Raised Beds
We recommend high-yield container gardening to help "reduce the use" of chemical fertilizers/herbicides/pesticides for healthier and more naturally grown vegetables, herbs, and flowers. These raised bed kits help extend the growing season, make outstanding starter beds for larger scale gardeners, and can also be used in greenhouses (great organizer).
Why Raised Bed Gardening?
- More production per square foot - Records at Dawes Arboretum near Newark, OH. indicate an average of 1.24 lbs. per square foot of vegetables as compared to about .6 for the traditional home garden.
- Improved soil conditions - Water, air and roots all have difficulty moving through soil compressed by tractors, tillers, or human feet. Not so in a raised bed. Saturated soils get a dose of lime every spring via percolation. In a raised bed, gravity reduces percolation to a trickle, resulting in an acidity that can be maintained in the 5.8 to 6.8 range that vegetables prefer.
- Use less fertilizer - Concentrate on the growing area and not on the compact soil in the paths.
- Use less water - The water goes only where it is needed.
- Pest control - if burrowing rodents are abundant, the bottom of the bed can be lined with poultry wire or hardware cloth.
- Less weeds - As with pest control, lining the bottom of the bed with plastic, mulch or cloth stops the weeds. Weeds that do appear come up out of the loose soil very easily.
- Extend the growing season - Beds can be planted earlier in the spring and will produce later in the fall because the soil warms faster and cools slower.
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