Growing Sustainability
Hello everyone! Today we will be discussing the benefits and disadvantages of raised garden beds. This trend seems to pop up everywhere on the internet these days, so we will look into this garden design. If you are an urban household or live in confined spaces, this should give you an idea of this will be beneficial for your green space.
So, what are raised garden beds?
It is a gardening method where an area is enclosed and raised from the soil to mimic a container and can vary in shape and size. The raised bed can then be filled with soil particular to the crop you wish to plant. It’s structure can consist of wood, concrete, rock or any material that can retain the soil, its nutrients and moisture.
Advantages
Adding to that, a raised bed is more of a controlled environment and to the people who love organized gardens, this is ideal! If you have a sentimental species you would like to grow, maintaining the soil in the raised bed should also come easier. Another benefit of raised garden beds is that its ideal for the elderly and people who experience back problems. The list goes on and on, but what about the disadvantages?
Here are some more advantages:
Disadvantages
Apart from the soil heating up faster, your plants tend to grow faster as well, so yes. This is also dependable on the climate you live in.
Some people argue that chemically treated wood is harmful to plants and vegetables, but a definitive conclusion cannot be made. In my opinion, treated wood may leach harmful chemicals into the soil that may later lead to you ingesting it in your veggies.
Wood that is recommended is any species that is rot resistant. Here are some species that I feel are more easily accessible:
If you do not find species that are endemic to your region, leave a comment and I’ll research it!
It is highly dependable on the gardener and the type of plants you wish to grow. The consensus is that it should not be less than 6 inches (15cm). Consider the root system of the plant you want to sow. It would be ideal for the soil to be able to drain itself but not to deep so that your roots are left without moisture.
The unique environment that raised garden beds offer allow you to cultivate crops that have specific requirements. Here is a list of vegetables that are ideal for raised beds:
I’m an advocate of raised garden beds. Having grown up in a large garden with a variety of raised beds, it appeals to my aesthetic sense as well as the cool breeze that blew past my window on a hot summer day. Most of our beds consisted of evergreens and trees, casting shadows over the water loving ferns. Leave a comment and let me know what you think about raised garden beds! 🙂
Great info on raised beds. I have a veggie garden every year and I’m just now coming around on making some. They really make a difference for my lettuce beds, herbs, radishes, and beets.
Keep up the great work.
Do you have a good resource that sells bed plans to build?
Also have you seen the corrugated bed kits?
Thanks again!
I will look into it and get back to you Tim!
I use to have raised gardens and designed them for looks and of course space.
Just as you said though, they need watering just like a hanging plant. A lot of watering. Problem was that when I went to work no one else in my family watered the gardens. I ended up giving up.
I used oak and grew regular flowers and plants as well as tomatoes.
I know the hardship haha.. the home that I grew up in had a beautiful garden that was well tended to. We had to move away and I wouldn’t want to go back because I can just imagine the horror of what I will find. I hope to motivate more people like you, who love gardening, to pick up a shovel again.
This is very good information that I needed to know. I’ve taken to using beds for gardening to have better control of the soil. We have very sandy soil where we live. You gave some good tips about which vegetables grow best in beds and the kind of wood to use. Thanks!
All the best,
V. Pearl
Glad you enjoyed it!