Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange
Gardening and Landscaping Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [raised-beds]

Gardening based around plant beds which are raised above the surrounding soil.

Raised beds are a popular forming of gardening - especially for vegetables and other food annuals. A raised bed is a raised area typically between 6in and waist height above the surrounding soil. Various materials are used to keep the bed in place, although timber is probably the most popular. The soil usually contains a large proportion of compost - especially as a bed has to be filled with external material (this makes it easy to mix large amounts of compost in with little additional effort).

Raised beds are an excellent solution to poor top soil, they also avoid compaction due to walking on the soil. If planted correctly, they can also reduce weeds and help control moisture loss (although excessive drainage may require more watering) if designed properly. The raised nature of the beds can also make them ideal if bending over is a problem: Waist-high beds are particularly popular with the elderly.

Raised bed gardening is often combined with the square foot gardening and companion planting concepts.

Use this tag for all questions specific to raised bedding: Eg. how to build a raised bed, how to water, etc.

241 questions
1
vote
0 answers

What depth is required for a raised bed vegetable in Southern California?

I am planning a raised bed vegetable garden for my Southern California backyard. my current design was going to use 3'x6' cedar boxes, 7-1/4 inches high, until I read that that this shallow dirt would not accommodate many deep rooted vegetables. I…
Jon Galt
  • 29
  • 3
1
vote
0 answers

Mulch + raised garden for a desert water saving Vegetable Garden?

I am planning a raised bed vegetable garden in dry Southern California. I wish to produce food in my dry climate, and am concerned for possible future water restrictions. Besides the water savings from a raised bed garden, I understand that a layer…
Jon Galt
  • 29
  • 3
1
vote
2 answers

Preparing the area for a raised bed

New hobbyist here. I'm planing a raised garden bed (about 4' by 6' or 8') and I want to clear the area. My thoughts were to make a bed that would be a 12" high hollow frame, that I would "sink" about 3" in the current soil, so only 9" would show. I…
Tipx
  • 113
  • 3
1
vote
1 answer

Wooden fruit crates as edging for lawn

As you can see, this grave needs some sort of edging to prevent soil from running down. Now i could use bricks for the job but that would take away the raised bed look of the grave that i like. Plus something slimmer would not only prevent the soil…
Hamid Sabir
  • 926
  • 2
  • 9
  • 19
1
vote
2 answers

Are raised beds considered a change of grading?

Are there any permits required? What can be done to prevent problems with authorities in this regard?
txwikinger
  • 111
  • 3
1
vote
0 answers

Plastic container within wooden frame-raised bed over concrete slabs

I need to create a raised bed garden mostly to propagate plants. I have an area covered in sun for most of the day. I need to propagate some bushes and decorative grasses and this will also be an area where I keep the plants till I decide on their…
MiniMe
  • 1,819
  • 13
  • 18
1
vote
1 answer

How do I get rid of aphids on kale?

I have some kale growing in my raised bed which are getting infested with aphids. How do I get rid of those and secondly, are the kale leaves still edible (after cleaning them in hot water)?
JStorage
  • 7,844
  • 6
  • 32
  • 72
0
votes
0 answers

Small garden: Fully paved, Partial paved with grass or Full grass?

What is the value in a maintaining a little grass patch in a small garden? We're moving from a a rural area with a big garden to an town where every house we can afford has a small garden. The reason we're moving is mainly due to due to the need to…
APossibleGardener
  • 1
0
votes
0 answers

How much should I worry about these moldy-looking growths?

I have a raised garden bed that has started to show what looks like mold or moss on the soil: This website seems to think it's harmless, while this one disagrees. And then there's the green stuff. How much should I worry about it?
crmdgn
  • 807
  • 5
  • 9
0
votes
0 answers

How to remove High Performance Bedding (HPB) from the bottom of my raised garden bed without disturbing the surrounding interlocking?

I recently got my backyard interlocked and had a stone garden wall installed (6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 15 inches tall). The garden wall is surrounded by interlocking on 3 sides and a wall on the fourth side. The contractor used high performance…
krjampani
  • 101
0
votes
1 answer

Mushrooms in raised beds

Well, as title says.. a few questions about mushrooms and veggies: I have several raised beds with different vegetables. Raised beds are made from heat treated wood pallets and on top of them I've used wood chips as mulch. Plants are doing really…
False Identity
  • 1,552
  • 3
  • 14
  • 29
0
votes
1 answer

Beans and Onions Stopped Growing

I'm a new gardener who decided to try raised bed gardening this year due to living in South Eastern North Carolina where's there's a lot of sandy soil. I followed some advice on companion planting this year and planted in one…
Tikhon
  • 169
  • 3
0
votes
1 answer

Raised beds vs containers in greenhouse?

I recently purchased and assembled a 6'x8' greenhouse from harborfreight. My plan is to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in there (tomatoes and cucumbers along the longer walls and peppers along the shorter back wall). I have read that growing…
Yev
  • 121
  • 3
0
votes
1 answer

Raised bed pure horse manure compost

I've got some new raised beds, 16inch deep on top of gravel so not over soil, and am thinking of filling them with pure horse manure compost, a little top soil and small amount of sharp sand. Would using just manure compost make the bed too high in…
Muq
  • 35
  • 1
  • 5
0
votes
1 answer

What's the ideal pot size for seedlings that will be transplanted outdoors as soon as possible?

I was wondering what is the ideal pot size for seedlings like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, that will be transplanted to an outdoors raised bed as soon as possible (is that when they have 2 sets of real leaves?).
csamx
  • 109
  • 4
1 2 3
…
16
17