Raised vegetable gardens are ideal in high rainfall areas

If you have problems with heavy rainfall then raised vegetable gardens are the way to go as they drain more effectively. If the back of your yard is under water because of bad drainage during the

growing season then you should seriously think about raised vegetable gardens. As long as the plants are out of the water then they will survive.

If there is standing water in your yard after heavy rain then raised vegetable gardens are what you need.

It also looks like there is a hard clay pan under the topsoil that is stopping the water from draining away. Your could try a hand borer to drill some holes through the clay pan to try and drain the water away, but you will still need raised beds. I would make the raised beds as high as possible but that would mean very strong sides, whether concrete or wood. As the plants grow they exert a lot of pressure on the sides of the raised beds and the root pressure can push the sides of the raised bed out. You will also need holes in the bottom to let the water drain out.

If you are just using piles of large rocks around the beds that will save the sides, and this way you can make bigger beds and use the rocks as a rock garden.

When you have the raised vegetable garden beds made you will need to fill them to the top with topsoil because it will settle down. I always mix in lots of organic matter and earthworms to help build up the soil nutrients. Once the topsoil is in I would start growing vegetables as the roots will stop the soil from compacting down. Even if it is late in the season get your vegetable plants growing in the raised vegetable gardens because that is what they are for.

Check out our Vegetable Gardening page and see what you think, but now is the time to stop thinking and just throw a few seeds around the house to see what happens.