Do you have a small backyard? Do you wish you had the space for a garden, but don’t want to sacrifice your entire yard to be able to grow your favorite vegetables? Well, an option for you is to garden is a small raised bed. When you garden in a raised bed system, one of the most important things to consider is the soil that you are going to use. One of the major reasons that smaller spaces have better production than larger gardens is that a person adds the soil mix or potting mix so it will have more nutrients and better ability to have the correct moisture content than your soil in the ground. I you would use soil out of the ground around you, when you water it, all of the air pockets fill with water, removing essential air from the roots, drowning the plant. Potting soils have additional ingredients such as peat moss that will hold sufficient moisture for plant growth, but drain quickly to still create the vital air pockets. With the better availability of nutrients, plants can be planted closer together since they don’t have to compete as much for what they need. When you plant them closer together, weeds won’t be able to take hold and cause a problem. Another plus to container gardening is that since it is a raised bed for the plants, the soil warms quicker than conventional gardens. This allows for earlier planting and earlier harvest times.
There are downsides to gardening in small spaces though. First, you will have to water more frequently. Smaller spaces do not have as much of a water reserve to be available to the plants, and with more plants competing for what they need in a smaller space, frequent watering is a must. Also, with frequent watering, some of the plants essential nutrients may be leached from the soil, so you will also need to fertilize more often than a conventional garden. For most people though, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. For more information, I will be having a program on small space and container gardening, Thursday at noon at the Great Bend activity center, and Friday at one at the Great Bend senior center. I will be talking about several different ways to garden in a smaller space, and be able to answer questions to help you get started. I hope to see you there.
Alicia Boor is the Agriculture and Natural Resources agent for Barton County K-State Research and Extension. You can contact her by e-mail at aboor@ksu.edu or calling 620-793-1910.