Then things went down hill. The leaves started wilting and turning yellow. I had been diligent about testing the soil for moisture. What am I doing wrong?
Then it hit me, healthy plant above, healthy plant below. So to get at the root of the problem, I thought about the my raised bed of about 10 inches and determined the roots were getting into the soil below and that was the problem.
Tilling a raised bed is a delicate procedure. You want to try to keep the soil inside.Trying to till the ground under an existing raised bed is going to be a mess.
(As an aside if you decide to do a raised garden till and prep the ground beneath before adding the soil above.)
My solution is hugelkultur. You take rotten wood, grass clippings, compost, straw and soil and build mounds. The roots of my plants will be raised above that soiled soil below.
Brilliant solution. Thanks for sharing as I’m sure you’ve helped someone here!
I have 14 raised beds, 4’x8’ filled with composted mule manure, homemade compost and virgin soil from our pasture. It’s good stuff!
Beau tills the beds for me every 3-4 years; I always top everything off with straw during the growing season and over winter - that stuff breaks down and adds to the soil, as well. I just have him do the top few inches; it really doesn’t need any more that that and I don’t want to disturb the earthworms in there, either.
We have a small rototiller made by STIHL that even I can manage and lift in and out of the beds. We have another HUGE one that I call ‘Darth Vader.’ I don’t mess with him! ;)