I plant almost exclusively in these unenclosed raised beds. I call them berms but not sure if that's the appropriate term for them. Some of them I have simply laid down a layer of cardboard to smother out the weeds in that area and then piled topsoil roughly 1 foot high with it decreasing to ground level gradually at the edges. I planted shallow-rooted perennials, herbs & veggies in these beds. Some of my beds though I decided to go ahead and till up the ground below and then add the soil berm on top. Do this for deeper rooted shrubs/trees, roses, etc... Plant your plants and then top with a layer of mulch. I've had no problem with rain washing away any of the berms but then again they weren't in areas where there was alot of washout anyway. Just pack it down gently with your foot and it should stay put. If it is in a washout prone spot you may need to re-direct the runoff with a ditch, some corrugated drainage pipe and gravel. Good luck with your project! Danielle

.. gardengal48, Thanks for the reply. I donâÂÂt have the resources to invest in a rain garden right now. All but one of our downspouts empties on to our property either directly or across the driveway and then onto the grass. IâÂÂll divert the last one from the street before the season starts in earnest. The lawn out front slopes away from the house and IâÂÂve noticed when IâÂÂve left a sprinkler on too long during my weekend deep watering routines it will leak through crack in the pavement to the street and quite some distance from the sprinkler. We have a winter rainy season and remain pretty dry the rest of the year. So we get a lot of rain during one season and our soil out front just isnâÂÂt holding it in. I planted a couple of trees out front and I think thatâÂÂs starting to do the trick on one side. The other side has an old tree right smack in the middle. IâÂÂve been propagating California poppies from an 89 cent pack of seeds I bought as an impulse buy in a drug store some time ago. I threw some seeds around when we first moved in and from the couple that thrived we now have them spreading about as I harvested the seeds over time. I go around and trim them in an attempt to keep them going all year long so their taproots keep running deeper and become more substantial. Time to spread a bunch of the seeds I saved now that itâÂÂs the end of November. One of these days IâÂÂll find some other suitable natives to plant. Native California plants offered are often Northern California and not always suited for our hot dry spot between the desert and the coast. For gardening IâÂÂm probably going to go down the container path. Our garage is in the back so a lot of ground is taken over by concrete. The rest of the yard was already planned and planted when we moved in and the open grass area is needed for the dogs. I havenâÂÂt figured out what to do with the lawn out front. IâÂÂm having troubles with the âÂÂwell conceivedâ part. In the meantime I keep the watering to a minimum and alternate between grass cycling and harvesting grass clippings for feedstock in the digesting bins I maintain for our yard clippings and kitchen scraps. to sense ..

I had the same problem. I wasn't sure if it was the soil or the fact that I may have watered them too much during the bean growth. I tried planting them in a different spot the next year. That old sweet great flavor was back. I also water them less. I add manure to the soil get great looking plants with plenty of beans without the same flavor after growing them in same area for a few years. Maybe someone with more experience can help us. Mel

You need to plant the corn first and let get about 2' tall before you plant the beans to give the corn a chance to grow tall enough before the beans start running. The squash also will help (??!!) keep the raccoons out of the corn...so I understand...we'll see this summer as we plan to plant the 3 together, too. It is called a 3-sisters garden when the corn, beans and squash are planted together. Make sure you have a tall corn, so the stalk will be strong enough to hold the beans. A sweet corn stalk will not be strong enough or tall enough for the beans. I wouldn't want to try to pick beans that had run up okra...they would be too hard to pick, the okra would be hard to find, and the okra leaves make me break out as it is. The sunflowers...you would have to have the giant...mammoth kind for them to be tall enough...I don't know if they would be strong enough or not.