Raised beds are a popular and simple way to grow vegetables in your garden. It allows you to control the environment much better than using ground soils, where plants grow more freely, and you can also use different methods and types of soil additives to create the perfect place for your plants to grow. However, if the soil in your raised beds has become compacted, this indicates a problem.
To loosen compacted soil in raised beds, you should encourage better aeration and drainage within the soil and frequently make use of different organic materials. Too much water, overcrowding, and kneeling on your raised beds should also be avoided to prevent the problem from persisting.
In the rest of this article, we’ll go through the steps of loosening your compacted soil in raised beds using all-natural methods to promote the health of your soil and its plants over the long term. If you want to improve the structure of your soil, read on to find out more.
1. Encourage Better Soil Drainage
Your soil needs to be able to drain away excess water. Much like container plants, the soil needs to have an adequate waste system so that it can take in only as much as it needs.
If your soil is compacted, it might mean you need a better drainage system. This might mean your chosen soil is slightly too heavy. If the soil in your raised beds is very clay-y, consider adding some sandy soil to the topsoil and mix it in a few inches.
Additionally, you can use earthworms to promote a better drainage system. Earthworms are hungry little things that will consume and secrete organic materials within the soil, creating tiny airway tunnels through which the soil can drain out excess water.
Doing this will allow the soil to “breathe” better, opening up the pores between soil particles so that microbe life can easily continue its biological processes.
2. Layer Up Different Materials in the Raised Bed
The soil structure in your raised bed is entirely within your control–unlike your typical garden soil. If your soil is compacted, you can change its structure to loosen it up over time.
Use a mixture of substances to change your soil’s structure and make it looser. This could be a mixture of the following materials:
- Sandy and loamy soils
- Organic matter
- Wood chips
- Newspaper
Believe it or not, old newspaper is an excellent source of nutrition for the soil in your raised beds. It degrades very slowly over time, slowly releasing organic matter into the subsoil. It also helps to prevent those pesky weeds from being able to sprout since it creates a protective layer beneath the topsoil.
As long as you aren’t packing it too tightly, this layering method will work wonders for compacted soil. It allows a much better aeration system to flow through the soil, and your veggies will thank you for it.
I also recommend my guide on filling your raised beds with inexpensive materials. You’ll learn which materials give you the best bang for your buck: 7 Cheap Ways to Fill a Raised Garden Bed
3. Make Use of Organic Materials
If your soil is very compact, spreading a layer of organic materials over the topsoil and mixing it into the first few inches of soil is an excellent way to naturally promote a looser soil texture.
Organic materials such as the following are excellent additions to your raised beds:
- Compost. Making your own compost at home is relatively straightforward–and it’s a cheap option, too. Compost takes a while to make, but it is perfect for those raised beds. The natural degradation of organic matter within the compost makes for a lovely home for those hungry worms and microbes.
- Worm castings. Speaking of worms, castings are a perfect addition to compacted soil. The castings are essentially the secretions of earthworms. They contain a considerable amount of valuable nutrients that both plants and soil will thrive on. They’re also relatively inexpensive.
- Peat Moss. Peat moss is popular for many reasons; it alters a soil’s pH, helps matter break down quicker, and plants with a preference for acid-based soils will thrive on the stuff. However, one of the downsides of peat moss is that it can be pretty expensive and difficult to source.
It may take some time for your compacted soil to regenerate itself and loosen up over time using the energy from organic matter, but it’s an all-natural process that can help your soil over the long term.
4. Don’t Crowd Your Plants
If your soil is very compact, you should look at how crowded your plants are. Ideally, you need a bit of space between each of your plants since they love to have their own space. This makes it much easier for roots to form properly within the soil and be much more stable and healthy.
If they are crowded, you should consider replanting them with a larger space between them. This may well mean you have fewer plants per raised bed, but it will make for much healthier plants–and your soil will be able to handle it much better.
Additionally, spacing out your plants means you can till and manage the soil between each one with greater ease. You won’t have to fight with your plant’s leaves to get to the soil this way, making weeding and watering much more manageable.
5. Don’t Water the Soil Too Much
Water is necessary for plant growth, and your soil needs it too. However, if you water the raised bed too much, you’ll end up with soggy soil.
If you’re regularly drowning your soil in water, you’re essentially closing up those aeration pores and tunnels, and when the soil dries out, it will naturally become more compact since the space between all the layers of soil has shrunk. I cover what happens to soil when it dries in a different article, which I highly recommend: Here’s What Happens to Soil When It Dries Out
Over time, you can loosen up your compacted soil by changing the frequency and manner in which you water the area.
Additionally, you should consider using a low-pressure hose rather than a high-pressure hose to water your raised beds. Water at high pressure will compact the soil faster than water at low pressure.
Investing in a sprinkler system is often the best idea if you think you’ve been overwatering your raised beds.
6. Ensure Your Raised Beds Are Narrow
Wider raised beds often mean you might be tempted to kneel on the soil to get to the plants on the other side. Any kind of kneeling or foot traffic will inevitably compact your soil over time. Remember that your soil, especially the topsoil, should be level and bouncy, and you’re taking away that lovely bounce by resting your knee in it.
If your soil is compacted because of this habit, you should consider buying more narrow raised beds. This will eliminate the temptation to kneel on the soil.
7. Use Perlite To Encourage Better Aeration
Perlite promotes a healthy soil structure by ensuring soil particles remain free from too much compression. It’s an excellent soil additive and will help you, especially if your soil is very compact.
Perlite also works really well alongside compost and other organic materials in soils. They team up to create one aeration and drainage superstar for which your soil will thank you.
8. Purchase a Hand Tiller
Tilling the topsoil every so often is an excellent way to keep your soil from compacting. If your soil is already overly compacted, using a hand tiller is often a much more effective and efficient way to loosen the topsoil than just using your hand or a trowel.
A hand cultivator will glide smoothly through even the most compacted topsoil, making your job of loosening it up much more straightforward if you’re wrestling with a rather stubborn bit of soil.
9. Use Natural Fertilizer
Using fertilizer is popular among most gardeners. It helps your plants to grow big and healthy, and often the soil will thrive after just a few applications. A few fertilizer applications will help to loosen up that compacted soil in no time.
However, when using fertilizer, be mindful of choosing one that contains only all-natural ingredients with no nasties or harsh chemicals. These chemicals often make plants grow bigger at a faster rate, but in the long term, they are not good for your soil.
Instead, choose a natural fertilizer like Neptune’s Harvest Organic Fertilizer from Amazon.com. It contains only natural, organic ingredients and is perfect for raised beds with vegetables. It comes in different sizes to suit your needs, and it’s straightforward to use.
If none of these solutions solve your problem, don’t fret! Read my guide for dealing with extremely tough garden soil. I discuss the reasons that the phenomenon occurs and present a few other fixes to try: What to Do When Garden Soil is as Hard as a Rock
Final Thoughts
You can loosen compacted soil in raised beds by applying organic materials, using fertilizer, and layering your soil materials. Use newspaper to create a cheap, natural layer of organic matter, and try to refrain from kneeling over the raised bed. You should also rethink your watering schedule since this can make compact soil even more compact.
Maintaining adequate space between your plants and hand-tilling the area will also help to loosen up the topsoil. If you take care of your soil, it should remain loose and bouncy so it can provide nutrients to your plants.
