Let’s talk about raised gardens, if you don’t have adequate yard space or simply want the convenience of not having to bend over to tend to your garden this is a great alternative. So let us cover the basics.
How Deep Should a Raised Garden Be?
A raised bed doesn’t have to be very deep to be effective.8-18”, If the plants you are growing require drier soil the bed should be taller and filled with a porous growing medium. Vegetable beds should be 12-24” deep.
What Should You Put on the Bottom of a Raised Bed?
What you should do before filling your raised bed with soil. It greatly depends on your area. A suburban situation is different from those living in concrete jungle. Putting your raised garden bed directly on grass is not a good idea. If you reside in the suburbs with lots of beautiful trees, flowers and shrubs, you will need to place a very small gauged wire mesh at the bottom once you have constructed the box to prevent small animals such as chipmunks from undermining your hard work. Remember when cutting the wire to place at the bottom of your bed, you will need to add 3 to 4 inches to fold up on to your box before you place any materials. Once this step is done you should always put some cardboard, newspaper, or landscape fiber on your land before adding any kind of soil.
Line the Bottom of Your Raised Garden Bed
It's not mandatory to create a raised garden bed floor, but experienced gardeners recommend it for several reasons: Prevent weeds from growing up from the ground below. Stop burrowing pests like voles, moles, and gophers from entering the raised beds.
Soil Taken From Your Yard or Garden Bed is Too Dense to Use in a Pot or Raised Bed
Instead, for containers, you will want to use potting mix (also called potting soil), a lightweight and fluffy alternative. ... Potting mix is too light for use in raised beds, while garden soil is too heavy.
How Do You Fill a Raised Bed Economically?
Compost is typically inexpensive, certainly much cheaper than some commercial garden soils. But shop around anyway. You might need between 1 and 3 bags of compost depending on how big the raised bed is. To fill a raised bed, mix 50% compost and 50% native or backyard soil and fill the raised bed with it.
Should I Put Rocks on the Bottom of My Raised Garden Bed?
Building raised beds is well worth the effort. Raised beds allow you to overcome problems such as poor, rocky soil, waterlogged areas and people walking through your gardens. While raised beds drain better than in-ground beds, adding rocks to the bottom of the bed improves drainage even further.
There is many options for raised beds and plenty of resources on the internet to guide your way. Start your gardening journey with paper and pencil. What does your family like to eat and then plan where you want to place your bed, the size, and material options. Once your list of material has been decided, create and research what is best grown in your area.
Happy gardening!