5 Beginner Raised Bed Garden WATERING MISTAKES to Avoid

In this video I will share 5 common raised bed garden watering mistakes. Gardening in raised beds is easier because you have control over more variables and can grow more in less space, but watering is the thing that tripos most people up. So watch this video and avoid all 5 of these raised bed gardening watering mistakes and I include a bonus on how to fix hydrophobic soil!

MENTIONED/RELATED VIDEO
7 Beginner Raised Bed Garden Mistakes

DIGITAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:46 - Under watering your raised bed garden
02:07 - How to water a raised bed garden
03:37 - Best time of day to water a raised bed garden
04:25 - Avoid inconsistent watering
05:36 - Best way to mulch your raised bed garden
07:24 - BONUS: Fixing Hydrophobic soil

[Smr]

Thank you for this video. I have had to learn this. I always seemed to overwater everything so I was surprised to find out that I was underwatering my raised beds. My beds are 2 feet deep and so have excellent drainage. My plants were not growing and were yellow. I learned that underwatering can also cause your plants to be yellow. One trick I learned is to plant sweet alyssum in my beds to act as a kind of canary in the coal mine. If the sweet alyssum is not blooming then I’m underwatering. The added bonus is that hover flies love the sweet alyssum and they eat any aphids that are on my plants. It’s a win-win.

[ajwilk]

I have a drip irrigation system for my raised bed tomato garden. The recommendation to place lines under the mulch made sense for soaker hose, but I don’t do that for my drip tips for a few reasons. First, having the spaghetti lines above the mulch allows me to move them around and adjust flow as needed. Second, I can visually inspect if there is a problem, such as a clogged or damaged tip or a leak, which you could not do if they were shielded from view. And lastly, buried emitters will tend to get clogged by debris or algae. So I guess this recommendation was in the context of soaker irrigation. Yes, UV and solar radiation will shorten the lifespan of an exposed system, but I think the tradeoff is worth it.

[diannasgardenmenagerie]

Honestly, the English garden just looks stunning!!!! Just beautiful! You are a one of a kind garden artist!!!!

[jenniferallred]

Love the house with the thatched roof!

[GrowingonVancouverIsland]

Your thumbnail soaker hose grid was actually the BEST thing I have ever done in my vegetable garden. Changed my gardening outcomes and made my production 4 times better

[sharonknorr]

So we live in northern Colorado where it gets very hot and dry most summers and I garden in stock tanks up in the foothills. Have dealt with hydrophobic soil and it is terrible. We have been trying to get automatic watering going, but have had problems. So how I water now is to hand water, but with the soaker setting on the nozzle held under the plant so a lot of water is delivered without being wasted. I also mulch and interplant, so not a lot of open space in the beds. It is tedious, but like weeding, I find it to be relaxing and gives me a chance to really look closely at all my plants every few days. I also use a water meter now to see how deep the water is going - before, my finger told me it was ok, but a few more inches down, it was totally dry. We have a new plan for the soaker hoses, so we shall see what happens this year. Fingers crossed.

[gardengatesopen]

Long time gardener here,
and I basically already knew all the stuff you're talking about in this video.
I knew I would before I even clicked on it.

(Don't ya just hate it when people say stuff like that!!)

I promise, that all the above is not meant as a know-it-all-snarky thing to say!

Bcuz -
The reason I clicked,
and KEPT watching,
was bcuz I just wanted to soak in
(ha! SOAK IN!! 👀!
See what I did there!!)
all those gorgeous fox gloves you've got going on!!
I knew they'd be there!!!
Standing there so tall...
Waving their pretty Bells around!

You (and they) did NOT disappoint!!!

JUST GORGEOUS BRIAN!!!
BRAVO! 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[delm]

Side note. I love those Foxgloves. Tallest I ever seen. Admits I got a bit sidetracked admiring them and had to relisten to the end. Beautiful garden you have.

[simongrunchy]

Most gardeners are missing the boat. Consider using discarded upright Freezers or refrigerators for a raised bed. They are just the right size for weeding and harvesting at waist height, making them ideal for wheelchair access or seniors, or those with back problems. One or a dozen, it 's up to you. It took me two weeks on Craigslist to get an even dozen boxes, and that was being picky. No stainless steel, or black refrigerators, no side-by-sides, only white boxes. They come insulated, and the type of soil they have is up to you. No more gophers, moles, rabbits, either! Just remove and discard the doors and shelves, fill and plant. Water with a garden hose, or plumb them with an irrigation system from below. Ideal for an apartment with a small patio, or a big yard. No more bending to weed! Best of all, they're free, and you keep them out of the landfill! Details to your questions if you like

[connieeneix]

Unfortunately I have to water with a hose because I can’t do a drip system unless I want hoses strung all over the patio. My yard isn’t that big. I do have an area along one side of a fence that I would love to add raised beds too but no water available there. I need to ask my nephew who’s a plumber if he could add a spigot over there and I’d be set. Thanks for sharing your time and inspiration

[wendyburston]

That would be so expensive to water 20 minutes a day. Two beds. Didn't have enough mulch in the bed with brassicas and took the shade cloth off a few weeks ago and the soil is definitely hydrophobic. The other bed had onions, carrots, lettuce and a volunteer acorn squash growing in it and it feels moist and still has a bit of shade cloth. Thanks for the info. I'll try to correct the dry bed this fall and then cardboard it.😊👍🙏🇨🇦

[smb]

Incredible gardens! For 25 years I have been adding food scraps to my soil (I'm a cook) and all 5 gardens are full of worms. I use wood chips from a local tree firm. We're in Nashville - the 5th rainiest city in the nation. Last year I used irrigation 9 days. The past few weeks it's rained at least 4 days / week. I plant on a good day (mid 80s), it rains the next day and plants explode. I use raised beds for 1) ease of working and 2) controlling weeds and soil. My biggest watering problem involves seedlings but I'm learning (thanks to you).

[juliehorney]

One of our new tall, raised Birdies beds went hydrophobic last year. I soaked the snot out of it, leaving a hose on in different spots for a long time. The problem reversed. I do suspect the hugelkulture layers in this new bed were adding to the problem. Already had straw mulch but it was a coarser texture than I had used previously in other tall raised beds. So important to be checking our gardens every day!

[esthersdaughterlong]

Thank you Brian for the tips. I'm using grow bag's and here in Florida it's hot and no rain. I have to water every day.

[wangchukster]

Thank you for the By the way, Can we water the plants in winter when temperatures is freezing.

[michellewelch]

I regularly recommend your videos to my gardening group. A fount of info, and just a nice place to visit!

[TheProdigalGardener]

Cedar and pine animal bedding is a great mulch. It’s inexpensive and comes in a bulk size which allows you to mulch a lot of beds. It breaks down beautifully. I’ve been using it for years in my garden.

[brittawrolson]

Thanks again for the refresher, Brian. I always learn something new👍🏻

[patkrueger]

I did not put anything on the bottom of my raised beds. Built them in my garden on top of my native soil. Filled them with compost leaves etc. soil is great. Thanks for a resh

[GardeningandMyDailyLife]

Rất vui được nghe bạn chia sẻ kinh nghiệm làm vườn với mọi người 👍.