Our esteemed, now retired, head gardener Hal Cohen put this together to help anyone who wanted to follow this technique. Hal has a garden in the Southern California desert so has hands on experience of what it’s like to garden with little to no water. But even in damper climates, it can get really dry in the summer in Chicago and the following guidelines are essential for those who want to reduce water use.

Benefits of Core Gardening

There are many different gardening methods, each have their advantages and disadvantages. To give you the best opportunity to decide if this method is for you or not, I wanted to share the benefits of core gardening:

1. Holds Moisture

By using the core gardening method, once charged, you should be able to go weeks at a time without adding water to your garden.

2. No Waiting Period

As mentioned above, there is no waiting period to plant when applying the core method. When you use other means, such as no-dig gardening, or bale gardening, you have to wait for the wood chips or straw to compost before you can plant, usually.

However, since the materials in the core have already begun to break down before you apply them, you’re in the clear to plant as soon as you’ve completed adding the core.

3. Cheap

Some gardening methods require an investment upfront. This method doesn’t, which makes it budget-friendly.

You can easily collect leaves or your grass clipping for no money. If you prefer to use straw, it’s inexpensive to purchase.

But if you begin collecting it at the right time of year, you may not have to pay for it at all. Around the fall of the year, people use straw to decorate and when the season has passed, you see a great deal of straw being tossed. You could collect what’s being wasted and bring it to your plot.

4. Simple

This method of gardening is straightforward. There isn’t much to it. You dig a hole, fill it with material to create a sponge and plant. From there, you enjoy the benefits of easily watered plants. You do this once a year and avoid the hassle of watering every day during a drought. This is the definition of simplicity in gardening.

5. Creates Better Soil

Finally, using the core gardening method creates better soil. Not only does the core hold moisture for your plants, but it also loosens the soil up. In the process, the soil begins to drain better. This is ideal for plants. They all like loose soil where they can easily stretch their roots. Also, plants desire soil which will drain well to keep them from being overwatered at any given period.

Realize, the core will spread moisture in your raised bed going two feet in both directions from it. If your garden bed is larger, you may need to add a second core. A second core will make sure the garden remains adequately watered.

How to prepare your plot.

1. Dig your trench.

   The trench needs to be 8-10 inches deep running down the center of the bed. If you don’t dig the trench deep enough, the core will be too high in the bed which will cause issues when you plant because the roots of the plants will become tangled in the core.

2. Add the materials

   When you’ve dug your trench, you need to add the organic materials you’ll be using as your core. This could be dried grass clippings, dried leaves, or straw/hay. Most recommend using straw because hay usually has grass seeds in it. Grass seeds could cause grass to begin sprouting in your raised bed, which you don’t want.

   Add four to five inches of the organic material to the trench. If you don’t add enough, your core will break down too quickly. Therefore, it won’t do its job for the entire growing season. However, if you add too much material to your trench, the core may not break down before the next growing season which could cause a mess in your soil when you have to add another core.

3. Cover with soil

   When your core has been placed in the trench in the center of your raised garden bed, you’ll need to cover it with quality soil. You could use store-bought soil, compost, or manure. Whatever you’d like for your plants to grow in, you use this to cover the core. When the core is covered completely, you’re ready to move on.

4. Plant

   The great thing about core gardening is there is no waiting period. In many gardening methods, you have to wait for items to break down before you can use the garden space. With core gardening, you plant right over the core. You can begin getting your plants to grow in the midst of the next step. When you’ve finished covering the core, plant what you wish in the space, and move on to the next step.

5. Charge Your Core

   An essential step in using the ‘core method’ is to make sure your core is charged. The idea behind the core method is for the straw to work like a sponge. It holds water for your garden to keep you from having to apply as much.

   You first have to saturate the core to get the process started. From there, you can water less because you have a giant sponge in the middle of your garden which your plants can draw water from.

   In the beginning, you’ll need to water your core deeply. You can do this after you’ve planted in your raised bed.

   However, it’s important to note you don’t water your raised beds to boost your newly planted crops.

   Instead, you water to ensure you are thoroughly soaking your core. If the core doesn’t become fully saturated, the method won’t work.

Well, you now know how to create and adequately apply the core gardening method to your garden. This should make retaining water in your garden a little easier for you.

We’d love to hear from you. Have you ever tried this gardening method? Do you have any tips or tricks for those new to this style of gardening? Any valuable lessons learned? Email us here and jf you have any questions about the method, email us as well and we’ll ask Hal!