Adding tons of compost, shredded leaves and other forms of organic matter is the only way to transform less-than-ideal soil into something truly fine. Unfortunately, however, the transformation can take years, and hauling all that organic matter in while hauling all the rocks out can take its toll on the fittest of gardeners.
Rather than try to create a garden from the bottom up, why not create one from the top down by using raised beds? You can garden in raised beds with any soil type, but if your soil is rocky, compacted or full of clay, raised beds may be the best option. I'm not much of a handyman, so if I can build a raised bed, you can too. You'll need a hammer, galvanized nails, a carpenter's level, a pencil, a saw and some lumber.
- Make sure you buy a rot-resistant variety of lumber such as cedar, cypress or redwood. The best sizes are two-inches thick by eight, 10, or 12 inches wide, and either eight or 10 feet long. You'll need three of them for each raised bed. What's great about building this particular raised bed frame is that you have to make only one cut with the saw. You see, two of the boards will form the sides of the bed, and the third board, cut in half, will be used for the ends of the bed.
- Measure one of the boards to find the midpoint, and mark it with a pencil. Then take your saw and cut away.
- Now you're ready to assemble the box. Lay one of the side boards on its side, take one of the end boards and line it up flush, then start nailing them together. Line up the nails in an offset pattern to prevent the wood from splitting, and use at least three and as many as five nails to fasten each board. You could also use wood screws, which actually hold better, but I've never had any problems with my frames coming apart, and I've never used anything but nails.
- If you happen to live in an area where gophers love to gather and eat your prized plants, you might want to consider one more step. Cut a piece of hardware cloth or chicken wire three to four inches larger than the inside dimensions of your raised bed frame. Lay the wire inside the frame, bending the edges up slightly, and fasten with staples or nails. The gophers can't get through the wire, but plant roots can.
- Place the raised bed frame where you intend to leave it, ideally with the long sides running north and south for maximum sunlight, and with enough room between each frame to get a mower or wheelbarrow between them. Mark the perimeter with a shovel. Then remove the frame and begin digging out the sod to a depth of three to four inches. Finally, stab a pitchfork into the soil and rock it back and forth to loosen the subsoil. You can make a raised bed frame virtually any size you like, but I'd suggest you make it no wider than four feet. That way you can easily reach from either side to the center of the bed. If you make your frame longer than 10 feet, place stakes along the side boards to prevent bulging or warping.
- Set the frame on the ground and use a level to ensure that all four sides are even, scooping out a little soil here and there until you've got it just right. Begin filling the frame with equal parts of compost or shredded leaves and topsoil. Pure compost will work fine, assuming you've got enough to spare. Fill the frame to the top because the soil will settle after you water a few times. Then you're ready to plant.
One of the great things about raised beds is it's easy to install other structures onto them that make gardening easier or extend the growing season. For instance, you can create a trellis using garden stakes and some netting for growing vining crops like cucumbers. You can place wire or PVC hoops over the bed and drape them with fabric to provide plants with a few degrees of protection from freezing temperatures. You can even erect a simple wooden frame covered with shadecloth, so lettuce and other greens can grow during the hot summer months.
