Skip the open ground and turn to higher ground for seeding your favorite plants. Thanks to raised beds, your garden can be virtually anywhere in your yard while maintaining ideal soil and growing conditions. Gardeners everywhere are embracing raised beds, and we're sure you'll love them too. Here are seven reasons why you need a raised garden bed—we'll even show you how to make your own! Follow our easy instructions to make a 3x5-foot raised bed for your backyard space.
1. Easy Garden Maintenance
Having a raised bed makes it simpler to tend your plants. There's less bending over with beds that are elevated above the ground. Build them with wide borders, and you might even be able to sit while you work.
2. Better Soil Drainage
Raised beds help the soil drain better. Loamy soil (or loose, crumbly soil) means better-drained soil. Because the soil in a raised bed is never stepped on, it's uncompacted, so it generally drains better than flat beds.
3. Extended Growing Season
Because the garden bed is higher, the soil tends to get warmer more quickly in the spring. Plant your seeds earlier in the spring to enjoy your garden for a longer season.
4. Keeps Grass from Spreading
It's harder for turf to spread into raised beds. Before building your raised bed, mow the site to get the grass as short as possible.
5. Protects Plants from Animals
Building a raised bed eliminates foot traffic in your garden. Access from both sides means you never have to step foot in your garden to weed, plant, or water. Raised beds also give a small measure of protection against critters like rabbits.
6. More Garden Space
No space between rows equals more space you can fill with plants. Raised beds work well for small vegetable crops and flowers.
Raised beds provide an optimal growing medium from scratch for those who have no soil or whose soil is compacted or rocky. Because you're building up a garden bed, you can also escape too-wet or too-dry soil by filling yours with rich loam.
How to Build a Raised Bed
By building a raised bed, you benefit your health and the health of your plants. Take a weekend to build one from lumber and metal roofing and enjoy the fruits of your labor all growing season.
Supplies Required
1x4-inch cedar board, 10 feet
1x4-inch cedar board, 6 feet
1x4-inch cedar board, 8 feet
1/4x1-inch cedar slat, 4 feet
2-inch corrugated galvanized metal roofing material, 2x8-foot sheet
Offset metal snips
Stain
3-inch paintbrush
Eight corner brackets
Box of 50 self-piercing hex screws with neoprene washers, #10x1-inch
1/4-inch magnetic hex screwdriver or drill bit
Step 1: Get Boards Cut
Ask the lumber or home improvement store to cut the cedar: Cut the 10-foot cedar board in half for the two long top pieces. Cut the 6-foot cedar board in half for the two shorter top pieces. Cut the 8-foot cedar board into eight 1-foot lengths for the leg pieces. Cut the 4-foot cedar slat into four 1-foot lengths for the inside support pieces.
Step 2: Cut Metal to Size
Cut the metal with the metal snips. Cut in half lengthwise, making two 1x8-foot panels. Next, cut both panels at the 3-foot mark to form the ends of the raised bed. The remaining two 1x5-foot panels will form the sides.
Sand the boards using sandpaper or a belt sander to prep for staining. Be sure to use a rag to wipe away any remaining sawdust. Stain the cut boards and let them dry.
Step 4: Create Frame
Connect the four wood top pieces using corner brackets. Use two screws on each board end to keep it stable. You'll have a 3x5-foot frame.
Step 5: Build Corners
Build the four leg pieces by connecting two 1-foot lengths with corner brackets, using two screws on each board. These will support the 3x5-foot frame and serve as footings for the raised bed.
Step 6: Screw in Metal Sides
Screw in the first metal side. Position legs at both ends of the box frame and then lay the metal side in the section. Screw along the inside of the sides and legs to connect these three sections. The cut metal edge points toward the ground. Repeat to complete all four sides.
Step 7: Place Raised Bed and Finish Assembly
Place the raised bed where desired. From the inside, secure each of the four 1-foot slats at the midpoint to increase the stability of the metal. Once in place, firmly press the legs slightly into the ground. You may need to loosen the soil if the ground is hard. Fill the bed with soil (we suggest a mixture of equal parts topsoil and compost) and plant desired vegetables and flowers.
3 Season Raised Bed Plan
So when you're looking for a place to grow your vegetables or flowers, consider making a raised garden bed. They'll make plant maintenance easy and give your gardening efforts a tidied-up look.
There are many benefits to growing fruits and vegetables in a raised bed. These include: Improved drainage: Raised beds allow for better drainage, which is important for plants that do not like wet feet. Better aeration: Raised beds allow for better aeration, which is important for plant roots.
Raised beds provide an optimal growing medium from scratch for those who have no soil or whose soil is compacted or rocky. Because you're building up a garden bed, you can also escape too-wet or too-dry soil by filling yours with rich loam.
Longer growing season: Raised beds warm up more quickly in the spring and drain better (assuming the soil is properly prepared), allowing for a longer growing season and better growing conditions. Particularly in the South, a properly prepared raised bed allows plant roots to breathe.
Raised beds need water more often since the soil is more exposed to air and dries quicker. Similar to growing in containers, the extra watering can leach nutrients out of the soil quicker than in-ground gardens. For that reason, raised beds will likely need fertilizer more often.
If you're going to pay for a product to fill your raised beds, again, it should just be really good soil and compost. I only recommend a thin layer of gravel at the bottom of your raised bed and under the edges to help you level the area. Save the rest of your gravel for your garden pathways.
Soil is the foundation of your garden, and you want it to be healthy so you can set your plants up for success! We recommend buying high-quality, nutrient-rich soil in bulk. Or, you can make a soil mix with equal parts topsoil, organic materials (leaves, composted manure, ground bark), and coarse sand.
The minimum raised beds height I ever recommend is six inches, and then there's no reason to go over two feet unless you have a specific reason, such as a mobility issue. Keep in mind that beds 18 inches deep or more will have better drainage than shorter beds.
A: It's not necessary to line the bottom of your raised beds, but you may choose to do so if you are experiencing pest or weed problems. If you are using a galvanized metal bed, then for the most part, lining is not necessary.
On average, a DIY raised bed constructed from wood will cost $25 to $50 per square foot. To have a wooden raised bed constructed and installed for you, budget for at least $100 per square foot. (Find a kitchen garden company in your area.)
Material: Metal and plastic beds are usually longer lasting than wood beds, and fabric beds are an affordable option some people prefer. Drainage system: A drainage system allows excess water to be released from containerized beds, helping prevent plant roots from rotting or developing fungus and bacteria.
For a 4x8-foot raised bed with a 6” height, using Mel's Mix: about 5 cubic feet each of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite is needed. It usually takes about two to three bags of purchased fertile mix (1.5 cubic feet each) to cover the bed surface to a depth of 2 inches.
Landscape fabric is beneficial for raised garden beds, here are just a few of the many reasons why you should use landscape fabric for raised bed gardening: Prevents soil erosion in a raised bed: As a liner, landscape fabric lets water drain away from the soil while leaving the soil intact.
Two-Layered Mulches. For maximum weed resistance, mulches for vegetable garden pathways should consist of two layers -- a bottom layer that blocks light to weed seeds, and a bulkier top layer that's sturdy underfoot and free of weed seeds.
Garden beds created in the ground don't use as much water either, because they don't dry out as quickly as raised beds. Gardening without raised beds allows you worry less about certain plants not being able to grow. You can grow whatever vegetables you want because there will be plenty of space for the roots.
In an in-ground garden, your plants' root growth can be limited by poor soil structure, poor soil quality, and large rocks. Their roots will spread out closer to the surface of the soil, which means you'll need to give plants plenty of space to sprawl.
If your garden soil tends to become saturated easily, lifting vegetables above the level of the soil can help. Raised beds drain freely, which is good in damp climates and on wet soils, but in drier areas you may find that the beds dry out too quickly.
Introduction: My name is Wyatt Volkman LLD, I am a handsome, rich, comfortable, lively, zealous, graceful, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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