Building a raised bed vegetable garden

build a raised bed vegetable garden

If you plan on starting a vegetable garden, you should consider using a raised bed. There are several benefits to working with a raised garden bed.

  • The soil will stay loose
  • It will have better drainage
  • You will not step on it accidentally
  • It is easily accessible and hence watering is convenient
  • Plants tend to grow stronger roots due to the presence of loose soil

How to construct a raised garden bed?

The process is quite simple provided you have all the raw materials

Prepare the boundaries of the garden bed using wooden boards. The height of the boards should be anywhere between 8-12 inches at least. There should be no bottom to this structure of course!

placing the wooden boards

Make sure you don't use laminated wooden boards, instead go in for untreated lumber. Laminated wooden boards have the tendency to release toxic chemicals into the soil.

The different woods you can use for this purpose are redwood, cedar, pine or cypress.

untreated lumber redwood

You can even use plastic if available or set it up using straw bales.

raised garden bed made from plastic

Add some protection fencing especially to prevent rodents from climbing onto the garden beds. A line of chicken wire should do the trick.

chicken wire

Fill the structure with soil, it can be the native soil from your garden. If your native soil is not good enough, consider mixing it with fertile purchased soil.

raised bed for vegetables

You can consider building more than one vegetable bed if the number of rows are higher, this way it will be easy for you to walk between the beds while watering or plucking the harvest.

vegetable beds placed side by side

Working with raised bed vegetable gardens is a great way to organize and care for your plants. The initial ground work is might seem a little tedious, but the rich rewards you reap after that makes it worth the sweat.