Raised bed gardens

Hi all. I am thinking of spring today, as I am sure we all are. Every year I get a bit itchy for spring! I’ve learned to use this time to plan my gardens, that way I don’t plant too much, or too little. However, space is definitely an issue for me in my tiny little space.

When I first moved here, I went out as soon as the ground could be worked and dug up a 4’x10′ garden bed. Then another. They actually did quite well the first year, despite the weeds. I have a lot of bermuda grass which just came through despite my attempts. Every year though, I diligently went out in April and prepared the beds. Last year I finally had boo build me some raised beds and I am so glad that I did.

Here is what I did. Overall this project cost me about $450, including the cedar planks, screws, loam + compost mix, and a refuel of our friend’s truck.

We went shopping. Last year we went to Lowe’s and got some 1″x4″x10 feet cedar planks. This was obviously the most expensive part. We also got some decking screws and some 1″x2″ little cedar boards to make the corners. Then we came home and somehow boo (who is a carpenter) whipped the frames together in about 90 minutes. I am sorry to say that I was not really involved in that part. I ended up doing 4- 4’x10′ beds.

For some of the beds, I ended up putting down cardboard over the grass to block the weeds. This will degrade over time and feed the soil. I did not till the soil under the beds, as I’ve been reading more and more about no till gardening.

Then we had a fun “dirt day”. We went to our local compost farm and got 2 truckloads of loam + compost mix. We had to borrow our friend’s truck for this, and remove a fence panel to back the truck into the yard. Unfortunately we could not get the truck near the beds, so we had to make a dirt pile, and then used a wheelbarrow to get the dirt into the beds. I did help with this part.

I then planted the beds one by one. We built the beds in April so I chose one bed to use for cold liking veggies, like kale, lettuce, etc. The other ones I just left alone until Memorial day. One bed I could not put dirt in until July, because that is where I planted my garlic. I had to wait until I could harvest the garlic and then I had another bed to plant things in, although it was a bit late. I also added some local compost as a top dressing. The veggies really loved that.

The raised beds were pretty productive last year. I did have one portion that I maybe did not water enough because it was on the far side, thus no eggplant harvest for me. I plan to add more soil amendments to that part of the garden this year, and perhaps implement some pest control strategy.

This year, I want to do more raised beds. I am running out of room, but I can think of some areas that can be “redecorated” in the yard. I’d like to build at least 2 more, probably for cut flowers. I might even build one in the front yard, which gets the most sun.

There are lots of benefits to raised bed gardens.

1. Less weeds!
2. Easier to amend the soil
3. Better drainage
4. A bit easier on the back, depending on how high you build yours. Mine are only 4″ tall, so it is a moot point.
5. They warm up more quickly in the spring, although in zone 5B I am not sure that it really matters much.

There are some downsides too.

1. More expensive than just digging up a bed.
2. Since they drain faster, they require more watering.
3. Depending on what material you use for the sides, the wood could rot, or leech chemicals. Cedar is naturally rot resistant, but much more expensive than pressure treated pine. However, I chose to go with cedar because I didn’t want those nasty chemicals from pressure treated pine leeching into my soil.

Do you have raised beds? What has your experience been?