Raised Bed Gardening

lasagna gardening -> layers in lasagna gardening -> raised bed gardening -> raised bed flower gardening
Advantages of Raised Bed Gardening

Raised bed gardening has certain advantages over ground level gardening.
It is certainly easier on your back if you happened to have problems in that area. It is easier to access for those who want to garden from a wheelchair or are otherwise physically challenged.

It enables you to grow plants that may not suit the natural soil in your area.

For instance if your natural soil is very acidic, you can purchase soil for the raised garden bed that is alkaline and grow plants that love alkaline soil. Or if your soil or subsoil is of heavy clay, you can install raised garden bed to save the problem and expense of breaking up the clay or solving drainage problems.

When buying in soil, be sure of your source. You don’t want soil that is full of weed seeds like couch that is notoriously difficult to get rid of. Neither do you want to be lumped with poor quality soil that will take more effort to bring up to a friable and rich loam standard.

Once you have built the walls for your raised bed, take a look at what is inside them. Is there grass or weeds? Depending on what sort it is, you will have to take care that it does not come up through your new soil and be a problem. Kikuyu runners are likely to grow up through any depth of soil. So spray with a good grass and weed killer, or fill in the entire area with thick layers of newspaper to kill it. If you plan on climbing up into your garden, place a secure step up in a convenient location.

Fill the area up almost to the top of the wall with the new soil and allow a few weeks for it to settle. Watering it often will help this process. Never plant it immediately because you need to see what weeds will germinate before you plant. You can then spray them with an all-round week killer before you start.

Once the soil has settled, you may need to top it up. But leave several centimeters between the soil level and the top of the wall, the same as you do for pots. Otherwise the water will just run off the top instead of sinking in. Plants can be closer together than in a flat garden bed because you have a better depth of soil for the roots to go into. Planting close will also help to keep any future weeds down.

Keep tall plants for the back of course, but for the front you can choose from the myriad plants that ramble and fall to get that glorious spillover feature down your walls. Now all you have to do is sit back and enjoy it!

Raised Bed Gardening, a little different but worth trying.

Related :

Layered Gardening
Lasagna Gardening
Raised Bed Flower Gardening

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