Garden Your Way

Find a gardening method that suits your style

If you’re like me and find even simple decisions like choosing which bunch of bananas to buy at the store difficult, you may feel overwhelmed at all the options available to you when thinking of starting a garden. I’ve narrowed it down to some tried and tested methods to make it easier for you to get growing.

Raised beds

Made from wood, bricks, corrugated iron or other materials that elevate the soil. The benefits of this method are that the raised soil allows for better drainage, and the height of the beds makes them practical as it reduces the amount of bending required. To cut down on costs, use materials available to you or buy them secondhand. The ideal width for raised beds is roughly 4 feet - that way it’s narrow enough to be able to reach into the centre from either side, with a height of up to 3 feet.

Core gardening

A method adapted from the people of the sub-Saharan desert region, where they would lay local grass in ditches that they then covered with soil and topped with nitrogen-rich manure to grow directly into. You will need raised beds for this method, which involves incorporating organic material (rotting straw is ideal) down the core, or centre, of your garden bed before planting. Begin by digging a trench 8-10 inches deep lengthwise down the middle of your garden, then fill it with 4-5 inches of the straw or organic material and fill the rest with quality soil to bring it up to a level that is just slightly raised above the rest of your garden bed. Lastly you need to “charge” the core, which means soaking it with around 50-70 litres of water per raised bed over a day or two. The straw will now act as a sponge that releases moisture into the garden bed for weeks at a time. It also releases vital nutrients into the soil as it continues to break down. As an alternative to straw, rotted grass clippings or mulched leaves can be used in the core. Garden beds 4 feet wide are ideal as the moisture from the core will reach 2 feet either side.

Straw bale gardening

Straw bales can be used almost like a raised garden bed. Straw collects and disperses moisture and is compostable, which means over time your plants will gain nutrients as the straw decomposes. The bales also retain heat, which will extend your gardening season a little longer when the weather cools down. This method involves preparing your bales for roughly two weeks. Before placing your bales, lay some landscape fabric or cardboard to inhibit weeds. During the first week of preparation water the bales thoroughly every second day. Every other day sprinkle 3 cups of a nitrogen source such as blood and bone or organic nitrogen-rich fertiliser onto the bales and water in. For the next two days feed the bales only 11/2 cups of organic fertiliser and water it in. Around day 10, switch to a phosphorus and potassium fertiliser and water. During days 11-14 keep watering and checking the heat inside the bale, if it feels cooler than your body temperature you’re ready to plant.

Back to Eden

This method recreates the natural environment in which plants thrive by producing a mulch made from layering newspaper or cardboard, nitrogen-rich materials and brown materials. Firstly put down a thick layer of cardboard or newspaper, then about 2-3 inches of good-quality compost or other nitrogen-rich source such as coffee grounds or well-composted manure. You could also opt for a blend of screened soil and compost. Finally add 4-6 inches of untreated wood chips, you could also use dry leaves or pine needles. The best time to set up your Back to Eden garden is in autumn for spring planting as this allows time for the brown materials to break down.

Lasagna gardening

Sometimes known as “sheet composting”, this method has a similar layering concept to Back to Eden, just with different materials. The layers here alternate between green materials such as lawn and garden clippings, kitchen scraps, manure and brown materials such as dried leaves, hay or straw. Essentially you are composting directly into your garden. Over time, the layers break down to create rich, fluffy soil. Start by layering cardboard or newspaper over the surface where you want your garden to be, then add your green and brown layers, alternating until your garden is about 2 feet deep. You can then begin planting. Maintain your garden by adding mulch to the top of the bed in the form of straw, grass clippings, chopped leaves or mulched bark.