There are far more than 12 reasons why you should garden in raised beds, once you try it you may even come up with your own!
Raised beds are an orderly way to produce a lot of fresh vegetables in a small space. Even if you are limited to a small patio or yard, you will be surprised at how much a raised garden can provide!
Whether you grow annuals like tomatoes or perennials like herbs, your raised garden bed will enrich your life with fresh bounty. Check out these 12 reasons why you should garden in raised beds!
1 Easier to Install
Creating a garden doesn’t have to be backbreaking work. Raised beds are an excellent option if you don’t already own a tiller. Instead of investing in a tiller and toiling to break up the soil, you can leave the earth intact and build your bed on top of your existing sod. All you have to do is build a box and add soil!
2 Better Soil
In the process of building most homes, the soil surrounding the house gets severely compacted. It has most likely only been used to grow grass, which doesn’t grow deeply enough to break up compacted soil. By building raised beds, you can import really nice soil that is ready to plant in.
Most plants prefer fluffy, uncompacted soil. The lofty new soil will provide better drainage for your plants, and because raised beds are less likely to be stepped on, the soil will stay nice and fluffy.
3 Custom Soil for Plants
Because you are importing soil, you can create a custom soil mix for each of your planters! If you are growing plants that like acidic soil, you can make a special mix just for them without harming your alkaline loving plants.
4 Easier Access
One major advantage of a garden in raised beds is that you don’t have to bend down quite as far! You can make raised beds as tall as you like so make it as comfortable as possible to tend to your plants.
If you build them yourself, you can even include built in benches so you can sit comfortably next to your plants.
5 Attractive
Raised beds can be an attractive addition to your front or backyard. They can be made out of beautiful cedar wood, corrugated metal, or other upcycled materials. You can go with the traditional rectangular shape, or make an artistic mandala.
6 Fresh Produce
Access to your favorite vegetables should be reason enough to build raised beds! Once you’ve had a fresh tomato picked right off the vine, there’s no going back.
7 Weed Reduction
By lifting your garden off the ground, you eliminate the ability for weeds and grass to creep into your beds. You won’t have to worry about edging.
Some seeds will still blow in, but you will have significantly less weeds than if you were to garden at ground level.
8 Keeps Critters Out
Of course some garden pests can climb or fly, but the tall sides of a raised box will surely slow down pests like slugs!
Rabbits will have a harder time accessing your tender greens. If you live in an area with a lot of burrowing creatures, you can line the inside of your raised bed with hardware cloth to keep them from stealing your root crops.
A garden in raised beds will be harder for your dog to urinate on, and will be easier for your pup to distinguish as a place not to walk.
9 Less Pesticides and Herbicides
Because you will have less weed pressure/pest pressure, you will not need to rely on chemicals for pest and weed control. Using less chemicals provides you with safer food to eat, and prevents toxic runoff from entering our waterways.
10 Better for Rental Properties
Landlords can be resistant to making permanent landscape changes. The great thing about a raised bed is that it can easily be deconstructed when you move out and can then be reseeded with grass!
11 Low Contamination
Urban soils can be contaminated with pesticides, petroleum products, radon, asbestos, lead, chromated copper arsenate and/or creosote.
Some plants can absorb these materials and transfer them to you when you ingest them. By creating raised beds with healthy soil, you eliminate this issue completely!
12 Extended Season
Because the soil is raised, it tends to warm up faster in the spring and stay warmer in the fall.
This allows you to plant seeds a bit earlier and enjoy your crops a bit later. You can also create custom season extension accessories, like cloiche cloth or greenhouse to extend the season.
