Are you planning to build a raised bed garden or trying to enhance an existing one? If you’re looking for ideas and tips on how to get started in your next gardening project, you’ve come to the right place!

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Raised beds are garden boxes used for easy gardening.
• A raised bed is perfect for you to grow plants for limited space. It is also good for pest control as you can easily keep track of all your plants.
• There are multiple ways to build your raised garden bed but you have to consider the size and materials to use.
• It is important to keep the soil healthy in your raised garden beds, you can try the classic 3-ingredient soil mix.
• It’s easy to buy or make a raised bed but you can also commit mistakes on raised bed gardening. You gotta learn how to correct them.
• Companion planting helps you maximize your garden to the fullest. There are plants or vegetables that you can grow together in a raised bed.

Beginners should look for an easy step by step guide and gardening tips to get the most out of their raised bed garden.

What are Raised Beds?

A raised bed is a garden area in a rectangular box or frame with soil that is elevated or higher than the ground. Growing plants in a raised bed planter has many benefits that makes it popular nowadays. These garden beds are commonly built as enclosure or frame using wood, stones, or other repurposed materials.

Benefits of Growing Plants in a Raised Garden Bed

There are many people wanting to start their raised beds for the first time while others are looking for ways to improve their existing garden. And growing plants in a raised bed is now easy. You can simply buy your raised bed online that can be assembled in minutes. You can choose among raised ground beds, elevated or tiered.

The use of raised bed has many benefits that’s why more and more gardeners are switching to using it. Here are some of the advantages of raised bed gardening:

• Less weeds since the plants are set in a confined space.
• These garden boxes create a physical barrier against pests.
• They work to prevent soil compaction and improve the soil's structure.

Building Your Raised Bed Garden

Before buying or making your own raised bed garden planter, you have to consider a lot of factors including the type of wood that you need, the dimension of the box and how to fill it with the best soil recipe. These are important to make sure it’s long-lasting and easy to maintain. Check out these articles to help you build your raised bed garden:

• Choosing the Best Materials for Raised Garden Beds
• Factors to Consider in Raised Bed Sizes
• Perfect Soil Recipe for Raised Bed Gardening

Quick Start Guide for Raised Bed Planting

Raised bed gardening is indeed a creative way of cultivating flowers, fruits and vegetables above the ground. Find out the best days to plant and you can start creating the perfect garden for your space!

Once you have your raised beds ready, the next thing to do is to start planting and maintaining your garden. The exciting thing about this is you can grow almost all kinds of plants. As long as the growing conditions are within your target, you can plant just about anything in your raised garden bed. Your plants should receive enough sunlight, right spacing and good temperature. It is also ideal that you place your raised beds near a garden hose or rain barrel so you can easily water the plants when necessary.

Growing plants with raised beds shouldn’t be complicated. You just have to keep a few things in mind to get the best results for your garden. Planning is the key. Decide what plants to grow and know which of them will grow well when planted together.

Companion planting in a raised bed is an ideal technique where you can grow different plants side by side. There are certain plants that help each other to become more productive as they take each other’s nutrients. You can plant fruit and vegetable plants or flowers and herbs in a raised bed. When deciding on what to grow in the same raised bed, you have to pair the plants that can be mutually beneficial to each other. This will increase the plant growth and production.

What plants should be planted together? Here are some examples of companion planting:

• Beans and Corn
• Potatoes and Spinach
• Asparagus and Carrot
• Broccoli and Celery
• Cabbage and Lettuce
• Marigolds and Nasturtiums
• Basil and Tomatoes
• Borage and Squash

This technique is also a great way to improve pest management by protecting your plants against destructive pests and insects. Some plants can distract pests while tall plants can give shade and protection to smaller plants.

While companion planting has many advantages, there are also some plants that should not be planted in the same garden bed. You have to think about the plants you will pair together and know the common gardening mistakes with raised beds.

In summary, raised garden beds provide gardeners great options and styles in gardening. These planter boxes help you build a thriving garden even in limited space. There is also an endless possibility to grow different plants in a raised bed – fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs and more!

Prepping Your Garden Beds for Spring Planting

Raised bed gardening is truly gratifying when spring season finally arrives. This is the time of the year when you can prepare your raised beds, cultivate the soil, clear out weeds and mulch, apply good compost or organic fertilizer, choose what plants to grow and prepare the water supply or irrigation.

Preparing your garden beds for spring is important so there will be less work during the growing season. You can focus on maintaining your garden throughout the year when you are done with major tasks.

Here’s a checklist that can help you in preparing your garden bed for spring:

• Plan ahead, decide on what plants you are going to grow in your raised bed.
• Get all your gardening tools ready.
• Inspect your raised beds if needed repairs or set up a new raised bed garden planter.
• Clear your garden by removing weeds and dead leaves.
• Prepare your garden soil by adding organic fertilizer or compost.
• Remove any unwanted pests.

Growing and Harvesting Tips for Raised Bed Vegetable Garden

Growing vegetables in a raised bed is fun and easy! Raised beds provide a simple and effective way of planting veggies for areas with compacted soil or poor drainage. Using raised beds is perfect for urban gardens or small spaces. In fact, almost any type of vegetables can be planted in a raised bed.

Learn more about growing and harvesting vegetables in a raised garden bed. It is important that you know the factors to consider when building a raised bed and what type of vegetables to plant in your garden.

Frequently Asked Questions on ECOgardener Raised Beds

1. How deep is your raised bed?

ECOgardener Raised Bed is a rectangular planter box in different types and sizes. We have the standard size raised bed in 2x8 and its height is 10 inches. You can go for taller ones but remember that the depth of the soil still depends on which crops you plan to grow.

2. Do we need to treat or stain the planter before using it?

Wood is commonly used for raised beds. ECOgardener raised beds and garden planters are made of fir wood. Fir wood is straight and thick. It doesn’t decay easily, shrink or bend so you don’t need to treat our product before using it. But if you decide to stain or paint it, choose a paint that is made of natural waxes. This is to make sure that your planters or raised beds are safe for edible plants.

3. Is the wood treated/coated with chemicals?

No, ECOgardener raised beds are not chemically-treated to ensure that they are safe to use for plants and vegetables. Chemically-treated wood is usually light brown or dark green and smells oily.

4. What/where is the source of wood used for raised bed planters?

Our raised beds are made from Chinese fir wood.