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Tue, Mar 13, 12 at 12:39
| Hi everyone. Its raining, yeah! Time for some planning.
I am thinking of adding a few 8" deep raised beds with gopher wire hardware cloth underneath. The soil underneath is already well ammended. I am wondering at the end of season will it be hard to pull out the plants, since the roots will go down way past the gopher wire? Do I need the frames to be deeper or is it fairly easy to pull out old plants and turn over soil in shallow beds with gopher wire? Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I have a similar setup with 1/2" hardware cloth underneath; I have not had any problems with roots getting stuck. In any case I don't think root removal is necessary or even beneficial unless they harbor nematodes or disease. The old roots should decompose quickly and add organic matter to the soil. It's common practice to use tap rooted annuals to break up compacted soils - leaving the roots in place after cutting down the tops. |
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- Posted by hosenemesis SoCal Sunset 19 USDA (My Page) on Tue, Mar 13, 12 at 16:17
| I have not had any problems pulling out tomatoes, eggplants, squash, cukes, or peppers. Renee |
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- Posted by deep___roots ca9/sunset15 (My Page) on Wed, Mar 14, 12 at 15:08
| After the growing season, you may want to seed winter cover crops in your bed. Also, once you have pulled your old crops, you want to be sure no adjacent trees or bushes have sent roots to grow in your nice bed. So you turn the soil and remove any invading roots. Just a couple of pointers. Everything else sounds good. |
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| Thanks , I'll go with 8" height. |
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