Gardening in Raised Garden Beds

If you have decided to grow a vegetable garden, but are struggling with poor soil, a raised garden bed is a great option and a popular choice among gardeners. With a raised bed, even several inches off the ground, you can not only control the quality of your soil, but enjoy many other benefits as well.

If your raised garden beds are around 4 feet in width, you will be able to easily reach in to access your plants from either side, doing away with the need to step on the soil and compact it. Since roots need air to grow, reduced soil compaction will keep soil more aerated.

Expect your plants to grow bigger and produce better because of the quality, aerated soil, but also because raised garden beds drain water better than regular garden beds. Raised garden beds produce up to 2 times as much vegetables and flowers as ordinary beds.

Another bonus of a raised garden bed is that the soil temperature will warm a little sooner in the Spring and stay warmer a little later in the Fall. If your raised garden bed is 12-18 inches tall, you can actually garden while seated. By sitting on a gardening stool or wagon you can save your back from repeated bending sometimes needed to perform basic garden tasks like weeding, harvesting and pruning.

Garden beds can be made in wood, stone, and even corrugated tin. There are also kits available with parts made from high density polyethylene boards, faux stones, or cedar planks. You can even buy raised garden bed kits that come with "greenhouse" covers.

Here are a few more details about the different kinds of garden beds to choose from.

Wood

There are many opinions, as well as many options when it comes to using wood in out door projects. One of the main problems with wood is that over time, it will naturally rot and need to be replaced. You can lengthen the life of your wood garden bed in several ways.

The first way is to use chemically treated wood. This can come in the form of old railroad ties, or pressure treated lumber. This is actually such a touchy and controversial subject that it is encouraged to do some extra research on these products before making a decision to use them in a vegetable garden setting.

Experts from the University of Washington have this to say about the use of railroad ties which are treated with creosote, in a raised garden bed: "Creosote can volatilize into the air, especially during hot weather, and plant foliage in the vicinity of the ties may be damage by the vapors. It can also leach into the soil near the ties, but it will not be absorbed by the roots and will therefore not get into the plants' tissues. When using railroad ties for raised beds or similar areas, avoid putting plants too close to the wood. Keeping plants three of four inches away should prevent damage. Also, don't ever use creosote-treated wood in interior locations such as greenhouses, since the vapors will damage or kill plants in them. You may find another big problem is that creosote will seep out of ties in warm weather. When you sit on or lean against the timber as you garden, you clothes will pick up black tar stains."

As for pressure treated lumber, the chemical it is treated with contains arsenic and it has been shown to leach into soil. However, the leaching is limited to about 6 inches from the lumber, but those 6 inches will stay contaminated indefinitely.

There are several kinds of wood that will do better in out door applications, however, they will cost about 2 times as much as pressure treated lumber. Cedar and redwood are two woods that are naturally resistant to rot.

Stone or Cement

A stone or cement garden bed will last forever. Whether you stack natural stone or use the stacking, manufactured cement blocks, your raised garden bed will be a beautiful addition to your landscape.

The biggest set back with stone is the cost. Of course the stones can also be quite heavy to lift. Depending on how tall you want your garden bed, you may also require quit a few stones to complete your project.

However, the concrete stacking blocks are very easy to use and with a little preparation to your area and leveling off of the ground, can be stacked to form a sturdy garden bed in an afternoon.

Corrugated Tin

Corrugated tin panels are fairly inexpensive, won't rot and are strong enough, when reinforced with support posts. You will need special drill bits and hardware to work with metal. Also, the look of the shiny garden beds might not compliment the rest of your landscaping. However, the tin raised garden bed is a nice, less expensive option.

Pre-Made Kits

There are several on line sources for pre-made raised garden bed kits. The benefit of these kits is that they are simple to set up and can be easily moved if needed. Most are made of high quality plastic, sometimes recycled, that won't fade or crack. Some of the fake stone kits have hollow "stones" which will help to insulate the soil. They are light weight and come in a variety of colors and designs.

You can also purchase raised garden bed kits which use natural cedar, but are pre-made to go together quickly and easily.

There are so many benefits to having raised garden beds for your garden. While some may seem cost prohibitive, building raised beds will be an investment that will pay of in years of happy gardening.