Installing new garden beds // what I did wrong the last time!

[@user-hd6ux2xg8x]

Loved this ty

[@jacqsbackyard1562]

Thank you! I'm glad you found it useful in some way. 😊

[@whatthirteen1]

I don't know if your area farmers use persistent herbicides but ask and avoid. Nice garden

[@jacqsbackyard1562]

Yes, I'm still learning what chemicals are being used around the place. Thank you.

[@siobhancapell]

I'm just about to set up some garden beds and was planning to use sticks, etc on the bottom. I'd love to hear why you didn't like this method.

[@jacqsbackyard1562]

Of course! To be honest, I don't know if it was the sticks per se, but I had a lot of green stuff in my beds when I first built them. Green branches, grass clippings etc. I had some trouble with my plantings in that initial season not producing well, leaves curling, things like that. When I googled it, I found a source that said that if you had too much stuff in the bottom of your beds, near the plants root zones, it daws too much nitrogen out of the soil. Of course, there is a multitude of conflicting information out there. I just didn't want to chance another poor season this time round, so I left the 'stuff' out.

[@siobhancapell]

@@jacqsbackyard1562 Thanks for the feedback. I've heard about the nitrogen draw down too, but to hear it directly from someone who's experienced it gives me more pause than vague anecdotes. I will endeavor only to use the older logs which have been sitting around for a few years. Great video. Thanks again!

[@SouthCarolinaBetty]

3 years ago I put fresh wood as well as old wood in a number of raised beds and 2 Hugelkulture beds, and was not happy with the plants in any of those beds, while the plants in beds with only soil thrived. I noticed there were an excessive number of all sizes and kinds of ants around those beds with wood. When I removed the soil from those beds this year, there were ants living in the large pieces of old wood and among the twigs, but not among the large fresh pieces of wood. Regardless of the cause, such as my hot and humid climate, I will never put wood inside garden beds again. The garden beds are located too close to my 90 year old house, and a carpenter ant infestation is not what I want to grow.

[@jacqsbackyard1562]

@SouthCarolinaBetty ah interesting! I didn't notice ants, but definitely had poor results in those beds. Yes, we keep beds away from the house too as termites can be an issue here.