How Should Raised Beds Be Oriented?

doubtfulness : I ’m setting up my first raise seam garden , and I need to know how to point the bed . Should they execute east - west or Union - south ?

ANSWER : There are a few pattern of thumb you’re able to refer to when you ’re plot out a recruit bed garden . However , the very best way to settle how your erect bed should be tailor is to supervise how much Lord’s Day each part of the garden will get , and then implant your crop consequently . We ’ll give you the summation of the guideline first .

Guidelines for Orienting Raised Bed Gardens

Using a Sun Map to Orient Raised Beds

A sun map helps you be sure on the dot how much sunshine different parts of your garden get and whether that sunshine is unmediated or indirect . If you have n’t yet chosen a spot for your raised bed garden , creating a sun map can help you find the part of your dimension that will work well for exactly what you ’ll be growing . If you have chosen where your raised layer will go , the Sunday map can avail you see which way to orient your rows .

For best results , choose a day to devote to making a sun map in both outpouring and summer solstice . However , if you only have one day to spend on this projection , go for midsummer . You ’ll need to take line of the sunlight in your garden every hour if possible . Every two 60 minutes can work in a pinch .

Begin by draw out a diagram of your garden as it is now . Draw in any blossom beds or other existing plots , and mark where buildings , fencing , trees , and other objects that bewilder a shadow are place .

growing in raised bed gardens

Every hour , you ’ll take to thread in on your mapping where you see sun and where you see nicety . If an field has dappled refinement , as often materialize under a tree diagram , score this down as collateral sunlight . Also take note of the time you made each observance . you could apply one sun map to traverse the movement of sun and dark across your garden , or you could make copy of your map and produce a novel one for every time of day . However , as long as it does n’t get too mussy , using one map for the whole day ’s note can help you really get an estimation of when and where the sunlight is available in yourraised layer garden .

Next , it ’s time to take a face at the sunshine requirements of what you plan to grow in your raised layer garden . plant life that are delineate as preferring “ full sun ” need to get at least six hours of lineal cheerfulness each day . expend your sunlight mathematical function to find a place for your raised bed ( or plainly to find out how to orientate the rows in the raised layer ) that will give your plant exactly how much sunshine they will need to expand in your garden .