Finally the time has come: The sun is sending its first tentative warming rays onto the earth, snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils and other early bloomers are sticking their heads out of the earth and announcing the approach of spring. Now it's time again to prepare the garden - and thus also the raised bed - for planting.
How do you optimally prepare a raised bed?
To prepare a raised bed, remove plant debris in the fall and fill it with shredded garden waste and compost. In spring, remove the cover, fill in fresh soil or compost and start planting frost-resistant vegetables.
Optimal preparation takes place in autumn
The optimal preparation for the new planting season, especially for raised vegetable beds, begins in the previous autumn. This is especially true if it is a compost raised bed. This must be filled continuously as it sinks heavily over the months due to the rotting process. For this reason, it is best to proceed as follows in autumn:
- Clean up the harvested raised bed.
- Remove about 10 to 15 centimeters of the top layer of soil.
- Remove plant debris such as rhizomes and weeds.
- Fill the raised bed with garden waste and other compostable material throughout the fall.
- Crush this before filling so that it rots faster.
- Sprinkle thin layers of fine, mature compost between the individual layers of waste.
- Cover the raised bed at the onset of the first frost.
- Mulch material, for example, but also spruce or fir branches are suitable for this.
Work to be done in the raised bed in spring
Prepared in this way, let the raised bed rest until March. As soon as it gets warmer, remove the covering layer of branches and/or mulch as well as any weeds that have grown in the raised bed. Now fill in a fresh layer of ripe, fine compost or good potting soil. You can mix these with horn shavings (€52.00 on Amazon) and enrich them with nutrients. This layer should be at least 15 to 20 centimeters thick. If the raised bed has sagged significantly more, this plant layer can also be thicker.
Which vegetables you can put in the bed now
You can then start planting the raised bed: With a cold frame or greenhouse attachment, the first plantings of early, frost-resistant vegetables are possible in February. These include, for example, early radishes, carrots, parsnips as well as early leafy vegetables and salads such as spinach and some lettuces. When choosing a variety, pay attention to the timing: The seeds should be able to be sown outdoors between February and March and should therefore be resistant to frost.
Tip
Water the raised bed thoroughly several times in the fall so that the freshly filled waste becomes muddy and composts more quickly. Watering also ensures that any cavities are closed.