Raised vegetable beds

Raised vegetable beds have many practical uses as well as looking very nice.

Consider growing your garden in raised garden boxes. Elevated raised gardens require less bending for planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting. Raised vegetable gardens are an excellent alternative for growing vegetables in difficult sites, such as hillsides. Depending on your individual needs, raised beds can take many forms, making them quite practical as well as beautiful.

Nearly anything that holds soil and maintains shape is suitable to build a raised garden bed. Wood, concrete, bricks, stones, or containers that are situated in tiers can all be used for a raised bed. Normally, wood is the most commonly used; you should try to stay away from using any timber which has been pressure treated, however, as the chemicals that are used to treat the wood can get into the soil and harm plants.

Typically, raised garden boxes are laid out in a rectangular pattern approximately 3 feet in width. This layout allows all areas of the bed, including the center, to be easily accessible.The length of a raised vegetable garden mainly depends on your particular landscape needs. The depth of raised garden boxes generally require at least 6-12 inches for the proper root development of plants.

Creating paths between the beds makes the maintenance easier and looks attractive, too. You can create this effect by adding a layer of plastic or other gardening fabric between each bed and covering it with a suitable mulching material, such as gravels or pebbles. The pathways should be wide enough for easy accessibility to the beds with additional room for a wheelbarrow. Generally, a width of approximately 2 to 3 feet is sufficient.

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