Introduction

Raised beds are a great way to get the most out of your garden space, and they’re pretty simple to build. They’re also easy to maintain and can be made from almost any material: wood, stone, or even concrete blocks. In this post I’ll explain why you should build raised beds for your next garden project!

1. Improve Drainage

• Improve Drainage

Drainage is important for healthy plants, but it can be hard to provide in your own backyard. Raised beds allow you to easily manipulate the soil’s drainage by either building up the sides of the bed or adding in a layer of gravel underneath. The gravel helps water flow outwards rather than pooling around the plant roots, which prevents root rot and fungal diseases.

2. Protect from Weeds

• Protect from Weeds

Raised beds offer a physical barrier to weeds, which means you can plant earlier and later in the season without worrying about weeds smothering your plants. If you live in an area that has wet, cold winters and warm, dry summers like I do (Missouri), then raised beds will allow you to plant more easily during these times of the year.

Because they’re easier to weed than garden soil, I find myself spending less time pulling up weeds from my raised beds than if I were growing crops directly in my garden soil. This means more time for fun activities like relaxing with friends or playing with children!

3. Increase Accessibility

Raised beds are easy to reach. Whether you need to grab your gardening gloves when the weather turns hot, or you simply want to pick a few strawberries for breakfast, raised beds make it possible for anyone to access the plants growing inside. If you are elderly, injured or disabled and unable to stand on your own, raised garden beds can be an essential tool in maintaining good health through gardening. They allow for easier movement throughout a garden and make it easy for individuals of all ages and abilities to maneuver their way around without difficulty.

Raised bed sitting areas can also accommodate those who have difficulty standing for long periods of time either due to injury or age; providing safe accessibility even if mobility is limited

4. Grow More in Less Space

Raised beds are great for growing vegetables. In fact, you can grow more in less space—and with less time, water and fertilizer. Why? Because you have a raised bed that is higher than the surrounding soil, you can plant closer together than in a conventional garden. The reason this works is because plants don’t compete as much for nutrients or moisture when they’re closer together. So by planting in raised beds you’re able to get more plants per square foot of space than if they were planted conventionally on the ground.

5. Contain the Soil You Need

You may not realize that your soil needs to be contained. If you don’t contain it, the soil will wash away and leave your plants bare.

To prevent this from happening, build a raised bed. With a raised bed in place, you can use dirt or compost to fill up the space between the boards and create a solid foundation for your plant roots. This keeps water from draining away too quickly and keeps pests out of your garden as well.

6. Elevate the Soil

Raised beds can help you get more out of your soil.

Your soil is held in place by the sides of the bed, so it’s less likely to erode or wash away. In addition, since the soil is elevated off of your surface and exposed to sunlight, it dries out more quickly than soil held at ground level. This also helps prevent compaction from heavy rains or foot traffic that could compress your garden beds and make them hard for vegetables to grow through. Raised beds are a great way to improve drainage so that you don’t end up with compacted soils that drain poorly and don’t hold water well either!

The best way to achieve these benefits is choosing plants appropriate for growing in raised beds like tomatoes that need plenty of sun but also prefer moist conditions (as opposed to dry ones).

7. Make Gardening Easier

One of the big benefits of building raised beds is that they’re easy to work in.

If you have back pain or knee problems, working in a traditional garden can be painful. With a raised bed garden, the soil is right at your fingertips—and so are all of your tools. The same goes for reaching down into the soil to pull weeds or plant seeds and seedlings!

8. Stay Cleaner and Dryer

Raised beds are easy to keep clean. Since they’re raised off the ground, you can easily access them from a standing position. No need to kneel in the dirt or bend over to weed. There’s no need to get dirty or wet, either—just use a hose and spray away!

9. Keep Pests Out

• Keep Pests Out

Raised beds can make your garden much more difficult to get into for pests such as slugs, snails and other small critters. A barrier around the bed is an effective way of keeping these creatures out of your garden, even if you don’t want to go as far as building a wall or fence around your raised beds.

The reason this works so well is that pests do not like climbing walls or fences – it never feels right for them! A raised bed in itself will deter many pests simply because it’s easier for them to access your plants from the ground than by climbing through a fence or wall.

10. Inexpensive

• Inexpensive

Raised beds are super easy to build, you can use recycled materials and there’s no need for expensive tools. You can use a variety of types of material like stone, brick or concrete blocks or even old pallets. As long as you have the time and patience, you can make a raised bed of any size and shape you like!

Have you ever considered using a raised bed in your garden?

Raised beds are an excellent way to grow vegetables and flowers in your backyard. They reduce the amount of soil you need, which means less time and money spent on getting all that dirt out there. Because no vegetation is growing directly in the ground, it’s much easier to keep weeds from growing up through the bed! You also don’t have to water as much because of this same reason—just keep an eye on things if it gets really dry. Lastly, it makes a great place for kids or pets to play while they’re waiting for their veggies to pop up!

Conclusion

Raised beds are an easy way to grow more food in your garden. They can be built with just a little bit of work and will give you the benefits of easier access, increased drainage and even pest control. If you’re interested in trying raised beds in your own garden, we recommend starting small with just one or two plants!