There are many reasons to create a raised bed garden. Personally, I like the look and feel of a raised bed. I like how it looks tidy and organized. But raised beds gardens are great in places where there might not be good quality topsoil or where the soil in the yard might be too acidic or not have adequate water drainage. In these cases, a raised bed might be a good choice as well because you can fill the beds with whatever soil you might want.
While Some plants can handle the excess water that comes about from being in an area that doesn’t drain properly and it might just cause them to bloom more lushly, other plants don’t cope as well, and it will cause them to die a gruesome, bloated death. You should always find out about the drainage required for every plant you buy, and make sure that it wont conflict with any of the areas you are considering planting it in.
In order to test how much water your designated patch of soil will retain, dig a hole approximately ten inches deep. Fill it with water, and come back in a day when all the water had disappeared. Fill it back up again. If the 2nd hole full of water isn’t gone in 10 hours, your soil has a low saturation point. This means that when water soaks into it, it will stick around for a long time before dissipating. This is unacceptable for many garden plants like tomatoes, carrots, and many root crops. So you are going to have to do something to remedy it if you want your plants to survive.
The usual method for improving drainage in your garden is to create a raised bed. This involves creating a border for a small bed, and adding enough soil and compost to it to raise it above the rest of the yard by at least 5 inches. My beds are all at 8 inches which is great for some of the deeper rooted veggies. You’ll be amazed at how much your water drainage will be improved by this small modification. If you’re planning to build a raised bed, your prospective area is either on grass or on dirt. For each of these situations, you should build it slightly differently.
Building or buying a raised bed garden isn’t too difficult. I like my beds to be 8 feet by 4 feet but anything over a 4 foot width is extremely difficult to reach across so I recommend it. I’ve found that there is nothing that works quite as well as a few two by eights from the local lumber store. But there are many options available on Amazon or other online retailers.
After you’ve created the walls, you must put in the proper amount topsoil. Personally, I recommend Miracle Grow Garden Soil but there are less expensive versions available such as Garden Logic for nearly half the price. Typically the most cost effective method is to buy it in bulk. Of course, if you are building large raised beds and need a significant amount of material you can always use the hugelkulture method if you also want to improve soil and bacterial quality.
If you’re trying to install a raised bed where sod already exists, there are a couple of things you can do. You could cut the sod around the perimeter of the garden, and flip it over. This may sound simple, but you will need something with a very sharp edge to slice the edges of the sod and get under it. Once you have turned it all upside down, could add a layer of straw to discourage the grass from growing back up. After the layer of straw, simply add all the soil that a normal garden would need.
The much easier way to do it is to build your raised bed garden frame and lay cardboard over the grass and weeds. Then simply place your frame over the cardboard before filling it with soil. The cardboard will suffocate most grasses and weeds.
Planting your plants in your new area shouldn’t pose much difficulty. It is essentially the same process as your usual planting session.
Once you have plants in your new bed, you’ll notice an almost immediate improvement. The added soil facilitates better root development and the improved soil will add to the health of your plants. All of these things added together makes for an ideal environment for almost any plant to grow in. So don’t be intimidated by the thought of adjusting the very topography of your yard. It is a simple process as I’m sure you’ve realized, and the long term results are worth every bit of work.