| Raised garden beds are a very practical addition to | | | | are cheaper an easier to take out and build a new, |
| your home. They are easy and cheap to build and | | | | different one. Wood is the best material for |
| maintain, and can be used for flowers or vegetables. | | | | temporary beds because the wood can easily be |
| It is even easy to plant them and weed them. In | | | | taken apart. Also, the look of the wood can change |
| addition to all of these positive qualities, they drain | | | | easily with the use of non-toxic paint. Temporary |
| sooner and warm up faster than regular garden beds, | | | | beds should also be at least a foot deep and |
| so you can plant earlier in the season. Planting early | | | | narrower than 4 feet also, for the same reasons as |
| can give you the chance at having multiple harvests | | | | the permanent beds. |
| of vegetables in a season. The raised garden can be | | | | Planting your bed is the same whether it is |
| either temporary or permanent, and can be a great | | | | permanent or temporary. First, you need to prepare |
| way to enjoy yourself in your yard while adding | | | | the bed by removing rocks, sticks, and debris. |
| some decoration as well. | | | | Whether you build the bed on a patio or on soil, you |
| You should begin by ensuring you have all of the | | | | need to make sure that there is sufficient drainage |
| necessary tools an materials needed to build with. | | | | by having enough pathways for extra moisture to |
| The bed can be made of rocks, concrete blocks, | | | | escape. Beds made from bricks or concrete blocks, |
| bricks, wood (use wood that is resistant against | | | | for example, can be assembled in a staggered |
| rotting, such as cypress). You can also use treated | | | | manner to allow room for water to exit the bed. If |
| wood, but make sure that it does not have any | | | | you are building on soil, you should loosen the soil |
| harmful chemicals in it that will enter the soil and into | | | | with a shovel for proper drainage. After proper |
| the plants. If youÃre eating the vegetables from | | | | drainage is assured, you can fill the bed with a |
| a garden made out of treated wood, you are | | | | mixture of compost and topsoil. Then, rake the top |
| essentially ingesting the chemicals yourself. Other | | | | of the bed until it is level and smooth. |
| materials and tools that you will need are sheet | | | | You can now start to plant your flowers or |
| plastic, a spading fork, shovel, iron rake, hammer and | | | | vegetables. The tall plants should be planted against a |
| nails, measuring tape, compost, and topsoil. | | | | fence or a wall on the northern side of the bed. |
| If the garden bed is planned to be permanent, you | | | | Once the plants are installed, you just need to make |
| should use longer lasting materials. Also, if you plan to | | | | sure you take proper care of them. You may need |
| use the garden bed for flowers instead of | | | | to water them more often than plants in a regular |
| vegetables, bricks tend to look very nice. As far as | | | | garden, as raised gardens tend to dry out more |
| size goes, the bed should be at least a foot deep, no | | | | quickly. Finally, add some mulch to your garden and |
| more than four feet wide, but can be as long as you | | | | avoid stepping on the soil. The soil needs to stay |
| like. If the bed is wider than four feet, it can be | | | | loose for the water to travel through it. |
| tough to plant, water, or weed the middle or | | | | Did you know that a landscaped patio area can add |
| opposite side of the bed. | | | | as much as 12.4% to the value of a property! Once |
| If you choose to make a temporary garden bed, you | | | | the patio is completed it's time to look at adding |
| can change the design yearly. They are good if you | | | | some landscaping as the next project for your patio. |
| want to switch your landscaping each year, as they | | | | |