Raised beds - have question about soil

[rhianna813]

I normally garden just in the ground with heaped up “raised” beds. My soil drives me nutty, so we put in 2 raised beds this weekend. We used wood frames and brought in soil from a landscaping place.

Since it’s not been too rainy the soil is fairly dry. I am not sure if it needs to settle before I plant in it or if I should water it first before planting. Guess I am nervous that if I put seeds and small transplants in *then* water well – the soil is going to sink or shift a lot and my seeds might end up too far down in the soil. Am I being paranoid? hahaha

Thanks!

Rhianna
Oregon zone 8

[Tarielena]

I'm no expert, but I personally made sure my beds got rained on/watered a few times before I planted anything in them (still haven't transplanted my seedlings, but I put a row of marigold seeds around the edge). With all that dirt, there's definitely going to be some sort of settling and I figure it's better safe than sorry!

[lightheart]

Agree with the above post. If your want to plant soon with seeds or small transplants then pull out a 1/4 to 1/2 inch or so of the dry soil, water very well to settle the remaining dirt then spread the dry on top and lightly water that so you are not sowing your seeds in muck.