Benefits of Raised Garden Beds
I LOVE RAISED BEDS!
They are not for everyone.
Raised beds provide such a wonderful growing environment. They are beautiful. They are easy to manage and keep up with.
BUT they are a project.
To tell you the truth, building a large, raised garden is quite an undertaking.
- It takes materials.
- It takes soil.
- It takes strength.
- It takes time.
- It takes fertilizer (compost or manure).
- It takes paths.
- And you may even need to fence the daggum thing
Yup – that is a project.
Why You Should Consider Raised Garden Beds:
Save Your Back (in the long run)
Raised beds usually require less stooping and bending. Elevated beds make for easier weeding and plant care.
When designing beds make them 3 or 4 feet wide so you can easily reach across the bed without needing to step in it.
Less Work
With raised beds you only maintain the beds themselves, instead of a huge garden plot. Walking paths are for walking and will not need to be fussed with.
Designated walking paths make working in the garden simple and cleaner. Rain or shine – you can get in your garden. I love to weed right after a good drenching rain (the weeds will come out easily roots and all). For conventional gardens, this is a messy, muddy chore.
You and your children won’t be covered in dirt or mud after working in a raised garden with walking paths.
Less Weeding
Because you only weed the beds, there will be significantly fewer weeds to deal with.
Longer Growing Season
Raised beds will extend your growing season (soil warms up faster in raised beds in spring)
Stunning
Raised Gardens are beautiful. Your garden can become a decorative feature adding charm to your yard or homestead
No Tilling
If you hate your tiller or feel like it beats you up – raised beds may be what you want. Because they don’t get foot traffic, the soil in raised beds will not be as compacted.
Perfect Soil
Regardless of the condition of your soil (clay? sand? silt?) raised beds can provide the perfect growing environment. Simply fill the beds with glorious topsoil or compost.
Grow More Food in Less Space
Short on space? Raised beds allow you to grow more food in less space. When plant roots can go deep into the ground you can space plants closer together. Closer plants mean you can get more veggies in each bed.
Also, you can expect to get higher yields from plants – intensive gardening practices used in raised beds can produce a 4 – 10 times greater harvest – source
Good drainage
Poorly drained soil will water-log roots and kill plants. With raised beds, any excess water will easily disperse.
More enjoyable!!
Because raised beds are easier to maintain and less work they are usually seen as a “pleasant hobby” rather than a “dreaded chore.”
If you think it’s too good to be true – you’re probably right, most things are.
Here are some reasons NOT to use raised beds:
- Work – erecting and building the beds is a lot of work.
- Materials – frames, tools, etc for creating raised beds- you will need to find it, buy it, move it and erect it.
- Money – if you can not find free materials for your raised beds & paths, it will cost money.
- Time – it takes some time to build the beds & get them filled.
- Hot weather – depending on how high your beds are raised, those beds may get really hot in the summer months and harm plants
- Watering – if your beds do not contain the right balance of compost, they could require more watering.
Whether you chose a conventional row garden or raised beds you can have a beautiful, productive garden. The choice is personal.
Not everyone has the time, energy or resources to construct a raised garden.
BUT if you can build it, you will probably be glad you did for the next 15 years!
Do what works best for you!
Are you a dedicated gardener? Do you want to garden but don’t know how to begin?
You should join the – GROW YOUR OWN – Organic Gardening Class! All past classes available to everyone who joins New classes are posted every Saturday morning throughout the growing season (2019). Learn more about the class HERE.
XO,
Candi
