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Kansas City, MO

This is my first year and I recently tilled my garden in. My yard is at the end of a hill and all the other yards drain to mine when it rains. My grass (and garden) will be able to stay squishy wet for a few days after a hard rain.

My question is could I do a raise bed for the planting site/mound only? I don't want to build a raised bed for the entire area. I was thinking about a 4x4' or 5x5' area with lots of good soil to encourage drainage. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance for the advice!

5/9/2016 7:49:05 PM

aurora, IL

Mound the planting site and if you can broad fork the patch then lightly till to brake up any clumps of dirt on the surface. I did this last year and this year.

5/9/2016 7:59:08 PM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

A smaller raised bed will help some, but bigger is better. Poorly drained soil can lead to more disease problems. I would make it as big as you can get it. Could you safely divert some of the water around your garden without causing other problems? Is drainage tile a possibility to dry out the soil?

5/10/2016 8:07:08 AM

Upa Creek, MO

I agree with both. A make shift swale ditch around the perimeter of the patch at least from the high side diverting water down will work for the season. It won't be permanent, and requires a little maintenance with a shovel through out the year, but is an easy fix for now

5/10/2016 8:38:04 AM

Kansas City, MO

Thanks for the tips. I dug a ditch about 6"x6" a little more than the entire length of the garden. Within a couple of hours, standing water in the garden disappeared. It wasn't so much water in the garden as it was the runoff that was continuing to flood the patch. the only problem was we got more heavy rain last night! But it is drying out. It's a muddy mess, so who knows how long until I can till it and put the plants in the ground.

5/11/2016 8:42:53 PM