How To Prepare Your Raised Beds for Spring

Now is the time to think about preparing your raised beds for spring planting.

As I write this article in January, rain is pounding against the window, but warmer days are surely not that far away!

Time to think about getting those raised beds all spruced up and ready to nurture spring crops.

And if your raised beds are currently under several inches of snow right now, well, at the very least you can start making plans.

After all before too long, the snow will be gone and it’ll be time to pull on your wellies and get among it again, so let’s get going on some ideas to help you prepare your raised beds for spring planting.

vegetables in raised beds
Credit for image to Dreamstime

No Soil Stomping!

Just a quick but important point: avoid walking on the soil in your raised beds.

You want your soil to be aerated and fluffy in texture for optimal growing conditions, so compacting it is not good.

Think about that when you’re constructing raised beds: you want them to be narrow enough so that you can reach the middle without having to stand on the soil.

If that’s just not practical for your situation, then you can always place a plank as a kind of landing strip down the middle of the bed to stand on.

Of course, that means you’re losing that patch of ground in terms of productivity, and that dreaded enemy- WEEDS- is likely to grow around the plank.

Maintain the Perimeter of the Beds

Right- let’s get started on those spring preparations: finish your coffee, pull on your wellies and step out into the garden.

Take a big lungful of early spring air and survey the scene. No, don’t back into the house because it’s chilly! There’s work to be done!

Begin by checking out the sides of your raised beds to see what winter has done to them.

Heavy storms and winds may have caused the sides of wooden raised beds to bow outwards.

This excellent article tells you how to fix the problem, so you may need to check it out.


However, if you buy commercially produced raised beds, then this won’t be a problem.

Apply Non-toxic treatment to wooden raised beds to preserve them.


Remove or Contain Invasive Roots

Now that your raised beds are spruced up and shipshape, check that roots haven’t invaded them from nearby trees or weeds such as horsetail.

When you’re initially creating raised beds it’s a good idea to keep them well away from trees and shrubs, as their roots can often travel further than you’d think.

Get out your trusty spade and dig them out.

At the very least they’re going to take nutrients out of the soil and away from your crops.

Even worse, they may strangle or crush the roots of your precious plants. So get to work and show them no mercy.

Even better- get someone else to work while you pop inside into the warm house for a mug of coffee.

woman in garden
credit for image to Dreamstime

Tackle Your Green Manure

Now, if you’re a smart gardener- which I’m sure you are- you’ll have grown a crop of green manure in your raised beds, following harvesting your crops last year.

If you’re not sure what green manure is and you’d like to learn about its nutrient-rich lusciousness, then pop over to my article.

Growing green manure is a great way to prepare your raised beds for spring.

This cover crop will help to suppress the evil of weeds and give your soil a great dose of nitrogen-rich organic matter.

There are different ways to work with green manure, but the most important factor is to catch it before it turns to seed.

Then cut it down close to soil level with your shears.

The cuttings can be thrown onto the compost heap to rot down ready for next year.

The remaining stubble can be chopped up with a hoe. However, if your back is not at all happy with the prospect of hard labour, many gardeners leave those roots there and cover the bed with a thick layer of mulch.

Then you can cover the bed with black plastic or cardboard and go back into the house for coffee.

If you’d like to learn about how to create your own magic in the form of mulch, you can read that here.

It can take around two to three weeks to smother that cover crop, or longer if the weather is still cool.

So plenty of time for you to stay indoors and study your planting guides and seed catalogues.

The black plastic or cardboard is an important step to preparing your raised beds for spring planting, as it helps the soil to warm up to an ideal temperature for germination, which is 20-30 degrees C.

Covering your soil also helps to prevent weed seeds from sprouting.


Evaluate Soil for Amendments and Replenish the Beds

Your next step in preparing your raised beds for spring planting to to evaluate the quality of your soil.

During the winter months, you’ll probably find that the level of soil in your beds has dropped. Therefore, now is the time to top it up.

Here is the best recipe:

  • 3 parts organic matter- compost, leaf mould ,well-rotted manure, coffee grounds
  • 2 parts sharp sand ( add twice as much sand if you’re planning to grow alpines, bulbs and herbs, as they need better drainage)
  • 7 parts topsoil.

You’re looking for your soil to be crumbly, light and moist in texture, rather than clumpy.


Test Your Soil for Acidity

Great stuff! Now, the next step to prepare your raised beds for spring planting involves testing the PH of your soil to ensure that the balance is right for your intended crops.

If you’re not sure what PH levels your intended crops need, just check the seed packets.

For further information about PH levels, then read this article, which explains the whole issue in detail.

To find out the PH level of the soil in your raised bed, purchase this simple kit.

vegetables in raised bed
Credit for image to Dreamstime

Add Soil Amendments To Prepare Your Raised Beds For Spring

If the PH is below 6.2 then you can add lime, to bring it up to the desired level of 6.5- 6.8. Dolomite is best.

You want to add this several weeks before planting your crops and cover newly-limed raised beds with plastic during heavy rains to prevent your newly-added lime from just running off.

Soil Too Alkaline?

If your soil is too alkaline, then you can add peat moss to make it more acidic.

Add Manure and Compost

It’s a great idea to add manure and compost to your raised beds a good couple of weeks before you’re ready to begin planting to create a great, organic environment to nurture your seeds.

Then cover your raised beds until you’re ready to sow your seeds.

Install Support for Tall Crops

Nearly there! If you’ve completed all the previous steps, then with care and watering, your little plants are going to love you lots!

They will thrive in that great organic nest you’ve built for them. However, chill your boots a moment: are you thinking about planting climbing plants, such as tomatoes, peas and beans?

If so, now is the time to install those trellises and supports. This means that you won’t be disturbing the roots of your new plants.

green garden
Credit for image to Dreamstime

Delay Spring Planting Despite Early Warm Weather

Well, now that you know how to prepare your raised beds for spring planting, you’re probably chomping at the bit to get out there and get on with it.

But, hold off, gardener friend- don’t be fooled by a few freaky days of early spring warm sunshine!

We all know, from bitter experience, that a few warm days in February won’t bring the temperature of the soil up to correct growing conditions.

Far better to wait until late March, when the days lengthen and the sun becomes warmer.

Then it is a good time to think about planting your seeds. A good idea is to check the planting calendar for your local area.

Recommended reading

Top 8 Materials To Create Attractive and Productive Raised Beds

Affiliate Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. Should you click on them and make a purchase then I will make a small commission, at no extra cost to you. However, it will go some way towards funding my expensive coffee habit, for which I will be forever grateful.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments