Ailen Farmer - Raised Bed Gardening for Beginners: The Ultimate Guide to Making and Sustaining a Thriving Organic Vegetable Garden and grow your own fruit , flowers and vegetables, No Matter Where You Live

Raised Bed Gardening for Beginners:

The Ultimate Guide to Making and Sustaining a Thriving Organic Vegetable Garden and grow your own fruit , flowers and vegetables, No Matter Where You Live

AILEEN FARMER

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Introduction

R

aised beds can be best described as a form of garden, constructed above the natural terrain. In raised bed gardening, the soil is usually formed in 3 to 4 feet wide beds bearing any size or shape. The soil is usually enclosed within a frame, typically made of rock, wood or blocks of concrete.

These gardens improve the growing condition of the plants by elevating their roots well above the poor-quality soil. As a bonus, it takes less effort to improve the soil into being a better growing medium for the plants.

You dont have to worry about your raised beds being infiltrated by certain obnoxious grass or tree roots (an aspect not typically seen in your average vegetable gardens) - this because the soil used in raised bed gardening warms up faster during spring. In addition, the elevated position of raised beds prevents weed seeds from blowing into the garden soil.

In a nutshell, some of the aspects that give raised beds a distinctive advantage over other forms of gardening are:

• Less digging is required.
• Raised beds are heated better by the sun.
• Much easier weeding.
• Much easier to provide root crops such as potatoes, with the necessary room to grow.
• Better drainage means you dont have to worry about the plants being damaged due to residual water. This is why plants grown in raised bed gardens suffer less from root rot diseases.
• Because replenishing soil in raised bed gardening is comparatively much easier, you dont have to worry about nematodes and diseases. Any depleted soil can be promptly removed and replaced.
• It helps you save on resources. For example, you dont have to use fertilizer throughout the entire garden. Instead you apply them to the beds only.
• Foot traffic wont do any harm to the plants.
• Raised bed gardening is easy to learn - even if you are just getting started.

On the flip side, the major disadvantage is the cost of building the bed walls if you want to make them durable and aesthetically pleasing. But dont worry. Later well discuss options for building your beds inexpensively or even free.

C hoosing the right spot for your garden will go a long way toward ensuring that it is successful.A little planning up front is well worth it. Here are the most important things to consider when choosing your garden location.

You should always opt for a sunny area to setup your raised bed garden. Typically, the longer the garden receives sunlight, the better. Any site that receives 6-7 hours of sunlight should be avoided. Anything above that and your crops will be much happier.

Any nearby trees will also be competing against your raised beds for sunlight. It is recommended that you choose a site away from drip lines of trees (this is the furthest reach of its leaves). Also, consider how the sun moves throughout the day to avoid putting your garden right in the shade of the tree. In the northern hemisphere, placing your garden to the south of your trees and out from under the drip line, will ensure that the tree does not block any sun from your plants.

These same guidelines apply to houses, fences, hillsides, or any other structure that will block needed sunlight from shining on your plants.

If you cant find a suitable sunny place for your raised beds, you should stick to growing cool season vegetables such as cabbages, broccoli, and lettuce. This is because cool season vegetables are better suited to growing in shade.

In addition, your site of choice should provide wind protection to the plants. This is particularly important because springtime winds can be disastrous for the tender stems of your young plants. Similarly, strong summer winds may dry out plants excessively. Some air circulation is good, just protect against heavy winds.

Therefore, always make it a point to have a border of shrubs or a fence in order to reduce the wind speed. You can also create your own artificial windbreak from easily available high-density polyethylene plastic mesh. This is the same type of plastic used to barricade the area around a construction site. A well designed windbreak usually lowers plant stress, which in turn results in quicker and better yields.

The beds should not be located in frost pockets or places with no air circulation because that may inevitably make your plants vulnerable to fungal diseases. Also, avoid places where fire ants or other infestations are a problem because you certainly wont like the outcome if they chose to build nests in your bed-soil.

Finally, be sure to locate the garden near a quality water source. This one seems obvious, but is an essential requirement for successful raised bed gardening. Despite having a number of distinct advantages over traditional vegetable gardening, the plants in a raised bed garden tends to dry out way quicker due to their higher elevation and improved drainage.

1. Choose a sunny place so plants can get at least 6-7 hours sunlight, or more, every day.
2. If the site of your choice doesnt have any natural protection against wind, build one.
3. Try avoiding any location near drip lines of trees.
4. Places in frost pockets or with low air circulation should be avoided.
5. Consider the convenience of your water source when locating your raised bed garden.