Growing Vegetables on Hills, Rows, or Raised Beds - dummies (2024)

FAQs

Growing Vegetables on Hills, Rows, or Raised Beds - dummies? ›

In raised beds: Make your bed at least 2 feet wide and raised at least 6 inches high. Almost any vegetable benefits from a raised bed, but smaller vegetables and root crops, such as lettuce, beets, carrots, onions, spinach, and radishes, really thrive with this type planting.

As a general rule, put tall veggies toward the back of the bed, mid-sized ones in the middle, and smaller plants in the front or as a border. Consider adding pollinator plants to attract beneficial insects that can not only help you get a better harvest, but will also prey on garden pests.

Grow more, harvest more.

If you have the space for it, row gardening allows you to plant more and harvest more vegetables. Squares are limited because if they are too big, you can't reach the plants in the middle.

If you plant vegetables in rows on a slope, place the rows across the slope, perpendicular to it, just as you see in pictures of contour farming, and water and soil won't run downhill along the rows. If your bed slopes to the south or west, your vegetables and herbs will enjoy the heat gathered by good sun orientation.

Beets can withstand lots of dry weather, so they are excellent for the mound. Potatoes like well-drained soil. Carrots are good, since they root deep, and sweet potatoes simply go wild if the mound is properly fertilized. To feed the mound, I turn to my compost heap, which is normally well-rotted horse manure.

Not only can it keep your plants sorted by kind, it also provides them with space to grow and better access to water and the harvesting equipment! to harvest the crops, the equipment is built to work with crop that are planted in rows! Creating raised rows, just like a raised vegetable bed prevents damage to roots.

For the most part, farmers plant crops in rows or straight lines for convenience and optimum harvest. When crops are planted in rows, light absorption is maximized and wind passage between rows is enhanced, which increases air circulation and lessens the chance of wind damage to plants.

Though planting your crops in garden rows is a simple gardening method, it can greatly improve the growing conditions for your precious plants.

Almost any vegetable benefits from a raised bed, but smaller vegetables and root crops, such as lettuce, beets, carrots, onions, spinach, and radishes, really thrive with this type planting.

What's the best thing to plant on a hillside? ›

Deep-rooted plants, such as prairie plants, hold their own on even the steepest slope. Ornamental grasses, ground cover roses and shrubs (including shrub roses with a sprawling growth habit) work well in hillside and slope planting. Native plants are nearly always an excellent choice.

The mound creates a small-scale raised bed for cultivating plants and seeds. It's especially good for root crops requiring loose soil and space below ground. For those with small gardens, it's a great way to optimize space.

Tomato plants require abundant moisture for best growth, so arrange for easy watering. The area selected should be well drained since poor drainage promotes root loss. Tomatoes grown on heavy or poorly drained soils should be planted in raised beds or mounds four to six inches high.

More roots means a more vigorous, healthier plant as those tendrils branch out into the soil to eagerly gather up nutrients. I leave about 4″ of the actual plant above soil, so that can mean over half is actually buried in the soil. Finally, mound that soil up around the tomato and create a nice moat around each mound.

The biggest disadvantage of an east facing garden is that it receives no direct sunlight during the afternoon. This can limit the types of plants that can be grown in the garden, as many plants require full sun to thrive (plants that require full sun are best in south facing gardens or west facing gardens).

Gardens that face north receive the least light and can be damp. Gardens that face south receive the most light. Gardens that face east receive light in the morning. Gardens that face west receive light in the late afternoon and evening.

Many gardeners prefer to plant their rows in a north to south direction. This planting orientation maximizes the light reaching all the plants in the garden by minimizing shade cast by one row of plants onto the next.