Advantages of a raised bed

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Raised beds - why they're great

The advantages of raised beds are many!

You have more depth of soil for your plants. You can cultivate down into the soil on the ground and then top up the raised bed with bought in top soil and well rotted compost making for a great growing material.

They should have better drainage if you've got an open base one. Roots don't sit in saturated soil making them healthier and better able to grow if the season is damp.

Although you have less garden area if you use raised beds the soil can be more productive and you use less fertiliser as you can clearly see the defined areas to feed.

They're more productive - and can produce 1.4 to 2 times more than in a normal bed.

You don't need to leave room to walk between rows as a raised bed can be reached from each side.

Raised beds don't get walked on - so there's less accidental damage to crops and the soil doesn't become compacted. There's also less weeding to do - the paths can be treated with weed mat or even old carpet to suppress weeds. Strimming round the edges can prevent slugs and snails having a hiding place near your crops.

You could fix on copper tape and this can stop slugs and snails climbing in!

I've seen disabled friendly raised beds that have the bed height at waist height which is ideal for people who can't bend over or for wheelchair users.

Garland Raised Beds at Unwins
Simple and quick to put together and you could be planted them up with seeds and plug plants!

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