
Vegetable or flower garden gardens are known to require a lot of work. The raised garden bed will help to cut down own the time/work required and help your garden look gorgeous along the way. These gardens can also be decorative and add to the beauty of your yard.
What to use for your raised bed garden
While some people lean more towards using things like landscape timbers or railroad ties, rocks (decorative or creek bed), and cylinder blocks can be used as well. Ultimately it is an individual choice. You may start with one thing and decide to try another and that’s perfectly okay. Also keep in mind that the height may vary based on the condition of the soil where you are building. If soil’s condition is poor you will have to build the raised bed higher. Most raised beds are built between 4 and 8 inches in height so you may need to adjust accordingly.
The beds are built just wide enough to keep the plants, so the gardener will not be walking on top of the soil. This is an advantage because you will not be disturbing the soil that the plants are trying to grow in.
Making a raised garden bed: A good way to begin your garden bed is to make a drawing and do some measuring. Decide the types of plans you will be working into the beds and how much width and height they will need. If you plan on having more than one plant, you’ll need to decide on how many beds you’ll need. You can, after that, decide on the supplies and amount that you’ll need. If you want to use lumber, make sure it is pressure treated. Regular lumber will quickly rot, so it is important to use lumber that can withstand what you’ll put it through.
Creating your garden tips
Use lines of flour to mark the boundaries of your bed walls. This way you will be able to build your walls in the right place and make them straight and even. You will be able to step back and see how the beds will look when completed in your garden plot.
Then you can begin work on the walls.
Dig trenches along the flour lines and place your first row of wood or block, whichever you have chosen to use. When you have your frame securely placed and level you can pack the dirt around the base of the frames. When building on a hill, dig the trenches deeper as they go up.
Finishing a bed
If the soil is hard, you can put gravel underneath it for drainage. Finally, you can plant your seeds! With rows in-between the beds, it will be better for the plants because you will be able to reach them for weeding, watering and harvesting without stepping on the ground near the roots of the plants.
Some Advantages of a Raised Bed
The soil in a raised bed warms up more quickly than the soil in your garden in the early months of the year and will stay warm longer in the Fall. This gives you an extended growing season so you can sow or transplant seedlings earlier and give them a longer time to grow.
If you have poor soil in your garden which is lacking in nutrients or perhaps is very heavy clay then raised beds can solve your problem. You can provide good quality soil with all the proper nutrients so that your plants will grow much better.
If you have physical problems so that it is difficult to kneel down or gardening causes back problems then using a raised bed can make your life much easier. Placing a bed at a suitable height will prevent strain on your back and knees and allow you to work for longer periods. For people who need to use a wheelchair, this type of gardening will allow them to enjoy raising flowers and vegetables which they cannot do with a conventional garden.
In a raised bed that has been properly prepared, drainage is much better than in a conventional garden, and you will not have waterlogged soil that can damage your plants and lead to poor growth.
In a raised bed you can plant closer together which allows you to grow more plants in the same space and also helps to prevent the growth of weeds and to conserve water.
Soil does not become compacted from being walked on in this type of garden which allows oxygen and water to get through to the roots more easily enabling them to grow properly.