How to Make a Raised Garden Bed

Hey there, and welcome to the guide on 'How to make a raised garden bed'. 

Firstly, what is a raised garden bed?

A raised garden bed is a garden built on top of your native soil, sometimes incorporating with the native soil, sometimes not. You can plant anything in your garden bed, as long as it is a living plant. A garden bed looks like this : -

The wooden frame surrounding it is optional.

Some of you are probably wondering how to make a raised garden bed. It's easy; depending on your level of independence and skill in the usage of hands. 

Here are the steps of making your own raised garden bed. : -

1) Select your site. A flat, level area is important, Make sure water is easy to access, and there is enough space for you to work without trampling the plants to death. If you are planting sun-loving plants like Sunflowers, make sure they can get at least 8 hours of light a day. Your Sunflowers will be happy.

2) Determine the size and shape of your garden. Soil does not get compact in a raised garden bed because they are planned for accessibility. It is a good idea to make your bed four feet wide, so you can easily access the middle of the bed from either side. If you're placing it near a wall or fence, it should be no more than three feet wide. Six inches as the depth is a good start for your garden bed. If your soil is of good quality, than you should make it around 6 to 8 inches deep, while poorer quality of soil should get 10 to 12 inches depth. But remember, the more deeper, the better.  The more the merrier.

   

3) Prep your site. You can use newspaper, landscape fabric, dead leaves, or cardboard to smother it - followed by a layer of soil and amendments on top. However, to ensure ample space for your plant's root growth, dig out the existing sod and loosen the soil to a depth of about 8 to 12 inches. 

4) Fill your garden. The whole point of a raised garden bed is that it gives you the opportunity to garden in good soil. Take this opportunity to fill your garden with compost and manure. You are ready to plant and sow seeds once they are raked to a good level. Remember, sowing seeds is an activity of scattering seeds around the earth for crops and such, and not the animal. 

 

Maintaining a raised garden bed is easy. Mulch the top of the soil so it will retain moisture and keep weeds down. Moisture retention is important, because raised beds tend to drain faster than conventional beds. 

There are many advantages of a raised garden bed :-

1) Raised beds drain better.

2) The soil in raised beds does not get compacted, because they are constructed with accessibility in mind.

3) After construction, raised beds require less maintenance than conventional garden beds.

As a conclusion, raised garden beds are better than conventional garden beds because they have many advantages that will benefit us, humankind, in the end.