Raised Beds for Easy Gardening

Raised beds aren't just for summer vegetable gardens. Any plant that loves a well-drained soil will love a raised bed. "Most raised beds are created to raise the soil line, creating a bed that eliminates foot traffic," says "Farmer Fred" Hoffman, a radio show host in Herald, California. And raised beds can be made from a variety of materials such as fence-post caps (figure B), the remnants of a concrete driveway (figure C), or from the most commonly used material, wood.

Hoffman uses redwood for this project, although cedar and cypress work well, too. "Raised beds can be any size, but I recommend nothing wider than four feet; otherwise it's difficult to reach into the middle of the bed for weeding or harvesting." Hoffman builds a 3- by 3-foot raised bed, with 2- by 6-inch boards to create a cap to provide a place to sit while gardening. Each side is measured and cut 12 inches high and two inches thick supported with 4- by 4-inch redwood posts at the corners.

Once all the wood is cut and painted, he assembles the sides by mounting the 4 x 4 support posts to the 12-inch side boards. To add even more water protection to the sides of the bed, Hoffman nails a strip of compost roofing to the side panels (figure E).

Hoffman adds a thin layer of soil to cover the bottom of the bed. "The beauty of raised beds is that you can use whatever kind of soil you want to grow whatever kind of plant," says Hoffman. "For instance, in my bed, I'm using a mixture of sandy loam and mushroom compost that drains well and has the perfect ph level of 6.7." He tills in the new soil with the existing clay soil to help improve overall drainage. Tilling also improves root growth because the impenetrable layer is now gone.

Hoffman uses a posthole digger to create holes for the support posts, deeper than the bed is high. Because this bed is 12 inches high, he digs a hole 18 inches deep. When the ground is ready, he installs three of the four sides. He lines the base of the raised bed with 1/4-inch hardware cloth mesh to keep gophers and other pests from bothering the bed. The hardware cloth is cut about two inches larger on each side to allow extra for lining the sides thoroughly.

For a small bed, Hoffman recommends placing the irrigation lines in concentric circles secured in place by small line stakes (figure I). He places the rubber tubing at the end to stop the water flow.

Hoffman chooses tuber roses for the raised bed because they look great, smell heavenly and will multiply like rabbits in this rich soil (figure J). Dense planting is no problem in raised beds because the soil is rich in nutrients, and the roots grow down, not out.