Your raised vegetable garden is likely one of the favorite projects you have completed. However, by now you have also likely discovered that there can be some drainage issues in these gardens. Without making any changes these gardens will become frustrations in no time. These raised vegetable garden water drainage tips will make it much easier for you to manage your garden.
Raised Vegetable Garden Water Drainage Tips
When building a raised vegetable garden, you will have multiple things to consider. First, and foremost, you will need to determine how deep you need your bed to be to accommodate your plants. Some plants need much deeper soil than others for the plants to grow and stay upright properly when vegetables begin to grow on their stems. Because of this, it is important to figure out what type of drainage system you plan to use in advance. If using the gravel method, you’ll want to add a few extra inches of depth to your raised vegetable garden bed to accommodate the extra gravel in the bottom. A garden gravel such as Marble Maze River Gravel is just perfect for indoor or outdoor vegetable gardens.
Use Gravel in the Bottom-For many, spreading loose gravel or pebbles along the bottom of their raised vegetable garden is the best choice for drainage. This allows the water to filter through easily, but not too fast. When you water your plants and don’t have that extra layer on the bottom, you can often see the water run right through without being absorbed by the plants themselves.
Choose small gravel or pebbles to allow the water to filter through slower. For slightly faster filter, you can choose larger gravel or rocks. Placing these at the bottom of your raised bed in an even layer will help your plants have time to absorb the water. Most raised vegetable gardens have a layer of wood or chicken wire on the bottom. Make sure that you have some space between slots of wood or the chicken wire for the water to drain past the gravel.
If you want to go all out, you can also invest in HypoHydro Clay Pellets to go in the bottom of your raised vegetable garden. While they are traditionally used in hydroponic systems, they could potentially be beneficial as a help for drainage issues you have in your raised vegetable garden.
Line with Plastic and Cut Holes-Another, often less expensive, option is to line the raised vegetable garden with plastic sheeting. You can then cut small holes throughout the plastic to allow water to seep through. Doing this will work great for those who don’t have the money for or access to a lot of gravel. When you place plastic in the bottom, it will help trap some of that moisture into your soil, but the small holes throughout will allow excess water to slowly drain as needed.
Mix a Different Blend of Soil- Some prefer to use a heartier blend of soil that includes extra clay to help slow own the drainage issues in their raised vegetable garden. Garden water drainage problems can come from soil that is too moist, too thin, or that doesn’t have enough natural rock or gravel intermixed. To help your soil absorb water and nutrients, you can hand mix a slightly different blend of soil that includes some traditional garden soil, potting mix, and clay.
Another common method is to layer the types of soil you use in your raised vegetable garden. A thin layer of clay in the bottom topped with your heartier potting soil and a top layer of garden soil can help water to make it’s way down and to the roots easily, without draining too fast.
I recommend using Espoma Organic Potting Mix as at least a mid-layer in your raised beds. This blend is a great choice for any raised vegetable garden or container garden. This is a great brand of organic gardening products that definitely does the trick to help provide a great hearty soil for your plants to grow. You may also find coconut coir bricks to be useful in blending for a different nutrient rich soil for our plants.
Build One Side Lower- For some, water sitting in the bottom of their raised vegetable garden is still a problem even with drainage tips like those listed above. If this is the case, you may be inclined to lower one side of your raised vegetable garden to help encourage water flow to one end. You can then include a drain pipe, or larger drain opening in that end to encourage water to flow that direction instead.
Place Beds in the Right Areas- Some people don’t have problems with their raised beds draining water off too fast for their plants, but still have issues with the drainage creating a muddy mess underneath the bed. This can be an eyesore if on your lawn, and can be a frustration to clean up at the end of the season. Some great solutions for this are to simply move our beds or add something underneath the bed to protect the ground.
Adding a layer of gravel underneath your raised vegetable garden is a great way to keep your ground from becoming muddy, and can look decorative in your yard. Another option is to move your raised bed to a corner of your yard where the muddy patch underneath won’t be a distraction or problem. Having a great raised vegetable garden is worth the fuss of moving your bed until it is in just the right spot.
If you have been struggling with how to make sure your raised vegetable garden has proper drainage these raised vegetable garden water drainage tips are a great place to begin. While they may not be perfect for every bed, they can work for many common issues. Just remember that what is more important is understanding what kind of water level your individual plants may need. Some plants prefer moist soil and may need less chance to drain. Others may prefer a dryer soil and so would need a raised vegetable garden with more drainage options. Whatever your plants desire, we have an option for you.
Have you ever tried planting in a raised garden bed?
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