| Building a raised garden bed in your backyard can be | | | | the raised bed. Decide on a comfortable height for |
| particularly useful if you have poor, waterlogged soil | | | | you and make sure you can tend your plants from |
| and your plants are not growing well. | | | | any angle without the need to walk on the raised |
| A raised bed has advantages over the ordinary bed | | | | gardens, thus preventing the soil becoming |
| because you are totally in control of the soil that you | | | | compacted. Make sure it's situated in a position |
| use and you are able to garden in a more | | | | suitable for whatever you intend to grow, with |
| comfortable position. The different soil conditions | | | | regards to sunshine and light and there should be |
| required for individual plants can be controlled much | | | | good access for tools and wheelbarrows. Raised |
| more effectively and can be varied from bed to bed; | | | | gardens should be a minimum of 6 inches in height to |
| a pH soil test kit is a very useful tool to enable you | | | | help correct any drainage problems; also it would be |
| to achieve the correct conditions for individual plants. | | | | wise to enclose the area to eliminate runoff and |
| You can easily achieve loose, well draining soil as you | | | | erosion of the soil. |
| won't be walking on it to compact it. Raised garden | | | | Usually, when building raised gardens you have to buy |
| beds drain excess water much better than normal | | | | soil in, just take the overall dimensions to your |
| garden beds, great news for areas with heavy soils | | | | garden centre and they will work out what you need. |
| and excess rainfall. This will help your plants intake of | | | | If you know upfront what plants your raised gardens |
| air round the root system, a major plus for abundant, | | | | are going to be used for, they can advise and supply |
| healthy plants. | | | | the appropriate soil mix. If you're only raising the |
| You can tend your raised garden bed in a more | | | | beds up to about 15 inches we advise you to fill |
| comfortable position which will help guard against | | | | them up with one half organic matter (from your |
| backaches which can sometimes deter you in your | | | | composter) and one half soil. You can greatly reduce |
| endeavors to supply the family with fresh quality | | | | your costs by making your own compost. Now if |
| produce. It is also more convenient for those with | | | | your going to be looking at raised gardens that are |
| disabilities or who have to garden from a seated | | | | waist high, say three foot, it makes sense that you |
| position. Raised gardens can be built in any garden | | | | take a different course of action to get good results |
| and many gardeners will find them of great benefit. | | | | and to try and lower costs. In order to reduce the |
| There is a wide choice of materials and sizes to | | | | amount of soil needed to fill this large space you can |
| choose from when deciding on raised garden beds | | | | half fill it with rocks or sand then top it off with a |
| for your own use. The availability of space will | | | | 50-50 mix of manure or compost and soil. Adjust the |
| determine the size of the beds and how many you | | | | pH levels for the plants you wish to grow and this will |
| have. You can buy kits, or you can quite easily build | | | | give your raised garden the ultimate growing |
| your own out of anything that will hold dirt such as | | | | conditions. |
| lumber, plastic, bricks or rocks. Lumber is the most | | | | Raised garden beds are a great deterrent for various |
| commonly used and probably the easiest to work | | | | pests such as slugs and snails and also keep pathway |
| with. | | | | weeds at bay. |
| There are a few things to think about when planning | | | | |