Ensure that your plants grow in safe soil with these strategies.
Beds
Raised Beds
This classic strategy uses barriers to separate your garden’s soil from potentially unsafe soil in your lot. The University of Minnesota provides instructions for cedar timber raised beds, or you can take a look at this print-out guide.
Berms
Vegetable Berms are a low-cost way to ensure safe growing practices without raised beds. Use berm-building instructions from the University of Minnesota, or check out the Patchwork Farm on Chicago Avenue for a beautiful example of vegetable berm design and production capacity.
Keyhole Gardens
Another low-cost bed format that cleverly conserves moisture and replenishes soil nutrients.
Container Gardening
- The University of Maryland offers a step-by-step guide to building your own self-watering containers (SWC). If you are looking for a local resource, contact Growing Station gardeners in Pilsen to learn more about their SWC methods and experiments.
- A blog post about Smart Pots, semi-permeable pots that encourage healthy root growth.
- The Chicago Botanic Gardens offers expert tips for preparing container gardens.
- Need some inspiration? Check out these creative ideas for potential plant homes.