A standard practice in areas receiving plenty of rain, raised bed gardening ensures good drainage, besides providing a bit of extra space for growing vegetables. Raised bed gardening proved to be perfect for many companion plantings such as carrots and onion family vegetables. The carrots went on the flat top of the beds and enjoyed the deep soil while the onions and leeks planted on the sides all around protected the beds from pests.
Modern raised beds are relatively easy to construct on your own, making them an excellent option for many. The frames are built with bricks, concrete blocks or timber, and filled up with good soil and plenty of organic matter.
Benefits of raised beds
1. Good aeration
Raised beds provide the plants with a rich growing media with a loose structure and allows for good air circulation around the roots.
Like every other part of the plant, roots need to breathe. They breathe in the oxygen from the air and expel carbon dioxide. If the soil is too compacted, the roots suffocate and fail to develop properly. That’s because good aeration is necessary for the roots to absorb essential nutrients.
Proper aeration is important for keeping the microbial population in the soil healthy. It helps maintain a balance between the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that play different roles in enhancing soil fertility.
2. Good drainage
Raised beds provide good drainage even in heavy rains. This is one reason it has always been popular in tropical areas that get heavy rainfall. The loose texture of the soil allows the water to seep into the bed, preventing quick runoff that would otherwise carry away the fertile topsoil. At the same time, it allows excess water to drain away.
When you water your plants growing in raised beds, the water gets absorbed into the lower layers of the beds rather quickly. It keeps the soil evenly moist but without allowing the water to stagnate.
3. Root spread
Plant roots would find it easier to grow and spread in every direction when the soil is loose. Not only that but the raised beds retain moisture much longer than traditional raised beds since water loss from the sides is minimized. This keeps the beds from drying out between watering and facilitates good root run.
A well-developed root system anchors the plant and helps it gather water and nutrients from a larger area which is particularly important for vegetables. They have to grow vigorously and produce maximum yield within a short period.
4. Better weed control
In making the raised beds, you have the option of filling up the frames with compost and soil relatively free of weeds. The loose soil and good accessibility to the beds make it easier to pull up the few weeds that may come up. Also, the general practice is to place plants very close to each other. When they grow and fill in the bed, they do an excellent job of suffocating out weeds.
5. Build on existing turf
To start a new vegetable patch on the ground, you may have to dig up the turf and clear out the sod. But raised beds can be constructed right on top of the existing grass without digging it up.
All you need to do is to just line the area with thick layers of newsprint and cardboard and fill the frames in with soil, grass clippings, cured farmyard manure, sand, and compost. Your seeds and seedlings can go right on top. You save a lot of backbreaking work and time when you garden in this fashion.
6. Better pest control
Many insects find their way into veggie patches by crawling on the ground. At least a few of them may be deterred by the solid frames that surround the beds. If nematodes and other soil parasites are a problem, you may have better protection against them by using a plastic liner at the bottom and sides of the bed. A wire netting at the base of the raised beds may disappoint the pesky rodents that hope to burrow their way into to your beds.
Since you can walk between the beds and inspect the plants often, you might spot infestations quite early. The earlier you tackle pest problems, the better.
7. Extend the growing season
The raised beds will thaw much faster in spring than the frozen ground. So you can transplant your vegetable seedlings earlier and give them a good head start. It can make a big difference to gardeners who have only a small window to grow edibles out in the open.
8. It is easier than trying to amend existing soil
Soil everywhere is not the same. Some places may be too chalky and alkaline while you may find the ground in some gardens too acidic for most plants. Most vegetables prefer a neutral to slightly acidic soil that fall within the pH range of 5.5 to 7.5. However, there are a few acid-loving plants, like the tomatoes and blueberries, as there are others like broccoli and asparagus that prefer slightly sweeter soil.
When you want to grow a variety of vegetables in raised beds, you can make the beds with any soil you desire. You even have the option of filling up different beds with various types of soil to suit the plants you intend to grow in them. Since most gardeners use a lot of compost to fill in their raised beds, it is relatively easier to maintain the neutrality of the soil.
9. Less risk of soil compaction
If the width of the beds is kept at 3-4 feet, you can conduct other gardening chores like fertilizing, weeding and harvesting without stepping on the bed.
Flooding during rains is another way the soil in cultivated fields gets compacted. The wet and heavy soil particles settle down, filling up the air spaces. As the water evaporates, it leaves behind a hard and dense layer of soil, making it less hospitable to plants. With water quickly draining away from raised planting beds, there’s no danger of soil compaction due to flooding.
Source: www.naturallivingideas.com
