How to Make Instant Garden Beds

By Barbara Pleasant
Published on July 13, 2020
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Forty-pound bags of top soil make nifty instant no-dig garden beds.
Forty-pound bags of top soil make nifty instant no-dig garden beds.
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To make an instant garden in a bag, punch holes in the bottom sides of the bags for drainage before you place them on the ground, cut away the tops. Then you can plant directly into the soil in the bags and mulch the area to cover the bags. In the fall, pull away the bags and reform the beds with a rake.
To make an instant garden in a bag, punch holes in the bottom sides of the bags for drainage before you place them on the ground, cut away the tops. Then you can plant directly into the soil in the bags and mulch the area to cover the bags. In the fall, pull away the bags and reform the beds with a rake.

Is this the year you finally start a garden? Or maybe you long for one more bed of bush beans, or you need space for one last pair of tomatoes. Although it’s best to dig or till the soil before you plant, it isn’t essential. Here are several ways to create usable planting space with no-dig gardening. Later on, when the season winds down and you have more time, you can turn this year’s instant garden beds into primo permanent planting space.

Easiest No-Dig Gardening Options

The best way to start a new garden bed is by digging a new site to incorporate organic matter and remove weeds. But in a pinch you can just cover the area with cardboard or layers of wet newspaper, followed by several inches of grass clippings, shredded leaves or weed-free hay or straw. Use a hand trowel to pull back the mulch, cut away sod, and open up planting holes for stocky transplants, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, herbs, flowers — whatever transplants you can buy will work.

If your soil is hopelessly hard and infertile, line your car trunk with a tarp or old shower curtain, and head to a garden center for a load of 40-pound bags of topsoil. (If you can’t decide between products and brands, buy an assortment and put them to the test.) Slash drainage holes in the bottoms of the bags, then lay them over the area you want for your growing bed. Use a sharp utility knife or scissors to cut away the tops of the bags. Moisten well, then plant the bags with seeds or transplants, and mulch to cover the bags. (When growing tomatoes in bags, allow one bag of topsoil per plant.)

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