Raised garden beds are just that little bit closer to the sun. As a result, by late autumn, the soil remains warmer than the soil in traditional flower beds. This gives your plants and flowers a better chance at remaining strong over the impending winter that is inevitably going to follow as the autumn sun fades away. Raised garden beds also add a lovely layered look to your garden and gives it more aesthetic character, while still being a very practical way to grow your vegetables and plants.
While raised garden beds give an extra extension to the growing season, there are ways to extend this even further. Try these handy hints to keep your garden growing even as the weather gets colder.
- Plant hardy crops such as radish and kale beneath a portable plastic greenhouse. Place a grow light above the top of the cover and leave it on overnight to keep the seeds growing. Christmas lights can be just as effective as a light and warmth source, as well as getting your garden decorated for the upcoming festive season.
- Cover raised garden beds with sheets or blankets at night to trap in the heat that accumulates through the day. As soon as the sun is shining, take the covers away.
- Use floating row covers to let light shine through and get a couple of degrees of warmth in there. These also protect plants winds and frost.
- Try draping a plastic cover over the plant, with the aluminised side of a space blanket facing the ground on particularly cold night. This will be a great frost protection strategy.
- Plant vegetable seeds that are going to grow well in the winter weather. In particular, salad greens and root crops have the best reputation for staying strong as the temperature drops. Spinach and aragula are particular cold hardy, and the best part is these are plants that will give you extra strength with all the nutrients when you eat them after harvesting.
- Keep time on your side and start you winter in early autumn so that it is well established before the frost flakes in. You can always plant greens and seeds indoors in small containers, and transfer them outside once the weather is moderate enough.
