Deep beds vs shallow beds - need advice

[i_am2bz]

Hi ya'll! I have to use raised beds due to my rock-hard clay soil. DH bought some scrap manufactured deck boards that are 11" wide. He's made one bed so far, then asked me if I wanted him to split the boards lengthwise so he could get twice as much out of it (so, 2 pieces that are 6" wide). I wasn't sure if that was deep enough for what I want to do, so that's where ya'll come in! I want as much planting space as possible, but saving myself from having to buy more soil than I really need.

Last year I grew:
Tomatoes
Cukes
Peppers
Broccoli
Lettuce
Bunching onions

I plan to grow all of the above, PLUS:
Carrots
Pole beans
Potatoes

and hopefully...
Strawberries
Blueberries

So! I assume I'll need the deeper beds for the carrots. And I'm thinking I can grow the lettuce in a shallower bed, since they didn't seem to have very deep roots; the bunching onions weren't too deep either.

The rest I need advice on. For instance - I was thinking of planting the potatoes using the method where you barely push the sprouted pieces in the ground, then cover with deep straw. So does this mean the bed can be shallow?

Any advice on any of this would be appreciated.

 

[bid]

Well, let's see.

Lettuce, bunching onions, cukes, strawberries and pole beans are all fairly shallow rooted.

The others all have deeper roots, not counting the potatos.

One thing to consider is that you will get some settling/compaction of the soil in your beds. So that 6" of soil you started with may be down to 3 -4" by seasons end. You can use a deep bed for a lot of things, but a shallow bed is limited in it's uses.

 

[Andy J]

I use 2"X6" boards to make my raised beds.I dig at least 6" below the raised bed to loosen the soil and add amendments before I fill the bed.

Where I live the summers are very hot and dry.The higher the bed is,the faster it dries out,so I make them as low as possible to conserve water.

This helps me get an earlier start because in the spring my soil is a mud bog and in the summer it's a dust bowl.There has been no happy medium the last few years.But,I manage.

Andy

 

[lesa]

2bz, you might want to choose a carrot type that doesn't grow particularly long. No sense trying to grow a 12 inch carrot- in a raised bed...
A word of warning on the straw,potato thing. Many people have had mixed luck with that. If you can, I think you would be happier using soil and straw. You wouldn't need the soil, until further along in the growing season (so it would spread your costs out...)
I get fabulous compost from our county dump. They make it out of grass clippings, etc. It would be great if you could find something like this, to mix in with your dirt. A pickup truck full is 12.00.
Since it seems that your soil, is so bad- it might be a good idea to keep the boards full size and just not put as much dirt in this year. Then you can add compost, etc throughout the winter and have them full by next summer....
At any rate, it sounds like you are off to a great gardening start!! Looking forward to hearing your progress (and seeing pics!)

 

[TanksHill]

Go for a happy medium. Try and do some of both.

 

[i_am2bz]

Thanks for the input, ya'll!

bid - believe it or not, my beds didn't compact at all! I was careful to avoid walking in any of them; my widest one had a board across the middle so I could reach all the plants.

Andy J - I'd kill myself digging 6" down, yikes! It's horrible just digging holes to plant our trees; I can't imagine digging out several 10x4 beds!

lesa - I got seeds for Red Core Chantenay, they're only supposed to grow 5-6", so maybe the shallow beds might be okay...but I think I'll put them in the deeper one to be on the safe side. The potatoes...sigh. I'm really torn about that. Maybe I'll do some straw, some container. Experiment.

TanksHill - yep, I think I'll end up doing both...until I end up out of material, out of money, or out of room!

 

[thistlebloom]

Hi 2bz! I always have had good success by planting my potatoes about 2 or 3 inches in the soil and covering with straw. My soil is incredibly rocky and until I get my soil tilth deeper that's the way I will continue. I think the key to success is to make sure the growing potatoes are well covered so they don't green. Have plenty of straw or leaves on hand to continue to layer as they grow taller.
Best of luck! :watering

 

[Andy J]

I-am2bz,I just put the old Troy Built red horse in the bed and let 'er eat.Then I just have to dig around the boards and I'm all set.

 

[Llama Gardener]

I asked around when we put in our beds and the advice we got was that the roots will still go down into the ground unless it is like 3-4 feet deep so go ahead and get a larger garden !

 

[vfem]

I like deep beds, I have to build them back up every year. However, I don't take a huge hit in levels of soil midseason with I fear a shallow bed would. :/