I'm pretty new to gardening and I need some advice about my soil situation. My garden bed measures 72 inches long, 31 inches wide, and 14 inches high. Here's what I mixed into my soil: half a bag of Miracle-Gro peat moss, 4 bags of Kellogg raised bed and potting mix, 1 bag of Miracle-Gro raised bed soil, 2 bags of Black Kow manure, and a combination of Miracle-Gro and Vigoro perlite. Despite all these products, whenever I water my garden, the water just sits on top without soaking in. I'd really appreciate any tips or tricks to improve this!
1 Answer
Take a breather; sometimes these materials can be hydrophobic, meaning they repel water until they’re thoroughly soaked. It might sort itself out by morning! Also, what did you use as the base for your raised bed? If you added cardboard, that can slow things down a bit since it takes time to absorb moisture. I recommend checking out the ‘how to fill a raised bed’ from Vego, where they suggest mixing in sticks and logs. Many non-root veggies don’t need super deep soil, so around 8 inches of good soil might work just fine!
I actually did put cardboard down and added some twigs at the bottom. Thanks for the insight!