Raised Bed Gardening

For some people, the space on their lawn isn’t large enough to accommodate a full-fledged garden, flushed with flora and fauna that will make any passersby give a second look. But you shouldn’t despair when that seems out of reach. You can make a raised bed to help the gardener inch closer to the garden of their dreams. And the fact that making one is absolutely easy simply adds more points to consider creating a raised bed for their organic garden.

With all that said, read on to know about the nuts ands bolts behind creating a raised bed for your organic garden.

Plan Your Raised Beds

First and foremost, you should visualize and sketch the layout of the raised bed first. Think of the dimensions of it so you’ll have a good estimate when you purchase the materials necessary when building it.

When you have a good idea of what you want your garden to look like, you should build a box with an open top and bottom so as it will look like fence. Think of it as a bottomless platform which you will put soil in. Build the box so its high enough that you can put sufficient soil inside.

The border can be of any material you want. You can use lumber, synthetic wood, plastic or even bricks and/or rocks. Once you buy the necessary materials for your raised bed, pile up the blocks or cut the lumber to around 24 inches in height. That should be sufficient. If you are using lumber and considering a square or rectangular bed, then you should opt for four equal sized posts, around 4’ x 4’ in length and width so as they’ll provide firm foundation for your bed. It will ensure further that the soil stays where it should be.

Raise The Garden Bed

With the foundation built, you may now move on to the second phase of building your own raised bed. To make an underlayment of the raised bed, put a large piece of gardening plastic or weed mat on the location you’re planning to put your raised bed. With this set, you have enough protection against weeds that may hinder your plants growth.

When you have established the underlayment, you may now place the raised bed on it. This may require some extra help if the bed is too large for the strength of one person. Make sure that you place the raised bed in a location that gets sufficient light from the sun. If you don’t do that, your plants won’t grow and you’ve wasted substantial time trying to create a raised bed.

With the underlayment, raised bed and location in place, you now have to put soil in it. Don’t forget to place some compost or some composted manure on the bottom of the bed then add the layer of soil over it. A good compost/soil ratio is 1:3 or 2:5 for sufficient minerals and leeway for your plant to grow to its fullest.

Cultivate Your Raised Bed

You may also add some organic matter here and there like wood ash, bones and other biodegradable material to give your plant a little edge. From here, you have finally finished your raised bed and you may now get down and dirty and choose your favorite flower or plant and start doing the nitty-gritty gardening part. The options are virtually limitless for you, so enjoy your time and congratulations on building your first raised bed!

With your raised bed comes with a lot of advantages. The soil in these types of gardens are more customizable; meaning, you can put your own soil mix into it to ensure that you have the best possible growth for your plants. Also, a raised bed gives you a good start when planting because the soil in raised beds gets warmer faster, thus the nutrients from the soil (and sun) are held in for much longer and will prepare itself for some plants. Lastly, there are  conveniences when gardening with a raised bed, access being the most important.