deeper.

However, a height of more than 18 inches is not preferable.  For root veggies, your beds need more height, and for herbs, you can allocate little space.

Width: 4 feet is perfect, but 3 feet will also work. 4 feet allows more flexibility for spacing rows as you need some space to reach the beds for taking care of them. It is important that you don’t have to step into the bed to weed or for planting crops as this can affect the health of both soil and the plant.

Length: You can 4×4 square feet or 4×20 square feet. As long as you keep the width at least 4 feet, your length is only limited by your space and budget.

Shape: You can choose any shape of your choice like squares, rectangles, T’s, circles, ovals, etc. As long as you can ensure that there is enough space around your beds to reach them, it is okay with any type of shape.

3. Prepare the ground

It is very important for you to give your plant a perfect growing medium. The native soil may be sandy soil or clay soil. But it is rare to have a perfect type of soil texture where there are no weeds in it or the ground is beautifully level.

So let’s know how you can prepare the ground for your beds.

Healthy soil is the most important thing for your garden. A raised bed is super beneficial to you as you can add a soil blend that’s more nutrient-rich than your native soil. Loose and nutritious soil will allow your plant roots to grow freely ensuring water and sufficient nutrients.

At first, remove the grass and perennial weeds from your garden soil. Use a fork or shovel to loosen the soil for about 6-10″ to improve the drainage and moisture retention of the bed soil. It will give your plant a feeling of growing in a 12-18″ deep bed while the real height can be 6″ only. It will give the root crops like carrots, potatoes, or full-size tomato plants enough space to grow.

In the case of filling more than one bed, you can buy your soil in bulk by cubic foot. You can make your bed soil by combining 60% topsoil, 30% compost, and 10% potting soil (soilless mixture of peat moss, perlite, or vermiculite).

However, these proportions can be varied as per your soil volume. You can also use a soil calculator for measuring the portions.

If you don’t get good-quality topsoil, then go for a 50-50 blend of soil mix and compost. Also, you can add peat moss of about less than 20 percent of the total mix as its acidic nature isn’t that good for growing vegetables.

Some extra tips for amending your garden space

If your space is currently lawn:

You can use a sod cutter to remove the turf pretty quickly and easily. After that, you will get smooth ground. Use compost to remove the high-maintenance grass away and this compost will provide nutrients for your soil as well.

If your space is currently weed-infested:

Solarize the area to get rid of weeds. It will take some time but it is effective. You can do it during summer to get better results.

Besides this, if you have Bermuda grass in the soil, you can build some inches of soil or cardboard borders around the edge of your gardening beds. Bermuda grass needs a lot of sunlight but under the soil layer, it can’t receive that light.

If your location is hardscape:

This type of land has drainage problems and the water can’t reach the bottom of your bed. So, make a better drainage system for this type of land.

If your space is currently full of shrubs:

You don’t need to remove the shrubs from the soil as this woody material will break down inside the garden beds over time.

Besides, for leveling the ground, you can till the ground. But be careful as tilling can harm the important elements of the soil structure.

Moreover, using topical lawn or weed-killing products can harm your garden beds in the long run though they may work instantly.

4. What you will grow in your raised beds?

Now it’s time to select what you will grow in your garden. You can grow tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, melons, cucumbers, pole beans, peas, onions, eggplant, root crops like beets and carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes in your deep beds.

Though you can choose anything you like to grow, there are certain veggies that may need some extra care or may need a specific time to grow. So, here I am talking about the type of vegetables you can grow and the time to grow.

You have to take care of the fact that you are growing the vegetables you and your family like to eat. Otherwise, it will be both a waste of your time and energy as well as money.

If you’re big on salads, you can plant head lettuce, a lettuce cutting mix, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. If you love cooking, you can plant onions, peppers, leeks, potatoes, and herbs. Also, you can add some new variety to discover your taste in a new vegetable.

Raised bed gardening will maximize your productivity. It will enable you to grow the maximum amount of veggies at a small place but that doesn’t mean you can crowd the plants. Plants may have lacked in water, nutrition, and root space due to overcrowding.

It is also important to keep in mind the growing habit of the plants some plants are bushy while some may be climbing or trailing. If you mix bushy veggies with climbing veggies, the companion plants will hurt each other. You can use a cage or ladder for climbing vegetables.

Besides this, take care of which plants need and how many hours of sunlight, and water and based on that make your garden segment. Also, you can plant them based on the harvesting time. You can plant the quick harvest crops on the front side and the late harvest crops on the back side so that you can harvest the veggies easily.

You also need to know whether you want to grow vegetables from seeds or from young plants. Seeds of annual veggies (peas, beans, squash, lettuce beets) should be planted indoors first about at least 6 weeks before the last frost dates. Seeds of root crops like carrots and potatoes can be directly sown in the garden.

For slow-growing plants like broccoli, celery, and kale, you can use seedlings and transplant them into the garden. This will give you an earlier harvest than seeds. Transplants also do a better job in case of resisting pests.

But don’t put your young plants in the beds when the frost is about to arrive. Put them in the garden after all the danger of frost has passed.

The final thing you can do is to know every detail of your vegetables so that you can easily choose what to put in your garden beds or what to not. Here I have given the details of 5 vegetables just to let you know how you can make a detailing list of the veggies. Just take a look!

Many beginners struggle with the thought that what vegetables are best for raised beds gardening. Raised bed vegetable gardening is becoming popular day by day because of its flexibility.

But many people choose the wrong vegetable for raised beds as a result they find the raised bed gardening too hard. So, it is important for you to know which vegetables will be best for your raised beds.

Here in this article, I am going to suggest to you some of the best vegetables for your raised beds vegetable garden. Let’s dig in deeper!

16 best vegetables to grow in your raised bed garden

After preparing the soil of your bed, you need to choose the raised bed crops. There may be a wide range of vegetables to grow but certain types of them grow well in the raised beds.

Some deep roots vegetables and root crops also need deep soil to grow. Some may need wider space to grow.  To your surprise, raised beds can give all these facilities. Besides, the soil temperature of the raised beds is perfect for growing vegetables.

So let’s see some delicious vegetables you can grow in your limited space raised beds.

Lettuce
For growing lettuce, you directly sow the seeds in your garden beds. It is good to sow the seeds in early spring as cool weather won’t bother lettuce. The warm soil of the beds will help the seeds to germinate quickly. You will get healthy seedlings for transplanting too.

If you collect a single leave from the plant during harvesting, you can get at least four or five pickings from each lettuce. It is better than pulling out the whole plant.

Sow new seeds until late June or early July and you’ll get fresh homegrown leaves for most of the summer.

Leafy Greens
Greens such as spinach and kale are some awesome vegetables to grow in your garden beds. These cool-weather crops need to be planted as soon as you can get a trowel into your soil. The warm bed soil of the raised beds can give you the chance to start earlier and get several harvests before the arrival of the summer.

Besides, the leafy greens don’t like soggy roots. So, it’s better to choose soil with proper drainage for the beds of greeny leaves.

Radishes
As a beginner, you can easily go with planting radishes in your garden beds. They are one of the quickest growing vegetables. You will get to see their rosy-red shoulders within just a few weeks after sowing.

Sow the seeds from March to mid-August at regular intervals and you will get constant supplies to add them to your salads or stir-fries.

Carrots
Growing carrots in your ground garden seem quite impossible because of the stones in your soil. The stones will cause the plant roots to ‘fork’. But in a raised bed, you can ensure that the growing medium is okay for them and they are getting enough ground space.

Sow the seeds from April to early July in the loose and roc-free soil and harvest them a couple of months later.

Parsnips

Like other root vegetables, they also hate the stones in the soil. They need loose rock-free soil where they can get the space to spread out. While growing root crops, it’s important to have complete control over the soil. Raised beds can be filled with the perfect soil to suit your requirements.

It is also free of rocks, clay, and debris and protects the growth or reduces the chance of having misshapen parsnips.

Beetroot
A fresh, tender, golf-ball-size, home-grown beetroot is all that you want, right? The plants thrive in raised beds. Just sow seeds directly into the soil or compost in early April and keep moist.

Sow more seeds at two-weekly intervals until June and you’ll keep harvesting beetroot over several months.

Potatoes
Potatoes will grow greatly in your garden beds as well as you can harvest them easily in this way. These plants will get benefit from hilling soil around the shoots during their growth. In a raised bed, it is more convenient to make the soil pile and so it is easier to grow potatoes.

However, potatoes need loose and loamy soil for proper drainage. They grow the best while spreading out in the soil. The loamy soil will save the potatoes from rotting as well.

Tomatoes
Tomato plants demand good, rich soil as well as proper watering. You can achieve both by planting them in a raised bed. They don’t need deep soil to grow but because of being a large plants, their roots need enough big space to grow.

Tomato plants need space horizontally and so they are able to grow in the shallowest raised bed also. You can sow the seeds indoors in February and then depending on the weather you can transplant the seedlings outdoor and start getting the harvest in early July.

Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes started to grow after two months of planting. Start with planting the seeds in the seedbeds and then plant them in the beds once the risk of spring frost has passed.

Provide a sturdy stake or support to the plants while planting.

Bush Beans
Bush beans are so easy to grow and ready to harvest just 50 to 60 days after seeding. They need warm soil and warm weather to grow. So you don’t need to rush for spring planting.

Sow the seed 2 inches apart from each other in the 18 inches apart rows. When the seedlings grow, plant the seedling 6 inches apart.

You can grow a rainbow of beans by planting green beans, purple beans, yellow beans, and even red varieties.

Peas
There are a few types of beans that you can grow like snow peas, sugar snap, and shell peas. Sow the seeds in early spring soon after loosening the soil about 4 to 6 weeks ago before the last expected frost.

Sow the pea seeds one or two inches apart in the double row keeping the row distance to six inches.

If your chosen variety plant needs to be staked, then you can use a pea trellis or hang netting before planting.

Onions
Onions are perfect to grow as you can fulfill the requirements of these needy plants by planting them in the beds. Onions need proper drainage and for this, they need a lot of organic matter during the long-term growing season.

By choosing onions for putting them in the raised beds, you can provide all these to your onions. You can use loose soil and add plenty of compost to the raised bed before planting onions.

Onions take almost about 100 days after sowing the seeds. So if you want them to grow faster start earlier with them and the warm soil of the raised beds will make them ready early for harvesting.

Garlic
Garlic is a ‘plant it and forget about it’ type vegetable. Tuck individual cloves in the ground beds during mid-autumn and do not harvest them until the next year’s early mid-summer. Though the plants are bothered by a few pests or diseases, they will grow well in your raised beds.

It’s better to buy garlic from your nearby local garden center than the sprayed ones from the supermarket for planting.

After planting you can add some mulch to hold the soil moisture and reduce weeds. Harvest them when half of the leaves have yellowed and hang them to cure in a dry spot for 2 weeks.

After that, they are ready for your kitchen.

Summer Squash
No matter how many summer squash plants you grow, you will always have more squash than you can eat. Even if you are planting only one plant!

Direct sow the seeds in a bed well amended with compost or manure after the last spring frost. You can harvest them once the fruits started to form and pick them often for peak quality and flavor.

For pattypan and round varieties, pick the fruits when they are 2 or 3 inches in diameter. Pick the zucchini when they are 4 to 6 inches long.

Cucumbers
The cucumber plant is a hot-weather veggie. Direct sow the seeds or seedlings in garden beds a week after the last spring frost. Provide them plenty of compost and water consistently for the highest quality cucumbers.

If you don’t have enough space, then you can try compact varieties of bush cucumbers like Pick-a-Bushel, Saladmore Bush, and Spacemaster. Just provide them a tomato cage to grow.

And in case you have a large space, then you can choose Suyu Long, Lemon, and Diva.

The Three Sisters
The combination of sweetcorn, beans, and squash are known as the three sisters. The tall sweetcorn plants give support for climbing beans, while a squash plant scrambles around their feed and suppresses the weeds as well as gives shade to the ground for moisture retention.

Spread a good layer of well-rotted horse manure over the bed before your plants go into the ground. That is all needed to give these three crops a boost.

They should then supply you with an excellent harvest of these summer crops towards the end of summer.

Best vegetable combination for raised beds

In the raised beds you are definitely going to plant more than one vegetable, right? But you can’t simply plant them in the place you like.

You can’t plant vining plants like cucumber with larger plants like tomatoes or corn as that can damage the growth of both plants. That’s it is important for you to know which plants you can plant together to grow healthy plants.

So, the following chart will help you with that. Go ahead and read it!

Few Last words for you

You can plant almost every type of vegetable in the raised beds but out of them, some are the best. Here I have tried to suggest to you almost every best vegetable for your raised beds. You can choose a wide variety of them too.

Also, be cautious while paring them in your beds.  Hope this was helpful for you. Happy gardening!

You know water is an essential element for your plant, right? It can save your plant from dying as well as it can drag your plants to death.

For this reason, you need to know the proper use of water in your vegetable garden. There are chances that as a beginner it will be difficult for you to understand the watering system. So, what can be the proper use of water in vegetable gardening?

Does a vegetable garden need water every day?

A vegetable garden doesn’t need water every day. Your garden needs the right amount of water to moist soil and to feed the plant.

However, you need to know what can be the right amount of water for your vegetable garden. You need to keep in mind some other factors that can affect your watering the garden.

Some more to keep in mind! Oh, don’t worry I will try to make it easy for you without missing the extra caring. Let’s dig in deeper!

The plants in your garden need water as much as you need water

The first thing that may knock on your mind is why you need to water your garden, right? Whether it is often or regularly, why do your plants need water?

It’s because they drink water just like we humans! Well, just kidding!

Plants need water as they are mostly made of water as well as it is needed to maintain their internal temperature. Plants need water for the photosynthesis process to create sugar and oxygen.

Besides, we all know the plant gets all the essential nutrients through the root cells. Without water, it is quite impossible for these nutrients to move inside the plants. So, lack of water means a lack of nutrients too!

So, it is quite impossible to have a successful vegetable garden without proper watering.

When your garden needs water?

Daily watering is not necessary but that doesn’t mean you can water it anytime you want. You need to understand the perfect time for watering as too much or too little water is harmful to your vegetable garden.

Watering time based on soil texture

Feel the soil of your garden as the type of soil can tell when it needs water. If you feel that the soil surface is dry, baked, or hard, it may be the right time for watering!

If your soil is sandy soil and well-drained, you can water your garden twice a week or more often during summer. If the soil is heavier clay soil or loamy soil that holds moisture properly, you can water it once a week.

If the soil is covered in a layer of mulch, you may water your garden less often.

Time to water and Weather Conditions

Early in the morning is the ideal time to water as the foliage can dry off by evening. If you water them at the night, the foliage stays wet for a long time, and diseases can attack. Besides, the soil surface that is under the sunlight for a long time, will leave the water to evaporation and so needs more irrigation.

A sunny and dry climate requires more water while ones with frequent rain may need less amount of water. Sometimes it is best for your plants to water immediately after a rain shower of about half-inch.

Because if you add water after the rain shower, you can ensure penetration down to 5 or 6 inches by providing enough water.

However, if you add water after one or two days of a rain shower, you will add water only to the surface. It won’t be able to moist the soil enough as frequent light water can’t build up a reserve of water in the soil.

Especially, during the summer season when the weather is hot and dry, the plants need more irrigation.

Watering time based on the growth of the veggies

There are many vegetables that need extra water when in flower or when fruiting. For instance, beans and peas, sweet potatoes, and corn require more water during flowering time.

Tomatoes and squash plants such as zucchini and pumpkins need extra water when their fruit is developing. Peas and beans will develop heavier pods if watered regularly after flowering.

But too much water at an early stage can harm the growth of peas and beans. Leafy greens and root vegetables require regular watering throughout their growth.

Notice the wilt of the plants

When the plants started to wilt and look droopy, it may be time for watering. But temporary wilting of the plants during the midday heat doesn’t indicate the need for water.

During very hot days some plants may go through a midday slump but that is for adapting to their environment. Check those wilted plants again in the evening.

If you find them to look perkier, you don’t need to water them.

Measurement of the water

You are checking the water timing now. Though you are applying water twice a week, you are applying water immensely. As a result, the roots have started to rot.

So, you have to know the right quantity of water.

Right quantity of water

One inch of water or rain per week is adequate water for your vegetable garden. For a 100 square-foot area, one inch of rain equals 62 gallons means a large amount of water. So try to find out the actual size of your garden.

If there is no rain and the area size of your garden is 600 square feet, you would need 372 gallons of water for a week.

Now there might be rain and the amount of rain was only about 3/8 of an inch. So, you need to supply the deficit amount of water to the garden which means the remaining 5/8 of an inch of rain. The 5/8 of 372 is almost about 232 gallons.

If the soil is sandy soil, water twice a week and divides the amount of water into two. That means amounts of water will be 31 gallons per 100 square feet.

Measure the right quantity

You can simply use a rain gauge that will let you know about the quantity of water your garden is receiving and how much more you need to add. Or else, you can use a clock and a bucket to figure out the water quantity.

For this, you need a bucket like a 5-gallon pail. Measure water into the pail and mark the actual 5-gallon level line. Now turn on your hose and attach your pistol grip or sprinkler with it to fill water into the pail. Keep the water volume as usual for watering the plants.

Next, check the time of filling water and find out how much time it takes to fill 5 gallons of water. It may be a matter of a few seconds. Do the same thing again to confirm the timing.

Suppose it takes 10 seconds to fill the pail. As you know for watering a 100 square feet garden, you need 62 gallons of water per week which means almost 12 pails of water and 120 seconds.

So, water your garden for almost 2 minutes and some more. It will be enough for the week.

Another way for overhead watering is to place 4 or 5 small containers around the garden while watering. When the water in the containers reaches up to the 1-inch mark means you are done with watering.

Or else, you can use a water meter on your hoes to know how much water you have used in your garden and that would be much more convenient.

Critical times to water and gallons needed

Though you don’t need to water your vegetable garden regularly, you need to take special care of some type of plant. Some plants need extra water during their growth or during summertime.

So here are some of that special vegetable plants that need extra irrigation!

Needs a lot of water during dry spells for a 5-foot row

• Cabbage: 2 gallons per week for head development during dry weather.
• Cauliflower: 2 gallons per week for best crop and during head development.
• Celery: 2 gallons per week for best crop
• Cucumbers: 1 gallon per week during flowering and fruit development.
• Squash: 1 gallon per week for the best crop.
• Peppers: 2 gallons of steady water supply per week from flowering through harvest.
• Lettuce/Spinach: 2 gallons per week for best crops.
• Radishes: 2 gallons of plenty of water per week for consistent moisture to enlarge the root.

Needs water at critical stages of development for a 5-foot row

• Beans: 2 gallons per week (depending on rainfall) when flowers form and during pod development
• Corn: 2 gallons per week only when tassels form and when cobs swell
• Peas: 2 gallons per week when flowers form and during pod-forming and picking
• Potatoes: 2 gallons per week when Tuber set and enlargement when the size of marbles
• Tomatoes: 1 gallon twice a week or more for 3 to 4 weeks after transplanting and when flowers and fruit form

What can too much water do to your veggies?

To avoid over-water check the soil moisture below the surface before watering as too much watering can cause the following difficulties:

• Plants may die due to wet roots
• Over-watering can invite some plant leaves diseases as well as slugs and snails to the garden.
• Valuable nutrients may wash away along with the soil by the overflow of water.
• Plants will develop a weak, shallow root system that is less drought-resistant.
• There will be a lack of oxygen when plants are sitting in the water for a long time

Besides this, your crops can wilt due to too much water or too little water. If you find the soil dry under the surface, water immediately and try to give some shade to your plants.

On the other hand, if there is an overflow of water, then look for the water drainage system. If the soil is waterlogged, use a fork to puncture the soil as well as don’t water until the soil becomes dry again.

How to water your vegetable garden

Deep root penetration is all you need in a healthy plant and when the water goes deep inside the soil, a deep root is formed. For watering the garden you need to saturate each plant hole first during seedling transplant.

When you water the garden, make sure that the soil is saturated enough to moisten the percolates several inches down. If you use a sprinkle for watering, then the leaves get wet easily due to overhead application. This could lead to various diseases of leaves as the leaves stay wet for a long time.

That’s why you could use the hoes directly on the ground near the plant root so that the water can go directly into the soil. You can place a rock or board under the water flow so that the soil will not get eroded. Or else, you can dig a little trench around the plants for easy water flow.

Drip irrigation is another way that you can use for watering. Using a hose or plastic tubes with small holes in them, you can supply a relatively small amount of water to the root zone.

You can place the hose down the garden rows and water will slowly supply maximum moisture without thinking about the period of watering.

Moreover, you can use this drip irrigation for watering your container vegetable gardens.

Some more watering tips!

Well, now it’s time to give you some extra tips as you love to get some extra, I know.

Use mulch for preserving the soil moisture

A heavily mulched garden will need much less frequent watering and will save your time! Besides, if your garden receives less than 40 inches of rainfall annually, then you should use mulch for preserving the soil moisture.

Mulch won’t let your water evaporate from the soil as it cools down the heat of the soil. But don’t mix the mulch with soil. Lay a thick layer of it on the soil surface and renew it for the entire growing season.

Water thoroughly

Don’t be a stingy person and water your garden thoroughly! If you only sprinkle water on the soil surface, it will need water more often as well as will build a shallow root system.

On the other hand, a thorough soak will penetrate the surface and ensure a healthy nourished plant.

Plan your garden layout properly

When you’re planning for the garden layout, try to put those thirsty vegetables in a different segment. This will be helpful for you to water them as well as the right amount of water will be ensured for the plants.

Moreover, you can use a special irrigation system for them if necessary during the summer months.

Few words before goodbye!

I hope now you know how to water your garden in a proper way. Don’t add too much or too little water!

Besides this, provide sufficient water according to your soil type, weather, and time of day. Some vegetables need frequent and shallow watering and some may need a large amount of water per week. So take care of that!

Moreover, be aware of the wet leaves as they can invite some diseases. That’s all for now and oh, don’t forget to add a mulch layer!

Happy gardening!

Raised bed gardening is an easy option for gardeners especially when you are a beginner in gardening. But a question always bothered the gardeners what growing medium will be the best one for a raised bed?

Should you choose topsoil or compost for your raised bed?

Both topsoil and compost are good for raised beds depending on your soil condition and usage of the products. Compost is richer in nutrients on the contrary topsoil can contain the nutrients of it much longer. Thus, the soil condition can make a difference in the case of receiving benefits. 

Native soil or your usual garden soil isn’t an ideal option for your garden beds. For this, you need to use the proper medium to make it more convenient, right?

There are more things to add about using compost and topsoil that you need to know to make the right choice, so, let’s dig in deeper!

Let’s know about topsoil

Why you will choose topsoil for your raised beds? I mean you can choose compost too, right? Well, before you decide on what to use, let’s know some more about topsoil.

What is topsoil?

Topsoil is basically filler soil and makes up the bulk of most soil mixes. It is the upper layer of the soil that is high in organic materials and nutrients.

It is formed by the slow weathering of rocks and decaying organic matter over thousands of years. Usually, the top 5 to 10 inches (13-25 cm) is considered topsoil.

Usage of topsoil

Topsoil is basically used for planting on the ground or on raised beds. It has a heavy texture that can hold moisture and water for a long period. Topsoil is regarded as a speck of dirt.

One of the popular uses of topsoil is to make a new plant bed or refurbish your garden. If you want to replenish the nutrients lacking in the plants, topsoil is a good choice. You can also get the desired depth of soil for your garden bed by using a topsoil layer on the top of the garden soil.

Besides, plants and flowers draw their nutrients from the dirt they live in and that’s why topsoil beds are best for it. Using topsoil for a bed vegetable garden is also a good choice, no doubt. The organic nutrients of topsoil will encourage your plant bed to grow and flourish thus providing a healthy medium for your plant,

Moreover, you can add sandy topsoil to the garden beds if there are water delivery issues. Sandy topsoil will help to improve the packed soil that is blocking the water to soak. You can also add some topsoil to the grassy lawn to make garden beds and start a garden from scratch.

Let’s know about compost

Okay, it’s time to know our other option compost. Compost is also beneficial for your soil. But, is it good to use in your garden beds?

Before reaching that point let’s know some basic things about compost.

What is compost?

Compost is made by decomposing organic materials into simpler organic and inorganic compounds in a process known as composting. Good compost contains beneficial nutrients and organisms.

It is basically a short-term processed product and is mostly used as a fertilizer in the soil.

Usage of compost

Compost is mainly considered a fertilizer. It is used for conditioning the soil and increasing the fertility as well as nutrients of the soil. It is also used for retaining the moisture of the soil.

Besides, it is good for suppressing plant diseases and pests. It encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that help in breaking down the organic matter to create humus.

Compost helps the sandy soil retain water to hold the soil moisture as well as helps the tightly bound particles of clay or silt soil to break. Using good quality compost can ensure the spread of roots, proper water drainage, and aeration.

It also prevents soil erosion and holds the soil’s nutrients for a long time.

Which will be better for your garden beds

After knowing about the topsoil and compost now it is time to know whether you should apply topsoil or compost for your garden bed.

When you should apply topsoil?

Basically, bulk topsoil is collected from fields or building sites or you can simply buy them from any local garden center. It’s sometimes combined with organic materials for making it more nutrient-rich. Whether full of clay or sand, this soil is used for building up soil height to the desired level.

The organic matter of the topsoil stays in the soil for a long time. But when the organic matter started to decompose, the sand and clay still remained. That’s why when you start a vegetable or flower garden from scratch, it is good to choose topsoil for making deeper beds.

Besides, you can put topsoil layers on the surface as much as the layer of soil you need. You can use it too for leveling the spot where you just removed a large tree.

However, topsoil may contain weed seeds and that can damage the growth of your planted crop. So, take care of this fact.

When should you use compost?

When you want to improve the quality of your soil, it is good to choose compost.  Compost is enriched with more nutrients than topsoil. Though the organic matter decomposed very soon, the nutrients are slow-released.

It has a neutral pH level and due to its microbial activity, it can prevent disease. Besides, it has no weed seeds, so, there is no risk of weeds. Whenever you are installing sod or sowing seed, you should add compost by trilling.

However, compost is not a good option to use as a whole for planting the crop. You need to mix compost with ground soil.

Can you use both for the garden beds?

Yes, you can use both for your garden beds. Deep inside the soil, you can put the compost and on top of that, you can make the layer of topsoil. Or else, you can mix the compost with the topsoil and then make the layer of soil.

This will help to amend the soil of your garden beds, provide essential elements, and also you will have the garden beds with the desired depth.

Extra materials to add to your topsoil and compost for raised beds

The soil matters a lot for the growth of your plant in a healthy way. To ensure rich soil beds topsoil or compost is not enough. You can put some additional materials with your topsoil and compost mix or to your individual topsoil or compost layer.

Let’s talk about them.

Leaves:  Well-aged, shredded leaves are one the best additions. They add great bulk. For using them in your garden, you need to shred the leaves and wet them down for about six months to one year. After that, they will rot and you will be able to mix them in the soil.

Mineralized Soil Blend:  Minerals are one of the most important ingredients for plants. Mineralized soil blend is widely available and, typically, locally sourced. You can choose to use a Granite or Azomite blend of soil.

Worm Castings: Worm castings aka worm manure are significantly higher in all the primary nutrients your plants need to thrive. In fact, they add five times the nitrogen, seven times the phosphorus, and ten times the potassium than ordinary topsoil.

Castings add one more layer of complexity to the overall soil makeup. It is great for making high-quality garden soil.

Mushroom Compost:  This dark brown, pliable organic material is a byproduct of ingredients in which mushrooms grow. Mushrooms are grown in mixtures of natural materials and by the time that materials get composted, bagged, and sold as mushroom compost; it’s light and crumbly.

It contains about 3% nitrogen and potassium, a bit of phosphorus, and other bonus elements, like magnesium and calcium. Since it’s a neutral pH (6.5-7.0), it won’t have an impact on your soil pH.

Ground Bark:  Ground bark is a good carbon source. It will break down over time, and its coarse texture provides space for the movement of water and oxygen through your garden beds. Ground bark brings a diversity of particle sizes that can really amp up your plant health.

Use shredded bark instead of fresh wood chips.

Composted Cow or Poultry Manure:  Composted manures added to today’s garden soil can contain synthetic herbicides that are still active, even in well-composted manure. For that reason, use cow or poultry manure but not horse manure. Horse manure can be a killer compost in your compost pile.

Peat Moss:   Peat moss is not a sustainable material. It takes hundreds of years for peat to develop in peat bogs. However, it can aid water retention, but once peat moss dries out, it is difficult to re-hydrate.

Some additional materials worth consideration as additives:

Biochar: Biochar does have some nutrient value. It’s a pure carbon source that doesn’t break down, but it does help make existing soil nutrients available to plants.

Fire Ash: If your fire ash is all wood-based, it can be a good addition to your compost pile. Don’t use charcoal fire ash, as that may not be good for your organic garden soil.

So, you can add the above-mentioned additional to your raised beds

Final words for you

As you can see that both topsoil and compost can work for making your flower or vegetable garden beds, you can choose them based on your soil texture and condition.

If you want to increase the soil level and you have higher soil quality, you can choose bulk topsoil. If you have clay soils, then you can use sandy topsoil and in the case of sandy soils, it is vice versa.

If your soil surface lack nutrients then you can mix bulk compost with your native soil or topsoil. There are many sources of compost you can use, cow manure, kitchen scraps, grass clippings, and so on.

Or you can use a bed soil mix that contains both topsoil and bulk of compost. The choice is yours.

But make sure your plants and plant roots get enough plant food. Hope this article helps you understand which one is the best, topsoil or compost for raised beds. Happy gardening!