Gardening Help
Building a Garden (8 Available)
The size and height of your beds depends greatly on what you are growing and whether or not you will be using the soil beneath the beds as part of the rooting depth. When you draw up your garden plan, remember that our planter boxes and raised garden beds come in hundreds of possible shapes and sizes, so don’t be afraid to get creative!
- Do I need to dig or prepare the ground below raised beds?
- What are the benefits of raised bed gardening?
- How deep should raised beds be?
- How wide should garden paths be?
- How do I build an accessible garden?
- How do you build raised beds on a slope?
- Can I build raised garden beds on rooftops?
- How many raised beds does it take to feed a family?
Planting and Maintenance (6 Available)
Whenever possible, it's a good idea to get an early start on spring by growing seedlings (starts) indoors. Depending on how much natural light you can provide them, they may need artificial lighting to assist their growth. It's a good idea to be aware of what plants grow well together and which combinations should be avoided, and to learn ways that you can use cover-crops to enrich soil and deter pests from harming your plants.
- How can I make my vegetable garden more productive?
- What is companion planting and how can it benefit my garden?
- How can I extend the growing season?
- How do I find my climate zone for gardening?
- How often do I need to water raised beds?
- How is drip irrigation used with raised beds?
Soil and Compost (3 Available)
Understanding the basics of good soil and compost is crucial to the health of your garden. Healthy soil maximizes the output of small garden spaces, a surface cover of mulch thwarts pests and regulates moisture, and composting keeps a cycle of nutrients readily available to your plants. A raised bed or planter needs to have drainage material (such as pebbles) layered along the bottom, a "loamy" mixed soil filled nearly to the top, with room for a few inches of space for mulch.
- How do I prepare healthy soil for my garden?
- How can I improve soil drainage and aeration?
- Where can I buy soil and compost for raised beds?
Weeds and Pest Control (11 Available)
Part of the garden planning process should include ways to fend off the worst pests and weeds in your area. This may include putting up netting, fencing, interplanting crops that pests avoid, laying down hardware cloth before putting up a raised beds to defend against burrowing animals, or in the case of severe risk of intrusion, much more aggressive tactics.
- How can I prevent weeds from growing in my garden?
- What is companion planting and how can it benefit my garden?
- How can I get rid of slugs and snails in my garden?
- How do I keep insects from eating my garden?
- How do I keep burrowing pest such as gophers out of my garden?
- How do I keep deer out of my garden?
- How can I keep rabbits out of my garden?
- How do I get rid of mice and rats in my garden?
- How do I keep dogs out of my garden?
- How do I prevent fungal diseases in my garden?