So You Think Raised Beds Will Keep Me Out?

I'm getting a little fed up with this whole raised beds gardening thing.  It seems to me you humans don't want to share your lettuce seedlings with me anymore.  Can't think why!  Anyway to this end you have all been very busy building raised garden beds into which to grow your veg and then fortifying them with things like woodchip paths (I absolutely cannot stand trying to walk across those) and copper piping to give me a little electric shock should I ever get as far as the edge of your precious raised beds.  I am now considering ways of abseiling into your raised beds using clematis and honeysuckle!  I am also going to lay eggs in the compost heap, that way I can smuggle my babies into your beds through the back door when you mulch them in the autumn!

Of course, besides keeping gastropods at bay, raised garden beds have many other advantages for human gardeners.  The first is that you need not be restricted in terms of what you grow by the soil conditions in your garden.  Acid lovers can be bedded down in tailor made raised beds full of ericaceous compost and right next to that you can have a bed full of lime loving brassicas!  Stony soil need not impede the growth of root crops such as carrots and parsnips, you can simply fill your raised garden beds with lovely, crumbly finely sifted top soil.  Root crops will romp away in these conditions and you will have much greater success with germination rates.

Perhaps the greatest advantage for humans who are pressed for time and have many other commitments is that you don't have to spend a great deal of time cultivating the soil.  Deep double digging can often be what puts new gardeners off having a go at growing their own.  Raised garden beds however, obviate the need for double digging, firstly because they are not walked upon meaning that no soil compaction occurs and secondly because it is very easy to just top up raised beds with good quality soil and home-made compost. 

Build some raised beds!

Raised beds can also be planted more intensively than you might think, enabling gardeners to reap substantial harvests from really quite small spaces.  In fact, it is probably worth looking at how the square foot gardening movement uses raised beds.  This system allows gardeners to grow small amounts of many varied crops, this is often more satisfactory for the nuclear family of today.  Traditional gardening can lead to gluts that few small families can consume.  So intensively planting up a raised bed can provide just enough of any one crop throughout the growing season.  Plants thrive in these close plantings because they make their own living mulch and conserve water and nutrients and also create a warm micro-climate where they support each other's growth.  Crops are rarely in the beds long enough for soil borne diseases to accumulate.

A Cosy Greenhouse

Now, my dear humans, I've told you all about cold frames and now it is time to clue you in on the whole greenhouse thing. These obviously are a bit more expensive than a cold frame, but then they will repay you with yummy crops for years to come and you can all say 'yah boo sucks!' to the awful British weather.  (Personally, or gastropodly, I'm rather fond of rain.)  The thing with greenhouses is that you can hope to grow a far wider variety of crops and you are more likely to be successful in bringing them to a ripe fruition.  You will also be able to grow hardier crops even in the middle of winter if you get your sowing times right.

When it comes to choice you will be spoilt.  Most practical minded gardeners opt for polycarbonate greenhouses as these tend to be more affordable and in many ways are more practical.  Polycarbonate is tough, and I'm an expert on tough shells!  This is especially good news if you are erecting a greenhouse on an allotment, a glasshouse is just an invitation to passing vandals.  But a polycarbonate greenhouse has other advantages over glass such as improved light diffusion, preventing sun scorch on your plants and also it boasts much better insulating qualities. 

You may choose to heat your greenhouse in winter, but beware this can be costly!  Practical actions could be taken to decrease heating costs. A lean-to greenhouse will lose much less heat than a standalone greenhouse, as the brick within the lean-to will probably be much better insulated. Glass panes tend to lose much more heat than the new twin-wall polycarbonate glazing. Insulate your greenhouse with a bubble polythene wrap. This alone can alone can cut heating bills in half. Heat could be lost through gaps within the framework, before winter comes make certain gaps are sealed and any cracked panes are replaced.

Remember one of the most important issues in greenhouse maintenance is hygiene.  Oh yes, if you don't have regular clear outs you run the risk of building up diseases and pests.  (Not me, of course!)   That means not leaving old pots lying around full of exhausted compost, regularly hosing the greenhouse down and wiping clean the glazing.  You would be surprised also at how much light can be lost from dirty glazing. 

The Beauty Of Cold Frames

Obviously I'm very keen for you humans to get on with some early sowings, I dream of lettuce you know, pea shoots and carrot tops are pretty good too!  It might still be cold but the sowing season is a hectic time for gardeners and finding space for pots and trays bursting with new but fragile life can be pretty tricky. 

A cold frame is a fantastic idea.  Use cold frames to overwinter plants, expand the growing season, plant seeds, and acclimatize plants and flowers. Cold frames present a practical stage post in between greenhouse (or sunny sills!) and variable outdoor temperatures. Cold frames provide tender plants, strikings and young plants with shelter from the weather, particularly strong gusts, heavy rain and light frosts. Freezing conditions particularly can blight and damage plant tissues, a coldframe or cloche is really critical serving as buffer that modulates the air temperature inside the frame. So long as it is well-built, effectively located and well-regulated, the coldframe will increase your growing season by a matter of months each side.

Unheated cold frames are perfect for numerous uses all through the year - propagating any cuttings you've striked at almost any point in time, hardening off young plants sown in the green house before they can be planted outdoors in the very early summer months and delivering winter shelter to plants like penstemons together with other half-hardy flowers. You are able to furnish your plants with the correct conditions to survive dormancy, the plants will be ready to continue growing come spring.

In addition, just simply growing seeds in the cold frame boasts some merits - sometimes allowing your plants and flowers almost a month's extra growing time over straight-forward sowing into the ground. Or use them to heat up the garden soil and shelter young seedlings in advance of direct sowings into the earth. A portable cold frame provides the chance to get herbs, salads and vegetables started 2-3 weeks ahead of time, and it helps prevent the transplanting shock that a lot of plants experience because they will be better acclimatized to outdoor conditions from the outset. 

Then there will be plenty of time for other gardening jobs, like getting that hedge in order, perhaps you could make use of a Long Reach Petrol Hedge Trimmer - OUCH! Just don't decapitate any snails sleeping in the hedge please!

Now just one word of advice, you might want to check your frames occasionally for unwelcome visitors!  Us gastropods can think of no where better to hang out than a nice moist cold frame full of lettuce seedlings.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

See also:
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