How often should I water my garden?
This is a loaded question, but we at Home Grown Gardens get this question all the time. It depends on the time of year and the plants in your garden and the exposure (sun shade or part sun or shade). If you have a garden bed of perennials, managing the soil to a depth of 8 inches in July (the highest water use month of the year in the Willamette Valley), and assuming you have clay soil (typical of our area) would require you would apply ½” water twice a week. This is assuming they plants are well established. New plantings may require supplemental water daily or every other day. Container plants may need to be watered every day in the summer. Lawns will need about ½” water three times a week.
The trick is to measure the wetted depth. Lawns need to be watered 6” deep, shrubs about 12” deep. When you water check the depth of penetration about 4 hours after the water is applied to confirm the depth you are getting. A soil probe is best for this, but a shovel works in a pinch.
How do I raise my soil pH?
Lime is the go to soil additive to raise the pH. Many of the soil tests I have conducted show 5.5 pH, but to properly treat apply 5 pounds Pelletized Limestone in 100 square feet for our typical clay soil. If you have a raised bed with loam soil use 3.5 pounds per 100 sf. You should do a soil test before treatment. We sell small pH test kits that will get you in the ballpark.
Raised Beds or in ground for vegetable gardens?
Many gardeners are going to raised beds these days. Why raised beds? Here are a few advantages:
Check out the Green Beds by Shelter Works, Green Beds We sell those, and they are easy to set up.
What is the best fertilizer for my garden?
At Home Grown Gardens we are advocates for using organic fertilizer. Soil improvement if accomplished by adding organic mater. Organic fertilizers are just that. The organic material in the fertilizer actually feeds the soil microbes that poops out nutrients for plant uptake through the roots. Soil health is improved using organic fertilizers that opens clay soils to drain and provide good root aeration. Also, most chemical fertilizers damage soil microbes and much of what you put down is lost to leaching or vaporizing. You generally get all you pay for and then some with organic fertilizers, the microbes release nutrients as the plant can use it.
We sell Down to Earth organic fertilizers, come check out our inventory.
Down to Earth Fertilizer
How can I improve my soil?
Soil improvement is done with organic matter. Compost mulch is a great way to improve soil exponentially. Each year add the compost on top of the ground as a mulch. The soil microbes break it sown and improves the soil structure and tilth. Over a few years the difference will be dramatic. In some cases, like installing a new garden bed or lawn, the area can have 2”-3” compost rototilled into the soil, 4-6” deep. After this initial effort each year follow up with over-the-top application of compost.
This is a loaded question, but we at Home Grown Gardens get this question all the time. It depends on the time of year and the plants in your garden and the exposure (sun shade or part sun or shade). If you have a garden bed of perennials, managing the soil to a depth of 8 inches in July (the highest water use month of the year in the Willamette Valley), and assuming you have clay soil (typical of our area) would require you would apply ½” water twice a week. This is assuming they plants are well established. New plantings may require supplemental water daily or every other day. Container plants may need to be watered every day in the summer. Lawns will need about ½” water three times a week.
The trick is to measure the wetted depth. Lawns need to be watered 6” deep, shrubs about 12” deep. When you water check the depth of penetration about 4 hours after the water is applied to confirm the depth you are getting. A soil probe is best for this, but a shovel works in a pinch.
How do I raise my soil pH?
Lime is the go to soil additive to raise the pH. Many of the soil tests I have conducted show 5.5 pH, but to properly treat apply 5 pounds Pelletized Limestone in 100 square feet for our typical clay soil. If you have a raised bed with loam soil use 3.5 pounds per 100 sf. You should do a soil test before treatment. We sell small pH test kits that will get you in the ballpark.
Raised Beds or in ground for vegetable gardens?
Many gardeners are going to raised beds these days. Why raised beds? Here are a few advantages:
- You can use custom soil mixes for maximum productivity.
- Drainage and fungus diseases are minimized.
- You can install them high enough to reach standing up, saving the back.
- You can utilize the “Square Foot Gardening” methods and maximize the production.
- Cloches and bug screens are easy to install over the beds.
- Mole and gopher control is much easier.
- Weed control is easier.
- Limited space for the serious vegetable gardener.
- Higher set up costs per square foot production area.
- Raised beds dry out faster and need more frequent irrigation.
Check out the Green Beds by Shelter Works, Green Beds We sell those, and they are easy to set up.
What is the best fertilizer for my garden?
At Home Grown Gardens we are advocates for using organic fertilizer. Soil improvement if accomplished by adding organic mater. Organic fertilizers are just that. The organic material in the fertilizer actually feeds the soil microbes that poops out nutrients for plant uptake through the roots. Soil health is improved using organic fertilizers that opens clay soils to drain and provide good root aeration. Also, most chemical fertilizers damage soil microbes and much of what you put down is lost to leaching or vaporizing. You generally get all you pay for and then some with organic fertilizers, the microbes release nutrients as the plant can use it.
We sell Down to Earth organic fertilizers, come check out our inventory.
Down to Earth Fertilizer
How can I improve my soil?
Soil improvement is done with organic matter. Compost mulch is a great way to improve soil exponentially. Each year add the compost on top of the ground as a mulch. The soil microbes break it sown and improves the soil structure and tilth. Over a few years the difference will be dramatic. In some cases, like installing a new garden bed or lawn, the area can have 2”-3” compost rototilled into the soil, 4-6” deep. After this initial effort each year follow up with over-the-top application of compost.
