Autumn is the ideal time to create new raised beds and to renew the inner workings of existing beds as soon as they have sagged after a few years. On the other hand, there is no digging, as is usual in soil beds with heavy soil.
It makes sense to create a raised bed in the fall
Which is why filling in autumn is particularly beneficial
Filling the raised bed in autumn is preferable to spring for a number of reasons, at least when it comes to a compost raised bed:
- You can use the raised bed as a composter throughout the winter.
- Garden and kitchen waste finds a grateful place here, well shredded.
- The compost can mature in peace for months
- so that by spring there is already a good supply of valuable nutrients.
- In addition, you avoid the sagging of a bed that has already been planted.
- By spring the compost raised bed will have already sagged.
- In this case, simply top up with good potting soil.
By the way, when layering, make sure that the various components are not too coarse. Above all, grass clippings, animal bedding, chopped wood or other waste should only be applied thinly.
Plant fast-growing vegetables in spring
You can also mitigate a sudden sagging of the bed by first planting fast-growing vegetables such as radishes, lettuce and spinach in the spring. They are all characterized by a very short vegetation period, so that you can refill the bed after their soil.
Protect raised bed boxes in autumn
However, you should also make sure to winterize your newly built raised bed - this is especially true if you built the box out of wood. Wood is very sensitive to moisture and will quickly rot if exposed to excess moisture. To avoid this, you can wrap the wooden bed boxes with garden fleece like flower pots. Also, do not place wooden parts of the bed directly on the ground, but avoid direct contact with the ground - for example by building the bed on flagstones. Raised beds made of bricks are also endangered: In the event of frost, penetrating water can damage the walls and lead to cracks. This can be prevented by particularly careful walling.
tips
If you only want to fill your raised bed with soil or if you want to benefit from heat development in the spring, we recommend creating the bed in early spring. Prevent sagging by regularly refilling with compost.