By editor 
With the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting a warm, dry spring for Victoria, it pays for home vegetable growers to think about water before they plant.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s spring 2026 outlook, issued on 27 August, says rainfall is likely to be below average across Victoria, with above average temperatures very likely both day and night. The Bureau also expects El Niño to strengthen and persist through spring and summer.
For anyone planting tomatoes, zucchini and beans this season, that points to one problem: keeping the soil moist enough through hot, dry weeks.
Two choices made at the start of the season can make a real difference. One is how the bed is built. The other is what goes into it.
How a wicking bed works
A wicking bed is a raised garden bed with a water reservoir built into its base. Instead of being watered from above, the soil draws moisture up from the reservoir to the plant roots. Less water is lost to evaporation at the surface, and the bed can be topped up through a pipe rather than with a hose every evening.
That makes the soil above the reservoir the most important part of the build, because it has to hold water well.
What goes into the bed
Melbourne supplier Soilworx, which has supplied sands, soils, gravels, mulches and pebbles across Victoria for almost 40 years, names wicking beds and veggie patches as the ideal uses for its veggie mix soil.
The blend is two thirds garden soil and one third mushroom compost. Soilworx says it has a great nutrient content and excellent water holding capacity, and that it provides gentle feeding for vegetables and annual plants. It is sold under the company’s EcoActiv brand, from its yards in Deer Park, Pakenham and Werribee.
There are three points to know before ordering:
- Soilworx advises waiting at least 30 days after filling a bed before planting.
- It does not recommend the mix for pots or planters.
- Because it is a recycled, environmentally friendly material, small fragments of stone, plastic, glass or rubble may occasionally be present.
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Protecting the surface
In a dry season, what sits on top of the soil matters too. Soilworx pairs its veggie mix with two mulches. Pea straw helps the soil retain moisture and adds slow release organic matter. Sugar cane mulch protects the soil surface and reduces evaporation.
Its general advice is that organic mulch, not stone, belongs in vegetable gardens and annual beds, where the soil is dug often and needs feeding.
Timing the build
The 30 day wait shapes the calendar. A bed built and filled in early October can be ready for planting in early November, still within the spring window for warm season crops in Melbourne.
To order the right amount, Soilworx offers a free volume calculator on its website. As a guide, a wicking bed 3 metres long and 1 metre wide, with 30 centimetres of soil above the reservoir, needs 0.9 cubic metres.
A season that rewards planning
No bed can make up for weeks without rain. But a wicking reservoir, a soil that holds water and a good layer of mulch all reduce how often the hose comes out. In a spring the Bureau expects to be warm and dry, that is a practical place to start.
Soilworx sells veggie mix soil in bulk by the cubic metre and in 25 litre bags, with tracked delivery across Victoria or collection from any of its three yards.