If you’ve never grown plants and vegetables in raised beds before, we promise you’ll be spoiled for the rest of your life once you do.

Raised beds are essentially not a new concept, but they remain a contentious topic among gardeners. Raised beds have a devoted following dating back to 300 BCE, when the pre-Hispanic peoples from the Andes utilized them to prevent soil erosion (in an innovative system known as waru waru). And there are still great reasons for their appeal. A three-year study at Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio, discovered that when compared to a regular vegetable garden, the produce from a raised bed nearly doubled per square foot.

A raised garden bed is, by definition, an elevated structure that is built up rather than down to solve a variety of gardening problems. You can make raised beds by simply heaping soil into a mound or by enclosing and containing garden soil in boxes.

The greatest benefit of a raised garden bed is that it allows you to grow your favorite plants and vegetables practically anywhere. Here are some more amazing benefits of raised beds that will make your gardening experience a breeze.

1. The “No-Work” Garden

A raised bed is really a simple way of preparing your soil for the simplest gardening possible. Gardeners often maintain their raised beds by simply adding materials on top rather than tilling up the soil from year to year to add fertilizer and additives. As roots and worms make their way through, the earth can do its own tilling. While regular human tilling depletes the soil structure, doing nothing increases the organic component of your soil as time passes.

2. Easy Maintenance

It is easier to maintain a raised garden bed than a traditional soil bed. When the soil in a raised garden bed has settled, compaction is nearly non-existent, therefore, seasonal tilling is unnecessary. Weed populations decline over time in a well-maintained and mulched raised bed. Furthermore, you can plant your veggies in the raised bed in a more organized way that helps you take better care of them. And when the time comes, reap the fruits of your labor more easily.

3. Make the Impossible Possible

A raised bed can allow crop growth in areas where gardening would otherwise be impossible. Raised beds can act as terracing on steep slopes. Raised beds can be constructed on parking lots and other hard-to-garden urban soils. Raised beds can be altered to grow specific crops that flourish in distinct soils.

4. Make Growing Seasons Longer

Raised beds warm up faster and drain better in the spring (if the soil is properly prepared), providing for a longer growth season and better growing conditions. A well prepared raised bed, especially in the South, allows plant roots to breathe.

5. The Zero Waste Garden

Because the gardening space is more condensed, the administration of water, fertilizer, mulch, and soil additives can be more precisely controlled, resulting in less waste.

6. Keep Out the Critters

The structure of raised garden beds can effectively prevent critters from reaching your plants. Many gardeners swear that slugs will not crawl over the copper flashing, which might border your box. You can also cover the bottom of the garden bed with hardware cloth to keep crawling pests like groundhogs from devouring root vegetables.

7. No Frost Garden

Unlike in-ground garden beds, you can easily fix conduit pipes, rebars, and other hardware to keep away the frost and thus extend your gardening season even if the winter approaches.

Conclusion

Whether it is just your home garden or you are starting a gardening business, raised garden beds could be a lifesaver for you. Apart from the benefits mentioned above, there are some more advantages these structures can give you. Such as:

• Fewer weeds
• Improved water retention
• Better drainage in clay soil regions
• More growth space with little soil compaction from human feet
• Warmer soil earlier in the season
• Less soil erosion.

If you can’t pull off a raised bed, that’s fine! You can always get help from professionals. But make sure you choose the right gardening business for the task. Check for reviews and ensure they use the latest technology to provide you with the best service, such as gardening and landscaping software.

Happy gardening!