The Rules of Raised Beds

Pitchers and catchers report is here! That means it must be time to think about tomatoes! On the latest You Bet Your Garden, Mike McGrath reviews the rules of raised beds and takes bets on perlite versus vermiculite. Plus, your fabulous phone calls!

Question of the Week:

I’m in the process of resizing a majority of our raised beds from four feet wide down to three feet. When finished we should wind up with beds ranging in size from four-by-three to eight-by-three. (Just waiting for the ground to warm up before I can start the work.) Now: You have mentioned adding perlite to the soil mix in previous articles on raised beds. What is the difference between perlite and vermiculite? Also: I usually mulch the beds with grass and leaves collected from the yard in the Fall. How much of either should be added to any of the beds?

–Joseph in Warrenton, PA

Mike weighs in »