RAISED BEDS IN MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN ( with drip irrigation)

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by adriasc, Sep 4, 2016.

  1. adriasc

    adriasc New Member

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    Hi,

    I am experimenting the raised beds in my garden with the aim to find a method to decreases the amount of work and demands of taking care and keeping the garden.

    I would like to share my experiences and problems with other people and try to find solutions together, or exchanging information about our experiments.

    My problems with the raised beds have been:

    - Convolvulus arvensis, this plant is actually driving crazy in some beds if you don't control it very well from the beginning, any idea to remove it?

    - Moles: the small rat moles are getting very abundant and devoring some crops like carrots and beetroots, artichokes... and makign fewer damage in some other. They also atract bigger predators like wildboars and foxes who dig and destroy some beds.

    - Fertilization: as I used straw as a mulching material I my need fresh excrements or manure to fertilize some of my rised beds, right? so it would help to get the straw rotten.
     
  2. Bryant RedHawk

    Bryant RedHawk Junior Member

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    How tall are these raised beds? Did you use any barrier cloth on the original ground?

    When you get voles, moles, etc. it is usually necessary to put a barrier of wire mesh cloth under and fastened to the sides of the raised beds.
    This prevents the critters from being able to burrow in, they are less likely to come out of the safe underground (exposing themselves to many dangers) to get into a garden bed. We use a minimum of 30 cm for raised bed sidewalls and 5mm, 14 gauge mesh to keep the voles from getting into our garden beds.

    If you have any stables near by, see if you can get used bedding material from them (usually free, since they need to get rid of it at least weekly).
    This bedding will be full of manure and urine, perfect for using as a mulch and as it breaks down it becomes compost as well as food for the worms. If you can't get used bedding, you can always use dilute urine from yourself as a booster.

    Convolvulus arvensis is a morning glory, the best method to rid yourself of it is by diligent pulling of the plant above ground. It will eventually expend all the stored energy and the starved root system will die (expect this to take a couple of years of every week control). The other option is to carefully extract as much of the crowns and roots as possible, since even trying to cook it under black plastic doesn't work so well.
     
  3. adriasc

    adriasc New Member

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    The beds are over 30 cm tall and we didn't use any barrier cloth. We just built them with shavel, and used manure and straw to cover them. We have several and they are more than 30 m long... I didn't know about the mire mesh cloth option, but I guess it would be a very expensive option.

    Thanks for the fertilizating tips, we don't have bedding material in the area ( not enough animals nowadays, it is very demanded) but we wil think aout the dilute urine option.

    Shame that cooking under plastic doesn't work well, we will fight them every week from now forwards..

    Thankyou for the answer
     

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