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Raised beds have become very popular amongst gardeners,
and there are several good reasons for this.
First, raised beds enable you to grow almost anywhere -
it doesn't matter what your existing soil is like,
or even if you have soil underneath them.
With a raised bed, you can add your own soil and compost
which gives you a great weed-free start to your garden.
Second raised beds also help you to avoid some common problems -
soil compaction and poor drainage.
Walking on soil squashes it down,
removing the essential air pockets in the soil structure
which can make it too hard for plant roots to easily grow through,
and also prevents the free drainage water.
This can be especially problematic on heavy clay soils,
but all soils do much better if beds and paths are clearly separated.
Adding raised beds is the easy way to do this
as it provides a clear physical divide between the growing area
and the paths between them.
It's also a particularly good way to encourage young children to
join in with the gardening without stepping on precious plants.
Third, raised beds can help you grow more in a smaller space.
By filling them with a rich mixture of potting soil and compost,
plants can still get the nutrients and moisture they require
at closer spacing than traditional row-based planting.
With less gaps between plants there will be less room for weeds too,
which reduces the time you have to spend maintaining them.
There are a couple of disadvantages to raised beds.
They're more expensive to construct and fill with compost than a traditional vegetable garden,
and because of the increased drainage, they often need more watering during hot weather
than ground-level plants.
It's tempting to build the beds as large as possible
but there are good reasons for keeping to particular widths.
Raised beds should always be kept to a maximum of 4 feet (1.2 meters) wide.
That's because you need to be able to reach into the middle of the bed
for weeding and harvesting without stepping onto the soil.
Around 2 feet into the center is the maximum distance it's comfortable to do this.
If you're building them against a fence or wall you'll probably want to limit the width to 2 or 3 feet
as you can only access them from one side.
For height, it's usually sufficient to build them 6 inches high,
although sometimes up to 12 inches is used for root crops.
Site the beds as close to the house as possible in a sunny spot,
because most vegetables and flowers like full sun.
In our Garden Planner, you can either draw out raised beds using the Rectangle Tool
or you can pick one of the Raised Beds from the selection of Garden Objects
to give a realistic look to your plans.
It's easy to resize each bed to the dimensions you've chosen
and you can copy and paste beds as required.
Don't forget to leave adequate space for paths - at least 2 feet wide is required for
comfortable kneeling-down access to the plants.
Once you have the beds planned out, you can quickly add plants
and the Garden Planner will show how many will fit in each bed
at the right spacing for optimal growth.
Drip irrigation can also be added if required.
The next decision is whether to buy a raised bed kit, or to build them yourself.
Raised bed kits have the advantage being easy to construct ,
and the wood is often treated to prevent rotting.
Sometimes recycled plastic beds are also available
and some raised-up boxes can be purchased which require less bending
or enable wheelchair access.
If you decide to build the beds yourself,
you can choose between overlapping the wooden planks
and fixing decking screws through one board into the end of the other,
or alternatively using wooden posts at the corners.
Whichever way you do it, it's easier if the holes in the outer board are pre-drilled
to a size just smaller than the screw diameter.
To ensure that the wood lasts, there are several options.
First, you could use pressure treated wood which has a mixture of chemicals applied
to prevent the moist soil and weather rotting it.
Although pressure treated lumber is certified as safe for organic growing,
some people have reservations about using it, and there are various eco-alternatives
available to treat wood, which are derived from natural products.
Second, more expensive woods such as cedar or larch
contain natural oils which prevent rotting and make them much more durable.
They are more expensive to buy
but they will last for many more years before they need replacing.
Third, choosing thicker boards can make the wood last longer.
For example, here I'm using 2-inch thick locally sourced larch
which should last for at least 10 years even without treatment.
Once the beds are built, it's time to fill them with soil.
It's tempting to just buy the cheapest topsoil you can find
or to fill it with soil from around your garden.
However, to gain the maximum benefit from raised beds, the soil needs to be a rich mixture
of soil and compost from different sources,
so it's worth spending time and money to get this right.
With a good nutrient-rich mix, you usually won't need to add fertilizer.
An inch of compost spread on the top each year to supplement what's already there
will keep the nutrient levels high.
For more intensive growing, consider the Square Foot Gardening method
which combines raised beds with a special soil mix
and different plants in each square foot.
See our Square Foot Gardening video for more details of how the Garden Planner can help with this.
Raised beds are low-maintenance and can yield big harvests for the space they occupy.
A good idea is to start small and then add extra beds as your time and budget allows -
that way, you'll gradually build up to a highly productive garden
that should set you up for success over many years.
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