Raised bed organic gardens are, no doubt, very beneficial, especially in places which have water logging problem. It is very easy to construct a raised bed organic garden. Many people build a raised bed garden on their own.

Further you dont require very sophisticated tools to build the raised bed. Basic masonary and gardening tools are sufficient. Also, it takes only a few days to erect it.

The different steps involved in preparing a raised bed organic garden are given below:

• Site Selection: Choose the place in your garden where you would like to contrcut the raised bed. If you are preparing a temporary bed, its location is not so important. But if you plan to make a permanent structure, select the site properly as making any changes in the location later will require dismantiling the entire bed along with its frame and shifting it.
• Design: First, prepare a design of the bed on paper. The height, width and lenght of the bed are most cricial parameters. Frame thickness and width of the pathways are also important.
  • Width: The bed can have a width of about 5 feet; however ensure that you can reach every part of the bed from one side or the other.
  • Height: Height of the raised bed organic garden should be at least 6 inches so that water drainage problem is removed. If you want to prepare the bed for old and handicapped people, you can increase the bed height to 20-24 inches.
  • Length: Length of the bed should be adjusted according to your requirements and availability of space.
• Pathways: The pathways should have sufficient space for you to move and if you use a wheelbarrow, adjust the width of the pathway to accommodate it.
• Frames: You should frame the bed, else there is a high possibility that it will erode away with time or during heavy rains. Build the frame according to your design. Stone and bricks serve as excellent material for framing. Rot resistant wood can also be used for framing.
• Soil: Then comes the important part of adding soil to the bed. If you add normal soil to the bed, water logging may still persist. Hence you should mix organic matter such as dry leaves and grass with the soil. You should also add compost and sand to the soil. While organic matter and compost will increase drainage significantly adding a small amount of sand will ensure that the drainage problem is completely solved
• Fertilizers: Raised bed organic garden also requires adding fertilizers regularly. Hence you should conduct a soil test and add appropriate organic fertilizers apart from the already added organic compost.

With this your raised bed garden is ready and you can grow vegetables, flowers, etc., as per your wish.

Discussion Board	Add New RSS
Ask a question or share your views

Julie  - Stand-alone raised bed 2010-03-02 17:49:52 Because of disability this year I am veggie gardening in a purpose built, wooden bed on legs. What compost etc would you advise and what organic fertiliser? Many thanks Reply

Annette Brown  - Raised Garden 2009-07-11 17:29:43 I have a raised veggie garden. I put landscape down to eliminate weeds, but for some reason the blade grass I was having problems with has pushed its way thur. I'm pulling it up but due to a weak back I was trying to eliminate this problem by having a raised garden. Any suggestions? Regards Reply

Ian  - Re: Raised Garden 2009-09-09 18:21:39 I just started mine.. I left lots of room between the beds so I could mow between them. I switched to raised beds so I wouldn't have to fight with the grass.. just mow it and be good! That was my thinking anyway.. Reply

OrganicBred 2008-10-26 03:10:40 Sissy, by asking brand names that shows you want the lessons handed to you. The first rule to organic gardening is get your hands in the soil. Learn from experience. Use these internet post as a boost but don't rely on them for specifics. Try looking up organic fertilizers and see what you come up with. As far as brand names that is pointless, the whole idea of Organic is that you use life which already exist to create life, no chemical was ever needed to sprout a plant. Reply

adel 2008-08-17 12:11:01 cow buns Reply

adel  - any 2008-08-17 12:09:25 dear sir it is possible to use the cow buns right away after collecting them as a fertilizer. please advise me . Reply

sissy 2008-06-02 11:13:13 that was really of no help to me, you should have noted what type of fertilizers, etc that you used! brand names help! Reply

tinky 2010-03-02 02:36:53 Annette - I am not sure what you mean by putting landscape down. Depending on what you are growing, have you try adding various mulch? Sissy - Again, depends on what you want to grow. You might want to send your soil for analysis, just to see what you are working with. You can try using used coffee grounds for fertilizers, they are good source for nitrogen. But for veggies, look for 10-10-10 for a balance nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium levels. Consult your local university's extension program, they often contain gardening information appropriate to your area. Reply

f

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 4.0 beta2