key points
- Raised beds are perfect for growing cool season vegetables and annual plants.
- Plant spring-blooming bulbs in your raised bed or sow seeds of perennials that require cool stratification.
- Use mulch and insulation covers to extend the growing season in your raised beds.
An empty space offers lots of opportunities, and a raised bed is an ideal area that you can put to good use during autumn and winter. For some fall and winter plants, you’ll need to add insulation covers, but there are other ways to use your raised beds after the summer harvest.
Start by clearing out spent plants and weeds and making some compost. Then consider these ideas for using your raised beds to best advantage all year long.
Choose from a long list of cold-resistant vegetables to maintain harvests well into late autumn and into winter in warmer climates.
Root vegetables including beets, turnips, radishes and carrots withstand light frost. Kale, chard, mustard and collards continue to grow until the ground freezes. Mulch to protect the roots and allow for regrowth and a second harvest when temperatures warm in early spring.
Add an Insulating Cover And grow cabbage, bok choy, and winter-hardy salads like escarole and romaine. Your empty beds leave plenty of room for growing cole crops that require a lot of space. Broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are cool season vegetables that grow even better in the fall in many climates.
Consider devoting a small space to garlic and chives, traditionally planted in autumn for a late spring or early summer harvest.
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Plant cool season herbs
Cilantro and parsley do not survive the summer heat, so planting in fall and early spring is ideal for a good harvest. Herbs like rosemary can be finicky and generally do not thrive indoors.
Try burying potted rosemary, thyme and mint, pot and all, in a raised bed to increase their chances of surviving the winter. Add mulch to retain moisture and heat.
Autumn is the perfect time to plant spring-blooming bulbs, and raised beds satisfy the need for good quality, well-drained soil.
Too much moisture in winter can cause bulbs to rot, so amend the soil if necessary before planting. Daffodils, tulips and crocus are some of the bulbs you can plant in the fall for early color and interest next spring.
Starting Seed Beds for Perennial Plants
Many perennial flowers benefit from planting in the fall, including those started from seed. Raised beds are ideal for sowing seeds that require cool stratification. Skip the refrigerator and sow them directly outside where the cold of winter naturally provides the right temperatures for germination in the spring.
Encourage healthy root growth by holding perennial plants, including fall scions, in your raised bed for planting in flower beds next spring. Mulch, along with an insulating cover, gives plants a head start on growth in spring and reduces stress when you transplant seedlings into standard flower beds and gardens.
If you have several raised beds, consider dedicating one to perennials or adding them as companion plants among the vegetables.
Extend the blooming season and add color to your fall landscape by filling raised beds with cold-resistant annual plants. Pansies, petunias, chrysanthemums, snapdragons, poppies and violas are some of the many flowers you can grow for fall and winter interest.
Plant ornamental kale and cabbage as base plants for seasonal displays. Include pumpkins, scarecrows, corn stalks and straw bales as part of your landscape to set the stage for family fun and interest.
Heels in bare-root tree and shrub seedlings
Planting during cooler weather is recommended for most trees and shrubs, but don’t worry if you aren’t able to get them in the ground in autumn.
A raised bed is ideal for adding woody plants to keep the roots viable until transplanting in early spring.
Healing works well for landscape trees and ornamental plants as well as berry bushes.
Feed your soil and discourage weeds in early spring by sowing cover crops. Legumes such as vetch, clover and alfalfa germinate rapidly and persist throughout the winter in many growing zones. Bury the plants into the soil before spring planting to replenish needed nitrogen or leave them as natural mulch and weed suppressor.
Plants with strong roots, such as radishes and mustards, improve the structure of the soil by aerating it and encouraging beneficial microorganisms. The leaves are frost resistant and edible. The roots of carrots and daikon radishes can be dug up and eaten when the ground thaws in late winter/early spring.
Grasses such as winter rye and wheat are often used in larger garden plots, but they also work equally well to recycle nutrients and organic matter into your raised bed soil. Cut close to soil level and dig them up about a month before the last frost in your growing zone.
