Raise Bed Gardening: Three-Easy Step

Tweet

Raised beds, also known as garden boxes, are great for growing small pots of flowers and vegetables. They keep pathway weeds from the garden soil, prevent soil compaction, provide good drainage and serve as barrier to pests such as slugs and snails. The sides or the garden beds keeps the garden soil from eroding or washed away from heavy rains.

Raised garden reduces back strains when bending over to tend your plants. This is good for older gardeners who are suffering from back pains. A raised bed makes gardening easy. This is ideal for smaller spaces. It produce higher yield for the area because of the better drainage and deep rooting. It also allows for a longer growing seasons, since you can work the soil more quickly in the spring in frost-hardened regions.

Upon mentioning all of these benefits of raised bed gardening, many of you would like to make your raised bed garden. Here are some of the basic steps:

1. Materials - Choose the wood that you would like to use. Make sure that that wood lasts. Example, the cedar contain natural oils which prevent rotting makes it more durable. Choosing thicker woods can make the wood lasts longer.

2. Planning and Design - Look for a perfect location where there is enough sunlight. The ideal bed width is 4 feet. Length isn't that important. Plots are often 4 feet wide by 8 feet long or 4 feet wide by 12 feet long. The depth of the bed can vary. Six inches is a minimum. Plants need at least a 6- to 12-inch rooting zone, so 12 inches is ideal. Before you established the bed, make sure to loosen the soil with a garden fork so that it is not compacted.

3. Building the bed - To support timber beds, place wood stakes at every corner of the beds. Make sure that all stakes are in equal level from ground. Use galvanized nails or screws to fix the boards and the stakes.

Now, your raised beds is ready for planting. Fill the bed with soil and compost. You can mix it with fertilizer if you would like. Take note that soil in raised bed dried out more quickly especially during summer. Make sure to water it regularly.