{"id":20381,"date":"2022-08-03T08:59:49","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T12:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=20381"},"modified":"2022-08-03T09:01:05","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T13:01:05","slug":"why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question:<\/h3>\n

Hello, I am looking for an expert to come to my house and tell me what is wrong with both my raised beds and flower gardens. I’ve been trying to have raised beds for six years and am at my whits end. I’ve built a h\u00fcgelkultur, pulled it all out, added new soil, kept the same soil for the last three years just topping off. My garlic this year is barely bigger than an inch around. Herbs seem to do well but I can’t grow a vegetable – it bolts or stays dwarfed. My flower bed of zinnias and dahlias are all miniature! Flowers and plants are dwarfed, even after using Plantone or Tomatotone. I just don’t know what is wrong with my yard – it seems I’m dealing with something bigger – I’ve always been able to grow vegetables and plants.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Answer:<\/h3>\n
Jonathan Foster, Community Education Assistant<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Thank you for reaching out to the UMaine Cooperative Extension, and I’m sorry to hear about your garden troubles. Unfortunately, we don’t have the resources for site visits, but I’m hoping to provide some suggestions that may help.<\/p>\n

The first thing we recommend is getting your soil tested (testing your soil<\/a>\u00a0). This will give you a detailed analysis of the nutrients in your growing medium to determine if you have excesses or deficiencies that may be causing problems, as well as specific recommendations for any amendments that should be made.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The next most likely limiting factors in your garden’s growth are light and water. Most fruit-bearing plants and many flowers will require at least eight hours of direct sun per day to get good harvests; leafy greens and root-bearing crops can handle four and six, respectively. If you do find your light is too low, shifting to shade tolerant plants can keep the garden full and growing.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

For water needs, you should be giving the plants a deep soaking every few days to once a week (if you push your fingers into the soil and it’s moist several\u00a0inches down, you’re in the right zone).\u00a0 Avoid quick daily waterings as it tends to evaporate and produce shallow roots.\u00a0A 2-3″ thick layer of mulch is also advised to maintain soil moisture in between irrigations, especially in the summer heat.\u00a0 There is an excellent how-to found here:\u00a0How to Water Your Garden<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
I hope this gives you a good start on getting your garden back where you want it to be.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Hello, I am looking for an expert to come to my house and tell me what is wrong with both my raised beds and flower gardens. I’ve been trying to have raised beds for six years and am at my whits end. I’ve built a h\u00fcgelkultur, pulled it all out, added new soil, kept […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,202,207,201],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-maintenance","category-soil","category-vegetables"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: Hello, I am looking for an expert to come to my house and tell me what is wrong with both my raised beds and flower gardens. I’ve been trying to have raised beds for six years and am at my whits end. I’ve built a h\u00fcgelkultur, pulled it all out, added new soil, kept […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-03T12:59:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-03T13:01:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"twood\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"twood\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"headline\":\"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-03T12:59:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-03T13:01:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/\"},\"wordCount\":432,\"articleSection\":[\"Ask the Expert\",\"Garden Design and Maintenance\",\"Soils and Composting\",\"Vegetables\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/\",\"name\":\"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-03T12:59:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-03T13:01:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/\",\"name\":\"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. Research you can trust.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518\",\"name\":\"twood\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"twood\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"Question: Hello, I am looking for an expert to come to my house and tell me what is wrong with both my raised beds and flower gardens. I’ve been trying to have raised beds for six years and am at my whits end. I’ve built a h\u00fcgelkultur, pulled it all out, added new soil, kept […]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/","og_site_name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","article_published_time":"2022-08-03T12:59:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-03T13:01:05+00:00","author":"twood","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"twood","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/"},"author":{"name":"twood","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"headline":"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful?","datePublished":"2022-08-03T12:59:49+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-03T13:01:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/"},"wordCount":432,"articleSection":["Ask the Expert","Garden Design and Maintenance","Soils and Composting","Vegetables"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/","name":"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-08-03T12:59:49+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-03T13:01:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/08\/03\/why-are-my-raised-beds-and-flower-gardens-not-successful\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why are my raised beds and flower gardens not successful?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#website","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/","name":"Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard","description":"Information you can use. Research you can trust.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/#\/schema\/person\/9f0056a6c4a281b4f517e1313fa2c518","name":"twood","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc8c7b5c8d78336ceef76f813278762e12972bcd042b075da831f24d0320bdb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"twood"},"url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":199,"label":"Ask the Expert"},{"value":202,"label":"Garden Design and Maintenance"},{"value":207,"label":"Soils and Composting"},{"value":201,"label":"Vegetables"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"twood","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/author\/twood\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":199,"name":"Ask the Expert","slug":"ask","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":199,"taxonomy":"category","description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","parent":0,"count":653,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":199,"category_count":653,"category_description":"This is the top level category for all posts submitted to our Ask the Expert gardening questions form.","cat_name":"Ask the Expert","category_nicename":"ask","category_parent":0},{"term_id":202,"name":"Garden Design and Maintenance","slug":"maintenance","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":202,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":199,"count":190,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":202,"category_count":190,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Garden Design and Maintenance","category_nicename":"maintenance","category_parent":199},{"term_id":207,"name":"Soils and Composting","slug":"soil","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":207,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":199,"count":79,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":207,"category_count":79,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Soils and Composting","category_nicename":"soil","category_parent":199},{"term_id":201,"name":"Vegetables","slug":"vegetables","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":201,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":199,"count":65,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":201,"category_count":65,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Vegetables","category_nicename":"vegetables","category_parent":199}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20381"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20383,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20381\/revisions\/20383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}