Raised Garden Beds Design

Raised garden beds have many reasons for being built. It is an obvious convenience. Many people have difficulty in bending and this is the main reason why people build them. Every conceivable design, size and height imaginable is on offer.

Designs can be improved by adding structure and height when building a raised garden. Soil erosion is a problem in some gardens and can be cured by building a raised garden bed. When producing a vegetable bed or a neat controlled flower bed in a garden built on a slope then a raised garden bed is the best choice to use.

There are many things to consider when thinking about building one.

Location is the most important thing to think about. To have a good harvest vegetables require at least six hours of sunshine a day. Avoid building near shrubs and over-hanging trees.

The second thing you need to think about is the design. It can be expensive to use a professional garden design company although they will ensure the right materials for the raised garden bed. Garden nurseries are a good place to find help as is the use of pictures and gardening magazines.

When planning and planting good advice can also nowadays be found on many online gardening websites. To help design and build bed many online sites offer free garden design software.

Selecting the building materials is the next step after having designed it. From garden rocks and bricks to wooden sleepers can be used as a wide variety of materials. An easier way if you find all this difficult and not having the skills, is to buy a ready made raised garden bed kit or a ready made garden box and simply put it together yourself. When building from scratch this can take a lot of the hard work out of it.

Next comes preparation of the area where you want to put it. You need to allow for light so you should clip back any over-hanging branches to get the level needed. 4 feet by 8 feet is a good working size for a raised garden bed The space available in the garden should naturally be adapted to fit the bed. It is recommended not to build them to large as this may well produce problems when you try to sow and weed the plants as you may not be able to reach the center. You can avoid the problem of weeds in your raised garden bed by laying a weed barrier fabric to cut down on them coming through.

Choosing your materials to construct your raised garden bed comes next on the agenda. If you use a ready made garden kit you should ensure it cannot move around as it must be kept level. Do this by leaving stakes about 6 inches above the ground and then hammer them into each corner of the raised garden bed. The top edge of the raised bed should be left level for the stakes if your bed is low.

You should fill your raised garden bed with soil once you have constructed it. Good moisture retention will not only improve your plants but by adding compost you can also provide them with the right nutrients as well. Online garden nurseries as well as garden supply companies sell both compost and soil. You will find that the back breaking task of getting it home yourself can be solved by most garden supply companies who offer home delivery.

Leave the soil to settle after watering it well. Once this has happened it may well be necessary to top up the soil levels. Your raised garden bed is now ready for planting your seeds or plants. To do this type of job you will always need the proper tools. The most used tools are a garden rake and a garden hoe. If your soil is stony then a garden sieve is needed.

The same amount of garden design can go into any raised garden bed similar to any area of your garden whether you are using your raised garden bed for flowers and plants or vegetables. When you want to add height to an area of your garden for planting think vertical gardening. Some of the types of vegetables that grow up canes are runner beans and tomatoes.