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Raised Garden Beds  Raised Garden Beds are Easy and Productive
If you want to increase the production of your flowers, vegetables, or fruits you may consider raised garden beds. This kind of gardening helps you control growth by controlling soil conditions as well insects and weeds.  Raised Garden Bed Advantages Whether you are growing flowers, vegetables, fruits, or other plants, raised bed gardening is a great choice. Why go to the trouble unless there are specific advantages in terms of both production and looks. Some of the better reasons for raised garden beds are:
Drainage of Soil (Better): Unless you are growing water lilies, most plants do best in soil that drains very well. The good thing about raised beds is that the plant roots are growing and expanding above water logged or compacted soils. It helps that you can fill much of a raised garden bed with compost and organic matter that will stay loose and drain well.
Yield / Production (Higher): This is important whether you are growing flowers, vegetables or fruits. You get higher yields with raised garden beds because everything about the bed is healthier than in regular soil. The root systems are freer and get more nutrients and water. Also, you can plant more closely together without sacrificing quality because there is more nutrients and leg room for the root systems.
Growing Season (Longer): The soils warm earlier because of increased drainage getting you an earlier spring planting. Also, if there is a wet season the soils dry out much faster allowing earlier planting between rains. Free Newsletter Please sign up and enjoy our Gardening Advisor Newsletter. In this you will read both fun and serious gardening information covering a wide range of topics.
We will gaurd your Email with great care and NEVER send spam or sell your information.  Maintenance (Easier): There is less worry about weeds and insects since you are off the ground. You also have less worry about foot traffic, whether it is kids or animals, damaging plant growth.
Challenging Locations: This can mean something dramatic like a roof top or a very poor soil condition in your yard such lots of rocks. You can easily overcome this with raised garden beds because you are in control of the soil quality.
Design of: You can coordinate any design you envision. Your raised garden bed can be long and narrow, round, square, or fit into special spacing requirements.
Invasive Plants: This is actually two-sided. You can protect your plants from invasive growth or safely grow invasive plants and be able to control them in a raised garden bed. Types of Raised Garden Beds
Temporary Raised Garden Beds – The primary way to describe temporary raised beds is that they are simpler, take less time, and are less expensive to construct. Temporary raised beds so flatten over a short period of time because they are constructed with no retaining walls to hold the soil in place.
Permanent Raised Garden Beds – These are as the name implies longer lasting because there is some kind of a retaining wall bordering the raised garden bed. Usually you intend on using a permanent raised garden bed for several years and construct it out of materials that match your surroundings. Some of the materials used for raised gardens beds are:
Constructing Raised Garden Beds
There are several easy steps in creating your raised garden beds.
[1] Design – You are the master of your domain here. Decide how large an area to cover considering what and how much you want to grow. Think also about the longer term and what you may want to use the raised garden bed for in the future. Another point to consider is the width. If your raised bed is too wide you cannot get to all of it with out stepping on the garden.
[2] Location – Part of this will be dictated by the type of plants you plan to grow. Some flora need lots of sun while others need shade to thrive correctly. You will also want to consider how close access is to water and the ease of getting tools to your raised garden bed.
[3] Materials – Your overall design ideas will affect the kinds of materials you’ll need to complete the raised garden bed project. You’ll need to know the total length, width and depth to come up with the materials list. You will also need to decide whether you’ll use stone, lumber, bricks or other to make your purchase complete.
[4] Depth – You have already figured this out to come up with your materials list. Depth will also dictate how much soil and organic materials you’ll need to fill the whole rained garden bed before planting.
[5] Plant Types – You will need to decide on this in order to figure out the best soil mix for your garden. Different flowers, vegetables and fruit bearing plants require various soil mixes to do their best.
[6] Soil Mix – Once you decide on the plants you’ll be growing, you can find out what soils they do best in and act accordingly. Generally soil mixtures with peat moss, compost, and decomposed manures are great for mixing in. Mix these well into the soil not only to spread the nutrients throughout, but to help aerate and loosen the soil.
[7] Maintenance – Soil in raised garden beds gets warm faster and will dry out faster as well. This can be a problem in the heat of the summer and may require extra watering or thinking about locating your beds near some shade. You’ll also need to replenish organic mulches each season and think about the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and weed control.
[8] Burrowing Pest – If your yard has a problem with moles or other burrowing pest you should consider putting a layer of 1 inch chicken wire down before the soil is added. Make sure you run the wire up the sides of your walls at least 3 inches as well for added protection.
[9] Traffic – As much as possible avoid stepping on the raised garden bed. This leads to compacting the material and reduces the advantages of loose well draining soil. Free Newsletter Please sign up and enjoy our Gardening Advisor Newsletter. In this you will read both fun and serious gardening information covering a wide range of topics.
We will gaurd your Email with great care and NEVER send spam or sell your information. Basic Tools Needed to Create Raised Garden Beds
Raised bed gardening is easy to do and makes a lot of sense when you consider the advantages. Raised garden beds produce high growth rates, decreased insect problems, and easier weed control. |