Gardening in North Otago 20th July 2011

I notice the days are drawing out a little since the shortest day, yes, true not wishful thinking.
Being out there freezing at one with nature I notice the daily pattern!! weeell some day's I can say this is the case.
This week I have spent another good percentage of my time raking up old leaves, will autumn ever be a distant memory? it is important to get leaves out of every nook and cranny during winter because bugs are looking for places like this to winter over. Once leaves have been removed from the base of roses, hydrangea's and other deciduous plants I am applying manure enriched compost, (not covering the base of the plant) to be there in readiness for spring feeding.
I continue to re-sawdust rough pathways which is freshening these areas up and allowing me to find a lot of self sown plants in the old saw dust topping which I delight in potting up or transplanting.
This week I thought I would write about the benefits of raised gardens as there is not a lot happening except pruning an
Limited time to spend gardening is a sad fact for young families today but I am sure most would love to grow their own fresh produce.
Raised gardens are the saviors of gardeners with limited time or poor soil. The basic idea of a raised garden is instead of battling against poor soil conditions, why not build above ground where you have complete control.
Advantages of a Raised Bed Garden

Aside from the issue of gardening in poor soil, raised bed gardens offer several advantages:

Raised beds warm more quickly in spring, allowing you to work the soil and plant earlier.
Raised beds drain better.
The soil in raised beds doesn't get compacted, because they are constructed with accessibility in mind.
It's easy to tailor the soil for your raised bed to the plants you plant.
Contained raised beds are not difficult to construct using wood or (here in North Otago) Oamaru stone seconds as a surround. If you need time to think about a permanent position for a raised beds you could make some using straw bales as surrounds for a year. Once in place to the size required fill them with soil and compost and plant out.
A sunny location is a must for growing vegetables and herbs, and access around all sides with a wheel barrow is recommended for ease of maintenance, keep the garden around four feet wide, this way you can access the middle.
Access to water is essential,with drainage being greater raised gardens need good soakings.
A raised bed of six inches above the soil is enough to grow leaf vegetables and herbs and at least ten inches for root veg but I don't see the sense in not raising it to a height that will benefit the amount of digging and bending you do.

keep an eye on what is on offer for planting now, this is the very best time for choice when buying deciduous tree's and shrubs.
Cheers, Linda.