Vegetable gardening is actually a fantastic way to grow your own food and have a healthier lifestyle. Growing healthy food makes you stay active and healthy, even better for environment. If your garden’s soils are not perfect for growing vegetables, gardening in raised garden beds is your best choice! You will be quite surprised by the result. Raised garden beds increase your yield and help your garden flourish all season.
Definition
Raised bed gardening is a form of gardening above ground level in which the soil is enclosed in containment units ("beds"). "Raised" indicates that the soil level in the bed is higher than the ground around it while "bed" means a size small enough to work around without actually entering the planting area. Commonly, raised beds are along with box-like frames to provide structural support and protect against erosion. The goal is to produce a deep, wide growing area that encourages plant roots to grow down and outward. It can be anywhere from just a few inches tall to waist-high (or higher). Usually, there’s space left around the outside of each bed so you can walk around it without stepping onto the garden bed, which makes it possible for the soil to stay loose and soft instead of compacted. That’s important, since roots grow best when the there’s room for air and water to move up and down through the soil. A raised bed is best kept to a maximum of 4 feet (1.2m) wide with the length to suit the space available, generally 5 to 12 feet long.
The History of Raised Beds
The practice of using raised beds went back to medieval times when farmers utilized wattle fences (walls of woven limbs and branches) to contain their gardens. In the 18th century, the market gardeners in Paris grew vegetables in elevated beds, using the abundant horse manure of the time as fertilizer. The concept gained popularity again in the early 1970’s when landscapers built raised beds with freestanding frames to motivate greater crop turnouts on smaller house lots. With healthy soil and proper care, raised beds can produce a large harvest in a small space.
Types Of Raised Garden Bed
Frames for raised beds can be constructed by a variety of materials, including stones, cinder blocks, bricks, broken concrete pieces (from that recent sidewalk renovation), corrugated metal, straw bales. Beds can also be elevated for gardeners(especially for seniors)who try and avoid over reaching by making sure that you are working at a comfortable height while working.
Certainly, you can build your own raised garden bed by yourself to match your own style and landscape by means of purchased or reclaimed materials. If you want to save time and energy, you could check out our Metal Galvanized Raised Garden Bed Kits. Just choose your favorite shape and order and everything comes with you.
To easily access the bed from all sides, you raised garden bed should not be too narrow, usually 2-4 feet of space between your planter beds. Beds should be different depths based on what plants you grow. Deep-rooted plants like miniature fruit trees and tomatoes need more soil than shallow-rooted plants like lettuce and pansies. Raised beds can also be elevated on legs, so you don’t have to bend over to take care of your plants.
Normally, a raised bed doesn’t require a bottom. If you’re concerned with gophers or other tunneling critters, put some staff made of fine mesh hardware cloth would be beneficial for you to keep them away your bed. They’re solid with drainage holes so any extra water has somewhere to go.
A raised bed garden should be filled with specific bagged soil, not all native soil or topsoil. When added, please follow label directions. Specific bagged soil helps restore soil structure, renew water retention, and replenish depleted essential nutrients.
Benefits
Raised beds bring a range of benefits: they extend the growing season, they can reduce weeds and cost if planted appropriately, and they lower the demand to to use lean native soil. Since gardeners don’t step onto the raised beds, the soil is not compacted and the roots have an easier time growing. For elderly and physically disabled, waist-high raised beds help them plant their gardens easily and conveniently without having to bend over to care for them.
