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8 Reasons to use raised beds

What are raised beds?

Unsurprisingly raised bed gardening involves raising the garden beds up! The height is completely determined by you. It could be 6 inches or 4 foot. The soil is contained by a frame. The frame is usually wooden planks but anything can be used from rocks to tree trunks or even bricks. I've also seen sheets of corrugated iron used.

8 Reasons why you should use raised beds

Whilst some people swear by the traditional veg patch dug into the back garden there is growing movement for raised beds gardening. There are a number of reasons for choosing raised beds over a more traditional methods. Here are 8 good reasons:

1. Less weeding: Because raised beds are contained, grasses and other weeds cannot creep into the bed like they can on a more traditional plot. The height of a bed can also keep some weed seeds out. Also when you do get weeds they are much easier to pull out due to the loose soil and lack of rocks.

2. Higher yields: Raised beds have got great soil conditions. Soil doesn't get compacted by gardeners wellies. The soil is always very loose. This gives the roots of you veg a great chance to get established. Because of this you can plant a little closer.

3. Soil choice: If you have particularly bad soil conditions or are basically trying to garden on rock it doesn't matter! You can fill your beds with your own mix.

   If you want to start your soil from scratch try a mix of - 1/3 Peat moss, 1/3 natural soil and 1/3 compost. If you don't want to use peat you could use Coir (a by-product of coconut fibre production). If you do create your own soil you can cut out even more weed seeds from your beds.

4. Rocks: Your soil should be rock free too - a great advantage especially when you are trying to grow root vegetable such as carrots and parsnips.

5. Drainage: If you have a water logged or heavy clay site building raised beds is a great way to balance the amount of water in your plot.

6. Less bending: If you've a bad back you don't have to bend down. Build your beds at waist high. You will need to get more soil and do a little bit more building at the start but once that's done your gardening should be pain free.

7. No Digging: You won't need to do any yearly digging. All I do is turn my soil and add compost at the start of the year. The soil is loose, largely rock free and easy to handle.

   Because I had a lot of good quality top soil to use in my beds I didn't create my own soil mix as described above. I did double dig my plots first then added the my soil on top. You don't have to do this but I would recommend - it can only do good for your plants. This was a one time event and I won't have to do this again!

8. Save time: All the above reasons mean you will spend less time and energy on your plot maintaining your plot.

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