Think of rich, dark soil as an ecosystem, teeming with life - most of it microscopic. The plants we want to grow for food in Saskatoon need that environment. The problem in our cities is that we often destroy our life-giving topsoil by scraping it off to build our homes, and/or compacting it so hard with today's modern heavy machinery so that it turns into hardpan (i.e., almost as impermeable as concrete). Thus, if we want to grow things like a tomato, we need to put good soil on top of the ground on our property. Whether we do that in the form of a mound (a "berm"), in a box frame, or even simply as a pot of soil (commonly called "container gardening"), we are creating a raised bed. For our purposes, we'll focus on raised beds created by building a wooden frame and filling it with a healthy soil mixture. If you want, you can watch this brief video we made, then carry on - or watch the video later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdBpD5mQq0Q

Even if you are fortunate enough to have a good layer of topsoil on your property, raised beds are still a very good idea:

• You never have to walk on them.
• You can place them in areas where nothing else could grow, such as on top of concrete or gravel. (Black pavement can get very hot.)
• They are easier to weed - and make it harder for some types of weeds to invade.
• They help to prevent soil-based pests like slugs.
• They warm up sooner in the spring.
• They make watering more efficient.
• It is a more cost-efficient and effective way to use soil mixtures that are ideal for growing vegetables and other plants.
• They make it easier to enclose your plants in netting or fencing, to keep out pets, birds, rabbits, etc. (A vegetable garden is no place for pet feces!)
• It is easier to install features like a drip system, removable cover, or latticework for climbing plants.
• They can be placed in the best location in your yard, and can be moved.
• They are easier on your back.

Note: Perennials (i.e., plants that survive from one year to the next) are at more risk of winter exposure in raised beds. The problem is that the raised bed presents more exposure of the roots to the bitter cold of a Saskatchewan January than roots that are beneath ground level. You can mitigate against this by ensuring you pile lots of mulch or snow around the beds, to act as insulation (a good idea for all perennials, anyway). Any plant in an exposed container such as a pot or railing planter will definitely not survive the winter. It's best to plant shrubs and, of course, trees, in a suitable place right into the ground. For excellent advice on tree-planting (and it's great advice for shrubs, too) from our University of Saskatchewan, visit https://gardening.usask.ca/articles-trees/how-to-plant-a-tree.php

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Planning Your Raised Bed

• Location: Your plants will need to be where they can get at least six hours of direct sunlight a day, and more is even better. Also, make sure it is as easy as possible to access the water you will be using for your raised bed. For example, if you want to collect and use rainwater, it will help if your rain barrel is close by.
• Ground preparation. If you're placing your bed on a grassy area, remove the grass. You want the excess water in your raised bed to easily drain out the bottom. If the ground underneath is very hard or clay-like, loosen it with a spade to improve drainage. If you're placing it on concrete, you might want to raise up your frame just a tiny bit so water isn't trapped.
• Size: Raised beds can be any size, but be careful of their width. You want to be able to comfortably reach any part of your raised bed without having to step into it. A width of 36" is comfortable. Far better to build two raised beds, side by side and separated by a pathway, that are three feet wide by six feet long, rather than one bed that is six feet x six feet.
• Frame material: We prefer 2" thick cedar because of its look, durability and its resistance to decay. That said, you can use virtually anything to contain the soil in your raised bed: stonework, bricks, painted boards, complete kits at your favorite home centre, etc. The reviews haven't been that great for plastic kits in harsh winter climates like ours. There is now general agreement that treated lumber, as long as it was produced after 2003, is safe for vegetable gardening; but if you're still doubtful, that's up to you. Raised beds are a great way to recycle old lumber such as an old cedar deck that has been replaced.
• Soil: Good soil smells wonderfully "earthy,"  is dark and has a nice light "fluffy" texture to it. Plant roots need soil nutrients, water and - surprise! - air. Pre-mixed soil sold commercially in bags is great if you want to be sure. If you're more of a do-it-yourselfer, you can get into composting and mixing your own soil. (In the upcoming Summer 2020 issue of locally-published Prairies North, one of our province's leading gardening gurus, Sarah Williams, has a great article on soil.) No matter how you get your soil, make sure you get rid of any lumps when you install it, to ensure texture consistency.

That should do it! Our next blog will talk about what to put into that lovely new bed you've prepared for them!