Constructing Raised Bed Gardens

Constructing Raised Bed Gardens

For vegetables and flowers, constructing raised bed gardens are one of the best ways to grow lots of plants in a small space, without a lot of work. There are many different gardening methods and raised bed garden designs.

Before you can get to the gardening, you first must focus on building your beds. As your resident garden gnome , I am highly in favor of this method of gardening. It leaves more room for me in the soil!

Raised Bed Garden Design

Most raised bed gardens are constructed no more than four feet wide so that you can reach all areas of the bed from one side or the other without walking in the bed and compacting the soil. The loose, airy nature of the soil is one of the things that makes this gardening technique so successful, so it is important to maintain those qualities, regardless of the bed design.

When planning your vegetable garden to take advantage of this method, you can decide to construct your raised bed garden of wood or other materials, or merely to mound up the soil into beds. It is up to you. Regardless of whether you build structures or simply bank up the soil, you will want to keep the following ideas in mind:

Plan to grow all of your tallest vegetables on the north side of your garden beds. That way, these tall vegetables will not shade out other vegetables.

Do some research about which plants benefit each other by growing together, and which should be kept away from one another, and plan your beds accordingly.

Siteyour garden beds in an area that receives full sun for between 8-11 hours a day. Most vegetables need a lot of sunlight to grow and produce well.

You can plan your garden as a series of plain 4x4 foot beds, or as one, long four foot wide, and 20-foot long bed running along one side of your yard. You could make an interconnected series of L-shaped beds to provide interest. It entirely depends upon the space you have available. When constructing your raised bed garden, use some creativity in the design.

Building Raised Bed Gardens

Before you begin building your raised bed gardens, you need to decide if you want to build up the soil in the beds for the benefits of the plant, or for your own benefit and comfort. To raise a garden high enough that you do not have to be on your hands and knees to work it, you will need to build a wall of at least three feet high, and procure the soil needed to fill it.

Special beds For Special Needs

I know of a neighbor who is wheel chair bound after an accident, but still loves to garden. Family members build 4’x 10’ boxes out of 2”x8” lumber with a ¾” plywood bottom. They set the boxes up on his patio on cinder block high enough that he can get under them with his wheel chair. He now raises more vegetables than a garden gnome, without getting out of his chair.

To simply contain your beds above the normal soil line, without elevating them several feet, you can build your garden squares out of un-treated wood, cinder/cement blocks, or by using special kits put together especially for the purpose. These kits may include wood, metal, plastic, or composite materials. Most kits include brackets or “click together” sides that make it easy to hook the pieces together.

Gnomes are not partial to any particular type of material. Keep in mind, while constructing your raised bed garden, that any garden is good for us!

Happy gardening,

Geefrank

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