5 Steps to Prepare Raised Beds For Spring Planting! 🌱🌿🌱 // Garden Answer 

I honestly can’t think of a more happy, peaceful, or positive way to start each day than these videos. In a world full of crazy, this is just the best source of beauty and peace 😊

Many, many years ago my wife bought our two boys each a set of toy garden toys, a shovel, hoe and yard rake, none made of plastic. The yard rake is about 7 inches wide and I found that it worked excellent cleaning out our flower beds in the spring. Being metal they have lasted at least 30 years. I found another one last year while shopping so I bought it. I have replaced the short handles with longer broom handles so we don't have to bend over as much. These work wonderful getting into small spaces between plants. I also had a small plastic rake, but just like yours the tangs broke off in one season of use. The metal toy ones have proven to be time tested. Thanks for all you share so even at 70+ yesrs old we can still enjoy learning while being entertained. Jim Light

Things you probably thought you’d never say “I’m not a manure expert.” :) Great tips, thanks, Laura!

Laura, seeing the pictures of how the raised bed garden came about, from start to finish was so satisfying. The planning and work that went into it was a thing of beauty. You should be very proud of all the production of this garden. And in a space that is so pretty! ❤️😊

I love the way your kitty helped by holding down the debris on the bed until you were ready to dispose it 🌸😽🐈❣️

I just watched Jenny at Creekside and she showed that you both were in the Proven Winner’s project book! How cool is that!?! Congratulations 🎈🎊🍾🎉

You are one of the main reasons why I started gardening! We designed our backyard square gardens to model yours. We also put a line of Arbs behind our beds, and installed drip last year. Also I have become a little hydrangea obsessed after seeing your lime light videos! :) Thank you so much for always putting out this GREAT content!!

Good morning, Laura, from Windermere Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸 We are supposed to hit 91°high 😰 today. Gotta Garden early or melt. Happy Gardening Everyone 🌿👩‍🌾🌿

I was just telling my husband that I want to start a garden with raised bed so this is very helpful. I’ve never grew anything other than tomatoes last year in pots so now I’m excited to start a garden so thank for all of your information!

Such a helpful video for beginners or for those of us that didn’t quite have the success we wanted the past few years. I will be saving this and sharing it to many. Blessings.

Good morning GA family 🌅 daily dose of Laura with coffee in hand! What could be better??? Great info as always. Have a fantastic day gardening friends 🌻🌼

Gosh Laura is like a fine wine. She just keeps getting better every season 💁🏽‍♀️ I kept staring at her cute little baby hairs and thinking how funny it is I know exactly why those are like that. Thank you for all you and your family do! 💜

I think it would be kind of a cool idea to do a before and after video of everything so far. It was crazy to see a tree and a dog kennel in that area, and now it’s so beautiful! (I honestly forgot what some of the areas looked like before) Pretty inspiring for me to turn some areas around my home into a beautiful garden!

Absolutely lovely to see you go through the process of prepping beds for spring💖💖 Also, great to see how the space progressed over time... it looks soo beautiful now and the formal path from there to the south garden has come along beautifully too👍 You definitely are blessed and thank you for sharing your gift of gardening with us. Btw... missed seeing the darling kiddos🙂

Really cool to see the progress of your raised bed garden! Have you thought about doing a series of how your own garden has evolved? Would be interesting to see photos of what your current garden looked like when you moved in, where it is now, and plans for the future. Maybe a good video for winter or on a rainy spring day! Thank you again for another great video.

I really enjoyed seeing the progression shots of before, during, and after, of the vegetable garden. I would love to see that for each area on your property. You have done so much, & come so far in the time you have lived there. I just love seeing that!

We put in irrigation in our raised bed planters last year, and it was a game changer thanks to your videos! We do get a fair amount of rain so I just watch the weather and turn off the system if we are getting a couple days of rain.

You are on top of it with me this season. I am headed to do something, and here is a video out for a refresher course, and new information. Your the best!

So fun to see the progression of that space !

Got my cuppa Earl Grey and watching Garden Answer....My fave way to start my day.

Thanks for the video! Laura, You always say you are so jealous of the people who get a lot of rain… 🙃 Please don’t be jealous, last summer we got so much rain all the tomatoes were rotting on the plants 😔 everything looked rough all summer and so tired of the rain! 🙈Dahlias were eaten by slugs, these too come with the climate… It is not always a blessing 😅 I also have to cover my bulbs all winter otherwise they would rot as well 😬 💦 Every climate has its own (dis)advantages and we can only adapt to it 🤷🏻‍♀️☀️ I wish u a happy growing season! 🌱🌿🌷

Good morning, Laura ☕️. Love ❤️ the evolution of the garden pictures. Wow, those Arbs!🙌🏻🙌🏻

I worked on my raised beds over the weekend and planted some spring crops already. I’m so excited! Love love love spring!!!!!

Perfect timing! I want to plant my raised beds tomorrow. 🌱💚

Love seeing the raised gardens being prepped - great tips! We are not quite there (yet!) here in Minnesota... but this feeds me until I can get out there... in the meantime - I will just go start another flat of seeds! Thank you for educating and inspiring all of us!

Although we full time RV and I only have a teeny tiny container garden in my RV spot (I have 6 pots outside and 4 small ones in my kitchen window), I love watching your videos every day. I’ve learned so much and now I actually know what to do when I see “needs light to germinate” or other such things on seed packets, haha! The way you teach makes it easy to scale down to even the smallest of gardens. Thanks for all of your videos! It makes me so excited to have a big garden someday.

Coffee , garden answer , great start to my day 🌸❤️🌻

Ahh pining for the days when I can plant my beds, we are still having nights below freezing. I’m hopefully to try a wifi system that you and Aaron had recommended last year- can’t wait to see what you’ve got for tomorrow!!

New Gardner in Ohio: thank you, Laura. This has been helpful. We are working with a blank slat and adding a raised garden this year.

Raised beds are really neat, I’m amazed at all you grow in yours.

I always appreciate when you walk thru success & failures. I need to update our drip system and hopefully add more to other places. I like that you keep it simple in your raised beds & I need to copy what you have there.

Your raised beds look lovely and ready for planting. How beautiful

*Good morning Gardeners, wish you happy gardeniiiiiing!!!*

I always use chicken manure to replenish my garden and I've started using worm castings. When I had bunnies, their little pellets were great for our veges. I love your videos and watching your kids grow. Russell and cheddar are also entertaining.

Thanks Laura. You are always so helpful. We have been gardening for a while now and are still learning more from you. Appreciate it so much.🌷

Really loved seeing the progress over the years of how your raised beds took shape. It’s a nice reminder that we can work in stages over a few years. Always fun to see your process! Thanks for the inspo!

I loved the format of this video and being able to see the pictures of the raised bed area from start to finish. What a gorgeous transformation of an area!

Very helpful, thank you! I love the way that you break down all of the steps for people and don't assume we know how to do it!

I love that Russell follows you around. It’s great to see him. 😻This video was so helpful because I’m trying raised beds for the first time. Thank you! 🪴🌳🌱

I can truly say that your videos are my happy start to the day, even though I will never have raised beds or drip systems, I watched it from start to finish. Your positivity and love for what you do make watching a joy each day.

Since I rent I won't go to the expense of a good drip system, but I do use the soakers hoses on much of my garden, and I hand water the rest. I am retired and I spend my days in the garden anyway. I garden in raised beds, large tubs and directly in ground. It makes for a wonderful day.

💖🌿🌸🌿🌸🌿🌸🌿🌸💖After leaving my garden undressed one winter, I found my soil to be gray and dry and wimpy by spring 😞. Now I cover the soil with either grass or leaves or at least cardboard and our soil is black black in the spring and wet. I also have found alfalfa pellets meant for horses used as a side dressing fertilizer for all the garden beds to be gentle and the plants thrive. I use a light application. It’s extremely inexpensive, too. I enjoyed the succession photos of your garden development❣️

While I don’t have raised beds, I was just thinking that I want to plant some cold crops and was wondering if it is too early to do so. We are in Michigan and don’t usually plant anything till after Mother’s Day. But I wanted to plant some lettuce and herbs. Seeing Laura plant, I know we are in the same zone so I think I’ll give it a try. Spring has sprung and I am ready. Here’s to hoping Mother Nature doesn’t play tricks on us and snow

Good reminder for old watchers as well as the newer ones. Thank you. Also, would love another tour of the garden center to see everything they have in now

🌸Such a fulfilling quick video. Neat format. The best part was showing the before, during, and current phase of this beautiful garden space. So helpful. Thank you. 😊💚🍀🇨🇦

Your videos are amazing. I’ve gardened all my life and I still learn so much from you. Thanks.

Perfect timing! Due to start planting my raised beds next month now that summer is finally over. Just about to start prepping

Laura, love the video. Very informative!! Especially love how you (Aaron) showed the beds from the very beginning to now. I hope you can do that with more videos.

Laura did an excellent job planning and layout of raised beds and boarder.

My husband and I are just now starting our garden in raised beds. This video came at the perfect time! Thank you!

This is a GOOD ONE, Laura! Great advise and examples. I can't wait for Spring here in Mid Hudson NY. Mother's Day is our 'official' planting day. A favorite!

Happy Wednesday... still waiting to get started... as we're still having abit of freezing temperatures... just want to say congratulations on been featured in the Proven Winners Gardeners Idea book for 2022.... (Jenny from Creekside showed the booklet on her channel... your are both apart of this year feature congrats !!!👏

Hi Laura! I love streptocarpus and they are the easiest ever to propagate. I live near you in Eagle and found a sad and thirsty little variety plant of this species called Lady Slippers at Edwards nursery 3 years ago. I was captivated by it. This plant is under appreciated, so beautiful and forgiving! It loves to be outside in the warm months for container color here in Idaho, and I make new plants for gifts so easily. I hope you share more about this wonderful “Cape Primrose” as I was thrilled to see it have a moment of glory on your potting table. Thank you! Katrina

I set up one raised bed last year, so this is my first year ‘starting over.’ This is very timely and so appreciated. I had flow issues with my drip system too, so thank you for the details you shared.

Thank you ! This was most helpful and timely for me ! I had the same experience with my soaker hose in my raised beds , so I ordered 1/4” brown drip tube with six inch emitters . Now all I need to do is show my husband this video !

This came at the perfect time! Thank you for your continued wealth of knowledge and positivity. 🤗💖

Thanks Laura I am learning so much from you. I am renting so I am trying to figure out ways to grow food that works for my situation. I have bought some huge rectangular pots that look like raised garden beds for now and I love going out there to pick herbs and edible flowers for my meals. When I have my own property I know where to come for inspiration. Blessings to you and yours 🌿

The video I didnt realize that I needed! Thanks so much- I know what I will be doing this weekend!

I’ve been watching for over two years now so I really enjoyed seeing the actual building of the raised bed area. 😊

Extremely helpful! Giving the steps you follow to prep your beds was awesome and the timing for us in 7b couldn’t be better. I struggle to find Biotone in our area so using bag manure is our best option. Thx for inspiring my wife and me to do more in the garden. It is our church, sanctuary and therapy.

Absolutely the best, most comprehensive explanation of bed preparation yet!!! Since all of my vegetables are planted in pots, or tubs on my rooftop deck, I must reuse my soil and of course want optimum nutrients available for a good crop. So, your explanation of starter fertilizer plus mixture of bagged compost makes great sense for my container garden. We’re in our 70’s and schlep bags up 2 flights of stairs every year so the lighter the bags the better. Now if only I can figure out a watering system for my pots and tubs. Thanks so much for always taking care to demonstrate and explain your reasons behind your well deserved success! 👍👏🏻👍

The info on the sprinkler and irrigation system was very helpful thank you

Such a helpful video Laura, thank you! It was particularly helpful showing the progress of the vegetable raised bed area!

Of all the gardening you do this is my favorite. Fruit and veggie gardening. 😋 ❤

Perfectly simple, the way you explain it, Laura! I just need to get some supplies and get to work!

Thanks for the wonderful information Laura! I am so excited for spring! We had snow today here in Minnesota, but after it melts I will prep my raised beds. 🌱🌱🌱

I found this video very informative. I am wanting to do raised beds and have been intimated by the process. I have long leaf pines and the roots always invade my flowerbeds (they LOVE the water)but I have a space in my front yard that, I think, I could do one or two beds. I’m excited now, thanks Laura for another inspiring video! 💚💚💚💚💚💚

Loved this. Bravo! I considered how most "box" garden stores around here have NO source of helpful knowledge in their garden section. Laura this video is brimming full of a FOUNTAIN of knowledge. Thank you!👍👌❤

That was a great refresher on how you put the drip in. What worked and didn't work. Thanks!

Loved seeing the "before the raised bed" garden pictures. The arbs have grown so much. Time flies!

That is just such a gorgeous raised bed setup. I’m a touch envious 😉

I see you outside, prepping for planting and I sit here with a forecast of freezing rain coming tomorrow night. I'm ITCHING to start cleaning up my flower beds but here in the NE it way too early! Gardeners in this area don't plant annuals until end of May. We have a really short growing season. I walked my yard yesterday to look for my daffs and tulips. Not yet, only my helebore is up and blooms are almost open.

Great information. I’m sure lots of people will find this helpful. 💚💚💚

Just wanted to tell you I did leaf mulch in my beds this winter and it worked AMAZINGLY making my soil so beautiful in the beds I added it to! I can see such a huge difference between those ones and the ones I didn’t so thank you so much for your tip in previous videos!

It was good seeing the kitty chillacking. Happy life happy kitty. Kisses and hugs to you all. Many blessings throughout your day heading your way.

Thank you so much for sharing so much knowledge with us! Your videos are my favorite gardening videos to watch! You inspire me so much!

Hi Laura! This is how I prep my raised beds, too. I get my raised bed soil and compost from Zamzows. It's just about time to get my 2 raised beds ready, too. We've used the same soaker hoses for quite a few years, but I think they're 1/2". I'm thinking of doing drip this year. We'll see! LOL! I enjoyed seeing the before shot of that area. I did notice that you put weed barrier down. Thank you so much for sharing!

Great, timely information! Just contracted with a local landscaper to come in and level an 18x30 area for my raised bed garden! So excited! I bought 5 of the metal modular raised beds from Gardener’s Supply last year and can’t wait to get this project moving! I’m very anxiously awaiting the viewer submissions for raised bed garden designs that you mentioned not long ago! Looking for layout inspiration!

Loved hearing and seeing your preparations this year. In years past, you had added mulched leaves in the fall. Would you explain why you aren't doing that any longer?

Laura, A few years ago I replaced one of my raised beds with the same drip system after watching your videos, I hope to get to the bed this year. I will amend my soil this year, something I have never done. I use the small rake that I bought my kids years ago, small enough to fit into tiny places made of metal, and gentle on plants has lasted for years! Thank you for sharing your tips, you have made me a better gardener.

Laura, your videos are such great reminders. We are a zone lower than you and I know that “if Laura is doing her raised beds now I have about 3.5 weeks until I do mine. We love your videos, my boys are young and it is exciting to see them getting interested in plants! Funny story, I recently received the PW Idea book in the mail and my 6 yo was looking through it and found your picture and said “mom! It’s your garden lady! She’s famous!” We all got a kick out of that😂 Thank you for all you do!

Thank you so much! I loved this simple format (although I love your vlogs too, I learn so much from seeing you do the work in those too). After this video I *might* be ready to tackle drip tubing--but either way I am excited and confident to do a bit of garden spring cleaning :) So appreciate all of your joy, wisdom and most especially your generosity in sharing that wisdom and joy

Hi Laura & Aaron - I was wondering if you could do a video on care for next year strawberries 🍓. I planted some last year and looks like they made it through our Minnesota winter 🥶. 😀

I’m soo excited 😆 to see ur garden go from almost no color to a paradise of beautiful colors 😍

Thank you for the wonderful anthology a informative planting and garden maintenance videos! They are such an excellent reference source and you have a natural ability to teach so that the information you present is easily understood and interesting! PLUS you are an inspirational motivator!

So glad you said this now I no what to put in my garden and garden beds.

I need to research your videos on irrigation… we will be putting drip irrigation in a new flower bed and a raised vegetable bed this year :) you make it look so easy !!

This was perfect timing and so helpful!!

Good Morning! Great information & a refresher for me! I can't wait to start my clean up & amending! But currently the weather here is rainy & cold! 🙂🧹🌧🌿

Really like the format of this video. Very useful info as always! 🌸🌼🌷

such a ball of positive energy.....gotta love her :)

Love it! We are having another cold snap this weekend here in KY, zone 6b. Going to get into the garden starting next week to get prepared. Laura, you are a great motivator!

Very helpful video and on the right time of the year 👍thank you 😊

I am so excited! Off topic but I got my first order from proven winners today in Philadelphia zone 7A 2 at last roses 1 oso Italian ice rose and 1 limelight prime hydrangea. I was just notified that my second order has shipped and will be here by Friday! Now to research your videos for planting of the Roses! Thanks Laura for all your inspiration!

This is my dream garden, still dreaming....but in my mind I am planning it. We have rain, sometimes too much, sometimes not...but drip allows you to leave your garden, one day when I have my dream garden, there will be drip. I've been planting in my raised beds, mid Atlantic, beets, peas, garlic and shallots last fall, planning, seedlings, MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR.

First of all I love Russell in the brush and thank yoooou, I’ve been trying to figure out which rake you use!

I loved this kind of video!🌼💚awesome stuff!

Thank for the great information I am a new gardener so I appreciate all the help I can get. Thank you for sharing

Again..how did you know I needed this? Thanku guru!!🙏🏻❤️

Just want to say, THANKYOU