Frame It All Raised Garden Beds

Frame It All Raised Garden Beds

Experienced gardeners use raised beds to sidestep a long list of gardening challenges. These controlled experiments in plant parenthood are so easy, in fact, that they’re also well suited to novices picking up a shovel for the first time.

Frame It All Raised Garden Beds

Raised garden beds are simply a bordered garden that is planted above the existing ground level.  You can think of it as a large potting area that can be used for any types of plants.   It was started in the South Eastern US due to poor soil conditions for growing  plants due to the high concentration of clay and has been spreading across the entire US over the past few years due largely to the aesthetics as well as the versatility that these garden beds offer.

Raised garden beds come in many sizes, shapes, colors, and are made from different materials.  They can be made by a homeowner that is handy or more easily purchased from sites like www.greenproducts.info.  They are fairly easy to assemble and use but as you will see below there are things that must be considered to optimize your garden and your raised garden bed.

Frame It All Raised Garden Beds

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Raised bed gardening is a form of gardening in which the soil is formed in 3 – 4 foot (1.0–1.2 m) wide beds, which can be of any length or shape. The soil is raised above the surrounding soil[1] (approximately 6 inches to waist high), is sometimes enclosed by a frame generally made of wood, rock, or concrete blocks, and may be enriched with compost.[2] The vegetable plants are spaced in geometric patterns, much closer together than conventional row gardening.[2] The spacing is such that when the vegetables are fully grown, their leaves just barely touch each other, creating a microclimate in which weed growth is suppressed[2] and moisture is conserved.[3] Raised beds produce a variety of benefits: they extend the planting season,[2] they can reduce weeds if designed and planted properly[2] and reduce the need to use poor native soil. Since the gardener does not walk on the raised beds, the soil is not compacted and the roots have an easier time growing.[4] The close plant spacing and the use of compost generally result in higher yields with raised beds in comparison to conventional row gardening. Waist high raised beds enable the elderly and handicapped to grow vegetables without having to bend over to tend them.

Raised garden beds are simply a bordered garden that is planted above the existing ground level.  You can think of it as a large potting area that can be used for any types of plants.   It was started in the South Eastern US due to poor soil conditions for growing  plants due to the high concentration of clay and has been spreading across the entire US over the past few years due largely to the aesthetics as well as the versatility that these garden beds offer.

Raised garden beds come in many sizes, shapes, colors, and are made from different materials.  They can be made by a homeowner that is handy or more easily purchased from sites like www.greenproducts.info.  They are fairly easy to assemble and use but as you will see below there are things that must be considered to optimize your garden and your raised garden bed.

Bad dirt is out, because you fill a raised bed with a customized soil-and-compost blend. Drainage is built into the bed walls, which hold the soil in place to keep erosion in check. Greater exposure to the sun warms the bed, which allows more plant diversity and extends the growing season. Plants can be spaced closely together, so yields go up, water-use efficiency is maximized and weeds are crowded out. Finally, raising the soil level by even a foot reduces the back-bending effort needed for jobs such as planting, weeding and harvesting. Beyond the ease is the control—as you grow your favorite foods, you feed and soak your plants with just what they need for optimum growth.

A raised garden bed is most productive and attractive as a bottomless frame set into a shallow trench. The sides can be almost any durable building material, including rock, brick, concrete and interlocking blocks. Watering troughs or claw-foot tubs can work, as long as they have the capacity and drainage.  

The most popular raised garden bed material though is the wood constructed ones as well as the recycled wood/ plastic plank kits.  These kits are pre-designed to optimize your raised garden bed, not only for productivity but for aesthetic values as well.

The major caveat, since raised beds are often used to grow edibles, is to steer clear of wood preserved with toxins. Avoid creosote-treated railroad ties; opt instead for naturally rot-resistant cedar or redwood when constructing a raised garden bed.  This wood will cost more that the lesser quality woods available in the market but will last longer without the contaminants.

The EPA considers wood infused with alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ) to be safe for food crops, but if you use this pressure-treated wood you may want to line the bed interior with landscape fabric—an air-and-water-permeable screen—to prevent soil contact. Whether using pressure-treated or naturally rot-resistant wood, put the bed together with galvanized or stainless screws or bolts.

One of the first things to consider when buying or building a raised garden bed is the size.   Raised garden beds can be any size or depth that the homeowner feels comfortable with.  The main thing to consider as a homeowner is how easy is it to reach the center of the raised garden bed?    As a homeowner you do not want to have to climb into the raised garden bed to tend to it.  This will defeat part of the purpose of the raised garden bed in that the soil will become compressed and hard cutting down on the oxygen supply to the roots.

Most pre-made garden beds are no wider than 4 feet and typically no longer than 12 feet for this reason.  
When considering the depth of the raised garden bed consider how ergonomic you would like the bed to be.  What this means is consider how far you need to bend over to reach the base of the garden bed.  By raising the sided on the raised garden bed the gardener will raise the soil level and also the level of the base of the plants.  It is not recommended to go too crazy with the height, as this will also increase the amount of soil needed to fill the raised garden bed.  The range of height will also depend on what is being grown in the garden as some plants have deeper root systems than others.  As a rule of thumb, most raised garden beds are between 6” to 18” tall.

Finding a flat spot spares a lot of digging—you want the walls to be level. In general, a north–south orientation takes full advantage of available light. Stay close to the kitchen, but avoid sites shaded by the house or beneath messy trees. Leave at least 18 in. between beds for walkways, or 2 ft if you need room for a wheelbarrow or lawnmower.

To prepare the site, get rid of turf and weeds. Outline the raised garden bed dimensions on the ground with chalk line or string, then dig with vertical strokes along the outline, just deep enough to bury about half of your first course of lumber. Raised beds are designed so water trickles down, eliminating most of the problem of poor drainage. But if your only viable location is bogged in a marsh, you can prevent the “bathtub effect” by digging a few inches deeper and putting a layer of coarse stone or pea gravel in the excavation.   You can also install perforated drainage pipes in trenches under or around the raised garden bed, or just drill weep holes at the base of the sides of your raised garden bed. Likewise, if there is no turf between your beds, put down some landscape fabric and cover it with pavers or a layer of gravel to improve drainage—after running out in the rain for a fresh bell pepper, you’ll appreciate the mud-free shoes.

Level the earth or gravel layer at the bottom of the bed, then put down a layer of weed-suppressing landscape fabric that extends to the outer edge of the wooden frame. Now is also the time to think about pest control. “The rich soil in a raised bed has worms and other delicacies that attract moles, and gophers and voles relish young veggie roots,” To keep out burrowing pests we recommend a bottom layer of hardware cloth—a mesh grid of steel or galvanized metal.
The kit designed raised garden beds offer unlimited amounts of options regarding designs, colors, sizes, and materials.  They take a short time to physically construct and since they are kits, there is very little cutting needed.
If you are building a raised garden bed on your own make sure to build each wall separately, then fasten them together and put the bed into position. Raised garden bed builders often sink posts into the ground for stability, either at the inside corners of the bed or halfway along the side walls. These help hold the raised garden bed in place, but can also reduce the outward pressure that a full bed exerts on the frame, which can dislodge the lumber after a single season. A cap railing that runs around the top of the raised garden bed ties everything together. Plus, it provides a handy place to set down gardening tools while working, or, when you’re done, a seat to admire the fruits of your labor.

There are 2 ways to create the greenhouse effect with your raised garden bed.  The simplest and most economical would be the purchase of a seed started (also known as a cold frame).  These are specifically designed to keep the cold out and keep the warmth and moisture in, especially when starting your new garden in the spring when there is still uncertainty about frost.  There are many different sizes and shapes and we have found that they all function the same.  These are all portable and can be re-used season after season.

The second would be to actually build your own greenhouse (cold frame) cover for your raised garden bed.  The framework that is described below is not meant or designed to be removed.  If you are concerned with appearances we recommend the cold frame for your raised garden bed.
To construct your own cold frame use galvanized pipe straps to mount 1-in. PVC pipe inside the bed walls. Cut ½-in. flexible PVC tubing twice as long as the beds’ width. Bend it, mount it and clip a cover in place.
A simple framework of hoops and a lightweight cover can extend your growing season in cool areas, conserve moisture in dry areas and protect plants from birds or insects. Use clear polyethylene film to raise soil and air temperatures in early spring or fall—to get an early start on heirloom tomatoes, for instance, or to try your hand at exotic squashes. But be careful not to bake your plants on warmer days. Remove the cover or slit vents in it to avoid excessive heat buildup. For pest control, cover the raised garden bed with bird netting or with gauzelike fabrics known as floating row covers, which keep out flying insects but let in both light and air.

Automate, Irrigate

The simplest drip-irrigation setup uses flexible ½-in. poly tubing. It installs easily, it’s inexpensive and it can easily be repaired if damaged. Drip emitters spaced evenly at 12-in. intervals send water to the plants’ roots throughout the raised garden bed. Install spray emitters to give leafy greens a rinse above the soil’s surface.
Once you add an automatic watering system to your raised garden bed, you’re free to plant, weed and harvest. A simple micro-irrigation setup ensures that plants get water consistently—especially important for seedlings and leaf crops such as lettuce.  The sides of raised beds heat up quickly in the sun, baking the moisture out of the soil.  Irrigation delivers the water evenly and gently. You can set your timer to water early in the morning—less will evaporate, and you resist disease.
A basic setup starts with a faucet or hose-bib attachment that is essentially a series of valves that prevent back flow into the plumbing, filter the water and control the water pressure.
These valves are designed with 1-in. or ¾-in. connections. From these, attach supply lines of flexible ½-in. poly tubing. The tubing’s accessibility makes it easy to check for leaks and repair damage from punctures or bursts. To protect the tubing, bury it a few inches and cover the line with mulch.
Lay the tubing along the beds in lines 12 in. apart. Fit sections together with compression elbow and T-fittings. Install drip emitters at 12-in. intervals along the length of the tubing for even delivery of moisture to plants. Low-volume sprayers or misters on risers can also be used, but these lose more water to evaporation. Close the ends of each line with hose-end plugs and caps. Then sit back and let the system water for you.

Advantages for your raised garden bed:

• Perhaps the most important advantage is greatly reduced soil compaction. Plant roots need air. In an ordinary garden, you can’t avoid stepping in the raised garden bed occasionally when doing your everyday gardening. A properly designed raised garden bed allows you to do all your gardening from the garden path.
• Plants can be spaced a little closer together in a raised garden bed because you don’t need places to step. This increases productivity per square foot of bed and reduces weeding when the plants begin to mature.
• Note: Avoid the temptation to crowd your plants. You will still want to use generous plant spacing
• Soil conditions and types can be controlled more efficiently in a raised garden bed and they can be varied easily from bed to bed. Raised garden beds are the answer when topsoil is thin.
• Water, fertilizer, compost, mulch, etc. can be applied more carefully because they only need to be applied to the raised garden beds.
• Various studies have shown that raised garden beds produce 1.4 to 2 times as much vegetables and flowers per square foot as ordinary beds, due mainly to the above advantages. You can have a smaller and more manageable garden that produces more goodies for your table.
• Raised garden beds tend to drain away excess moisture better than ordinary garden beds. This is another advantage that helps the plant roots to breath. In areas that have saturated soil like Florida and many areas of the South, raised beds may be the only way you can grow many types of plants.
• If you’ve framed your raised garden beds with railroad ties, timbers or landscape blocks, disassembly and reassembly is really a lot of hard work.
• If you’ve framed your raised garden beds with nice wood bed boxes: Raised garden beds bring your garden closer to you.
• Raised garden beds are after all, raised!
• Raised garden beds tend to bring more order and pleasing geometry to your garden, especially when forms or edging are used to define them.
• Raised garden beds can extend your gardening season. They tend to warm up a little sooner in the spring and remain productive later in the fall.
• Do your gardening from the comfort of the garden path. No more bending over to pull weeds or trim plants. Sit on a stool or put a seat board on your garden wagon!

Disadvantaged of your raised garden bed:

There are problems with most raised garden bed systems if you want to disassemble your raised beds to move or rearrange your garden or if you just want to roto-till your garden beds.
• You can try to pry the assembled bed boxes out of the soil. However, the small wood screws that most makers use to attach the form boards to the corner posts might pull out and the boxes could require major repairs.
• You can disassemble the raised garden bed boxes. However, on most bed boxes, the screws that hold them together are on the inside and are buried, fouled with soil and probably corroded.

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