There are so many advantages to building a raised backyard vegetable garden that we can confidently say it is the right choice in almost every situation. Below is a quick guide to helping you decide if elevating your vegetable garden is the right choice for you. If you are looking for more tips on growing and tending your vegetables, the “How to Plant and Edible Garden in 10 Easy Steps” e-book is a great place to get started.
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Before we go over the many reasons why you should elevate your backyard vegetable garden. Let’s talk about the rare incidence in which it may not work.
One Reason You May Not Want to Elevate Your Vegetable Garden
The main reason you would not elevate your vegetable garden is that you are not yet sure of the permanent placement of infrastructure in your garden area or building site. If you are dying to get an edible garden planted this year, but there are still major changes happening in your garden or building site, you may want to start with a plot dug into the ground before building a more permanent structure. By starting with a small plot in the ground, you can get an idea as to whether you will want to have more or less growing room in your raised garden beds, and you can get a sense as to whether this is the right spot in for sunlight and water before you create something permanent.
Reasons Why You Should Elevate Your Vegetable Garden
Now that we have considered the reason not to elevate your garden bed we will talk about the many good reasons you should do it. Despite what I said above, even if you are not totally sure of where everything will end up in the yard, you can build your elevated beds with a material that can be easily taken apart and moved, like plywood or wood beams. Below are many other good reasons to elevate.
A Good Look
Raised beds tend to look much tidier over the years than beds built into the ground. You can choose from a number of materials that will fit into your hardscape, such as wood, brick, or mortar blocks, and you will never end up with messy undefined edges.
Easy to Build
You can build them yourself or hire professionals, either way it is generally inexpensive and fast to make nice raised beds. Depending on the height of your beds you will not likely need to dig up the ground before you put them in which will save a lot of time and energy.
Easy to Maintain
Elevated beds make for easy weeding and planting, especially as you grow older or if you have any issues with your back or knees. Make sure to build the beds to a size that allows you to reach all parts of the garden bed without having to strain yourself.
Safe From Harm
If you have small children, dogs, rabbits, or lots of traffic to contend with, raised beds are a must. Beds on the ground inevitably get trampled, which compacts the soil and can damage or destroy your carefully planted crops.
Good Growing Conditions
Elevated beds make it easy to build up a rich and healthy blend of soil, compost and mulch that will make for healthy vegetable growing conditions. The height of the beds and the workability of the soil mean that roots of plants can grow deeply. If you are growing root vegetables this will mean that they come out straight rather than gnarled by harder soils and rocks as they reach down below.
To learn more about your edible garden, download a copy of our free e-book!
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