The Advantages of Raised Bed Gardening

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Raised bed gardening has been a mainstay of gardening for hundreds of years. Ever since we began cultivating plants in our yards, raised bed have been around as well.

You might be wondering, “Why are raised beds such a popular way to grow vegetables and fruits?” There are a multitude of reasons that make raised beds almost mandatory when it comes to home gardening. We’re going to get into a few of those in this article to encourage you install a few raised beds in your garden this year!

Soil Quality

Permanent raised bed gardens often have higher quality soil than row-based gardens. The principal reason is because the soil never interacts with our feet! Because we are not stepping on the soil, it does not get compacted and the soil structure remains intact.

Raised bed maintenance is also easy with some standard maintenance practices like having a consistent water supply , making use of organic mulch and adding compost. In fact, our friends at Backyard Boss is happy to discuss here the benefits of adding compost to improve soil quality. “

On top of that, because we are growing in specific sections of our yard, we often invest in high-quality potting soil and amend it with high-quality ingredients. We can add more amendments to it every year so that our soil continually improves, meaning we can continue harvesting a ton of fantastic produce.

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Better Drainage

One of the problems with growing in rows is that our native soil is often not well-suited for gardening. It either drains poorly or too well, so plants either don’t get enough water or get far too much and end up rotting. In a raised bed, you can mix your soil perfectly to ensure perfect drainage.

Higher Yields

There are many reasons why raised beds tend to yield more produce than row gardens. One reason many gardeners don’t consider is the fact that the soil in a raised bed warms up quicker than a row garden. This is because it is not interacting with the deeper, colder soil in a traditional row bed and it is also elevated, so the sun hits it before it hits your native soil.

The higher-quality soil and stronger soil structure also contribute to increased yields, though the main reason is that you can plant at a much higher density. This means that even if you grew the exact same size plants, you simply have more of them, so your yield increases.

More Environmental Control

The biggest problems in gardening are often dealing with pests, weeds, and diseases. In a raised bed, you plant at such a high density that you often crowd out weeds.

You can also install row covers, netting, or other environmental controls like beneficial insects to drastically reduce the chance of dealing with annoying pests.

When it comes to diseases, it’s much easier to spot them in a compact growing space like a raised bed then it would be in a large and long row garden.

Ease of Access

Many gardeners lack the ability to move as freely as they once were able to in younger years. Raised beds, specifically those that are raised above knee level, are much easier to access than traditional row gardens. This makes gardening accessible for those who have lower mobility than the average person, meaning they can still garden well into their old age.

As you can see, installing raised beds in your garden is one of the best things you can do to increase yield and make gardening easier for you. There are a multitude of raised bed garden plans out there online, most of which can be built for free or very minimal cost.