Raised garden beds are a popular choice for many gardeners due to their numerous benefits. To start, it is essential to select the right site for the raised bed, considering factors such as aspect and orientation of fruit, vegetables, and cut flowers. Learn about building a raised bed, preparing the site, filling the bed, and choosing the right soil mix for your plants. Create a raised garden bed with wood, fabric, or bricks, filling it with rich soil for herbs, vegetables, and flowers.
To create a rich, healthy, and structured soil for your raised bed vegetables or flowers, find out the best ratio of topsoil, compost, and sand, and different methods of filling and layering a raised bed. Choose the right location with at least 6-8 hours of sunlight daily and avoid areas with poor drainage to prevent waterlogging.
To make a timber-framed raised bed, dig out a shallow trench and mark out the shape using canes and string. To prepare the beds for this year’s veggies, remove weeds, loosen the soil, flip sod clumps upside down, scrape soil from the pathway around the outside, and add it to the bed. Start with a soil texture test by moistening the soil, rolling it into a ball, and gently tossing it off to the side of the raised bed.
In summary, raised garden beds offer numerous benefits over traditional in-ground gardening, including improved soil quality, better drainage, and easier planting.
📹 How to QUICKLY Prepare a Garden Bed for Planting Vegetables?
In this video, I give a demonstration of how to QUICKLY make a garden bed for planting vegetables to grow at home. Plus …
Do raised beds need compost or top soil?
A potting mixture of organic matter, sand, and topsoil is suitable for most raised beds, with sand being doubled for alpines, bulbs, and herbs that prefer good drainage. Other materials like timber, stone, brick, and engineering bricks can also be used for raised beds. Timber is the most popular material, but skilled labor and footings are required for construction and footings. Stone is suitable for wall construction and is generally expensive. Brick is strong, durable, and can be used for curved beds, but engineering bricks are the most suitable due to their weather resistance. Domestic bricks are cheaper but less durable.
How do I prep my raised garden bed?
Preparing raised beds for spring involves turning under green manure cover crops, inspecting each bed for repairs, pulling or blocking invasive roots, setting stakes or poles for tall crops, and dividing perennials. The best time to prepare raised beds is early spring, after they are prepared but before anything is growing. The sight of the beds topped with rich soil, moist and crumbly, free of weeds, and ready to plant is a moment of perfection and promise. When raised beds are well prepared, the hardest part of gardening is done, and the less work during the growing season, the more likely the gardener’s vision will come to fruition.
How do you prepare soil for a raised bed vegetable garden?
In Scenario 3, if your raised bed is in an existing garden, take a soil sample, add 2-4 inches of compost, and mix it with the top 4 inches of soil. You can also add topsoil from pathways to increase soil depth. Be prepared to manage weeds immediately as soil disturbance will bring weed seeds to the surface.
Scenario 4 – If your raised bed is on a non-permeable surface, fill it with compost and a soilless growing mix in a 1:1 ratio. Topsoil can be added for beds that are at least 16 inches deep. Add pathway soil to the raised bed and use existing soil from between the beds to increase the depth of soil. This will help prevent plants from drying out quickly and exposing them to extra stress from absorbed and reflected sunlight.
Do you need to put anything under a raised garden bed?
To protect your garden from pests, consider adding a liner at the bottom of your raised garden bed. This barrier prevents common digging pests like moles and gophers from entering the bed, causing damage to your plants. A heavy-duty option like hardware cloth can deter these pests. A liner also helps prevent temperature fluctuations, as the soil in a raised bed loses or gains heat more quickly than the ground soil. It provides a buffer or insulation, protecting the soil against rapid temperature changes.
Additionally, consider adding a greenhouse cloche over your plants to protect them from cooler temperatures, especially in early spring or fall when overnight frost can damage or destroy plants. By implementing these measures, you can ensure your garden remains safe and healthy for your plants.
What should you not put in a raised bed?
Raised beds are ideal for growing a wide variety of edible plants, but not all plants can or should be grown in them. Some plants grow too large for raised beds, such as potatoes, asparagus, artichokes, rhubarb, corn, wheat, rice, and winter squash. Raised beds can be challenging to maintain due to the need for ladders, which can be dangerous for harvesting plants. It is essential to consider the specific needs of each plant when choosing a raised bed, as not all plants can thrive in raised beds. Therefore, it is essential to carefully consider the type of plant and the space available for each plant to ensure the best growth and care.
What do you put in the bottom of a raised vegetable bed?
One of the advantages of gardening with a raised bed is you’re in control of the soil. It’s a significant benefit for homeowners with yards of clay or hardpacked soil, tree root issues, or concerns about pollutants in the ground. Soil is the foundation of your garden, and you want it to be healthy so you can set your plants up for success! We recommend buying high-quality, nutrient-rich soil in bulk. Or, you can make a soil mix with equal parts topsoil, organic materials (leaves, composted manure, ground bark), and coarse sand.
You can build your raised garden bed however you see fit. Feel free to get creative or stick to a simple design; it’s your choice! Below are some raised garden bed ideas you can use for inspiration.
Built-in raised beds: You can build a raised bed with brick or wood and put it in the best place for sun or shade (depending on the plants and flowers you choose). If you select a wood design, ensure it’s intended for outdoor use and holds up well to the elements (sun and rain). If not, you’ll find yourself replacing it every year.
What to line a raised bed with?
It is recommended that a layer of landscape fabric or cloth fabric from clothing be placed within the raised bed to provide durability and soil protection. It is advisable to avoid the use of non-porous plastic, as it has the potential to retain water and thereby discourage beneficial insects and worms. This makes it a less sustainable option.
What should you not put in a raised garden bed?
Raised beds are ideal for growing a wide variety of edible plants, but not all plants can or should be grown in them. Some plants grow too large for raised beds, such as potatoes, asparagus, artichokes, rhubarb, corn, wheat, rice, and winter squash. Raised beds can be challenging to maintain due to the need for ladders, which can be dangerous for harvesting plants. It is essential to consider the specific needs of each plant when choosing a raised bed, as not all plants can thrive in raised beds. Therefore, it is essential to carefully consider the type of plant and the space available for each plant to ensure the best growth and care.
Should I put rocks in the bottom of my raised garden bed?
In the event of pest or weed issues, it is recommended that the bottom of raised beds be lined, although this is not a mandatory measure.
What to add to a garden bed before planting?
To enhance soil quality, it is recommended to apply compost, soil improver, and well-seasoned manure over newly established garden beds, followed by incorporation of these organic materials into the soil using a garden fork. This is an opportune time to enhance soil quality while the beds remain vacant. In the event that the soil exhibits a high clay content, the addition of gypsum is recommended in order to facilitate the breakdown of the soil and maintain its porosity. It is recommended that this approach be adopted with a generous spirit.
What not to fill a raised garden bed with?
Raised beds, particularly small and shallow ones under 12 inches deep, should be filled with soil to avoid interference with plant root growth and water drainage. Bagged raised bed potting mix is commonly used in small raised beds, but can be purchased in bulk from local landscape companies or made by blending topsoil, compost, and sand. Alternatively, the Lasagna Garden Method can be used to fill large raised beds with other materials, such as in-ground gardens or raised beds, to create a more cost-effective and efficient gardening solution. Both methods can help maintain the soil and water balance in the soil, ensuring optimal plant growth and drainage.
📹 Essential TIPS For Preparing Your Raised Garden Beds for Planting Vegetables?
In this video, I give you a ton of tips to show you how I prepare three raised garden beds for planting, sowing, and growing …
G’day Everyone, this article is a bit longer than usual because I wanted to show the preparation and assessment of all three beds in the one upload with extra context. In the age of ever-shortening content, I hope you felt entertained enough to watch it all the way through without getting too bored lol… Thanks for your support! Cheers, Mark
I always love your articles. I laughed loud enough that my daughter heard me in her room! See I am a respiratory therapist and when you were spreading the mulch and was pretending to hold your breath I was acting as your cheerleader telling you to breathe through your nose. Then you said that and I felt proud of you! You would be surprised how many people don’t know that their nose is a filter! (to a reasonable point anyway lol) I always enjoy your little puns and bits of comedy. I watch a lot of different gardening articles of all kinds and I must say you are in my top ten! It is refreshing to watch someone that can deliver good content that is interesting and funny without going too far and sounding dumb. (sorry for the crude honesty there) Keep em coming and thank you for all the knowledge! Hope your family stays well and happy!
As far as the article you made on its cheaper to buy vegetables and fruit from the store. It doesn’t matter working in the garden give you a feeling of work also keeps you moving around and keep you more psychologically healthy and physically healthy than just sitting around and going to the store to get your fruits and vegetables. Thanks a lot for your articles Man.
Hey Mark! I’ve learned how to bury things into my garden from you (after the kangaroo/banana tree article). My dog likes to hunt my backyard in the spring. First time I buried a bunny, my tomatoes grew SOOOO quickly!! Reactions are mixed when I disclose that bit of information. LOL! Ps. Who needs a gym when we can have a garden instead! 🙂
Sir, you are an inspiration to us all. I’m stoked for this spring and I’m gearing up for the spring and summer growing (I’m in central Florida). I got myself a meyer lemon shrub and a peach tree I plan on planting in my back yard (I already have two mature orange trees), and I’m building a raised bed for some hugelkultur action and have started my very first composting pile after trimming back our two enormous monsteras. Outside of food crops, we planted a whole bed of milkweed to help support the monarch population (we raise caterpillars/butterflies) and I have a couple of rose bushes on the way that I cannot wait to plant! I have to admit, I’m having trouble focusing on work because I just want to get out and keep working on the gardens! Anyways, I recently discovered your website, and I absolutely love it. Keep these awesome, informative, and motivating articles coming; you’ve already helped me learn so much!!!
I live in N. Florida, I know about slushing sounds…love your website, so fun…I moved and my former half acre food forest is now cut back to just a regular city space…no longer in the bush, I’m in a city of a million crazy people, Jacksonville…but my quest to make myself disappear has begun…I think we have similar weather patterns and my fruit trees are getting planted as we speak and I’m experimenting with raised beds in totes, since I have a gazillion from the move…cheers man, keep making me laugh out loud…!
Hi Mark, great article again. I need a taste of some gardening since we’re still covered in snow here in Ontario, Canada. I’m planning for big gardening things on my website this year. Last year I fear I disappointed some with my failures from all the grasses and weeds, but this year I’m going to use cardboard, tarps and raised beds with all fresh composted manure soils and mixes. It’ll be fun though and hopefully my viewers will find it fun to follow along. I also plan to sow a small pumpkin patch, small corn field and a small sunflower field. I couldn’t find Birdie’s here in our area, but bought some galvanized raised beds similar and made in Canada. I also recently got some rabbits so it’ll be good to be able to regularly add fresh manure to the gardens and keep them super fertile. Love your website Mark and will be looking for tips from your articles on the regular. PS I don’t mind the longer articles, it really covers the entire topic fully…a lot of my articles are longer too. Cheers to another great growing season. Chad.
Hey 👋. Northern Michigan here. You have been an inspiration friend. Three more weeks and I will be starting an indoor crop for outdoors. That way I will have roughly 6 to 8 weeks before putting them outside. We have a super short growing season here…only about 90 days so any jump I can get….I usually go for it. I’ve converted most of the yard into a garden. Mostly raised beds. Big horse troths.
Hello from California! Love your website! I don’t have a garden right now but I love gardening and that’s why I love your website! Also love the waist high garden beds so that there is minimal gardening on your knees. Genius! I just discovered your website but I’ve learned so much already! Thank you! 🌹🌷🌸🌺🌞🌴
Kia Ora neighbour! I’ve been perusal your website as a source of knowledge and especially love seeing you experimenting instead of sticking to the “rules”.I just received my first Birdies bed from Birdies NZ so looking forward to preparing my first raised bed using the hugelkultur method. Im 47 with a not-so green thumb, but just goes to show its never too late to start gardening. I’ve been inspired by your articles, so thanks for the laughs and positivity.
As an Englishman in New York, I envy your abilities to have created a perfect gardening environment, with those raised beds at the right height to be able now (I’m sure there were many hours of back-breaking prep) to enjoy the planting, reaping or weeding, without much effort. Here, the soil has poor fecundity and has taken much money to improve but the Deer population have ultimately thwarted my efforts at gardening enjoyment and I wondered if you had any similar ‘pest’ creatures which takes a toll on your hard work?
From Canada! Mark how is it that I never knew of this website? What garden wizardy! Dead Snake, Cobia Guts!!! Love it. I am on Vancouver Island and often use my fish guts and kelp/ seaweed or whatever else rolls up on the beach!…. I am so looking forward to perusal all of your articles. Keep it up brother!
Dude, your content makes me really want to start a garden! I discovered you yesterday and quickly subbed! I just finished planting some cherry tomatoes and trying to sprout some paprika seeds I stored some time ago. Fingers crossed they will all grow into beautiful plants. ^^ Thank you for your articles!
I’ve been bindge perusal your articles all day today after I found your article, also today. Love the style, the information is great and you show a lot in the articles with lots of camera angles and clips of what you’re talking about. Makes it easy for a newbie like me to take all of it in! I thank you so much for all this hard work!
I cheat and just plant the bottoms of shallots I buy, after a few weeks I have about twenty plants, that I can harvest the tops for my dishes. I tried to grow seeds but they didnt do to well . The main advantage is they start to grow shoots within a few days and you can get a harvest within a few weeks Or enough for a potato salad or two a week. I will have to look over your grow a ton of garlic article soon.
Mark, I especially liked your scientific method of determining how much fertilizer to use. One can certainly not argue with your successes. I have a question about your soil. You keep adding to your soil quantities of compost and mulch. Do you ever remove some of the soil to start additional raised beds? Soil here in the states is prohibitively expensive. I can only imagine how fertile your soil is. Bob
So pleasant. You’ve been an inspiration with me and my garden. Oh, yes….I am enjoying my Birdie raised bed. Going to get another one later this year, and probably another the next. I am doing the same with my garden . Planted peppers two weeks ago, then chives, and this week will be tomatoes and beans. Not up to planting corn…..yet. Raining here in FL as I type, but it was much needed, and a big break from watering. Have a g’day!!
I have been binge perusal your articles off and on for 2 wks, so glad a stumbled upon them. Due to confirmed allergies to preservatives and in and on grocery store and prepackaged foods and severe chemical sensitivity I have been on a journey of learning to grow and naturally preserve my own foods. For two yrs i have been gardening and each yr I seem to double my garden size! This past fall when the garden was done i decided raised beds is the way to go for me so we deconstructed my garden area and expanded by double once again and added all raised beds, so excited for spring to hit soon so i can get started. perusal your articles, even though you are in a different area in the world (I’m in Maryland, USA) I find your information so informative, inspirational, and confurming I am on the right path with my beds (I add done Huglekulture method for them) as I was getting nervous about how I filled them and second guessing if it would even work. Not only that, I have learned a good deal in gardening, organic planting, and harvesting. Thank you for your articles full of information, and love the sense of humor. This year we are trying potatoes, sweet potatoes, rhubarb, carrots, apple trees, peach trees, and strawberries for the first time….very excited!!
I love your articles! I just moved into my first house, and it has a small backyard with a raised bed around the perimeter of it! I’m starting my first vegetable garden in there and I’ve watched pretty much all of your stuff. I really appreciate how easy you make everything feel, and how much appreciation you have for nature. I’m sure as I go along, I’ll rewatch but please keep uploading!!
When he was breaking the soil up the good old-fashioned way I thought about a battery powered handheld tiller I seen online. One of those would simply be awesome to break ground inside a planter box like that. Normally the ground would be tillable and it’s not like your breaking new ground. So a battery operated tiller might be a viable option for someone with limited mobility for range of motion.
Hey Mark! Some of the weeds you whacked in bed 2 looked a bit like green amaranth, which is a real pain of a weed across south-east QLD, but the seeds are actually edible. Might be worth checking to see if that’s what it actually is (you’d know more about plants than I do), could be a nice boost to your self sufficiency to be able to turn weeding into harvesting and kill 2 birds with one stone.
Ive been raiding the garbage bin at my local restaurant tonight and i found some large plastic buckets which is excactly what i wanted. Theyve contained food so i am presuming they will be safe to plant some potatoes in. Its my own mini raised garden bed. Now i just gotta find some soil because i already have the potatoes ready and sprouted
Thank you 💓 you really cover gardening well 🙂. I am 80 plus live in s/w Ireland an just about to start to learn about self preservation. An I know I’ve got a long ways to go. I live next to the Atlantic very rocky, salty, wind swept,lower temps, an very wet, but fishing is fairly good, just hope some of your skill rubs off. God Bless. M
After perusal your website for a few weeks I have ordered 2 Birdies 8 n 1 tall raised bed kits. They arrived Friday (2 days ago). The boxes were showing damage and were torn up with holes and I could see bent panels. I have notified Epic Garden and they want to file a claim with the shipper. I would like to end up with 6 of these raised beds but starting with 2. I have been saving fallen limbs and sticks. I plan on placing the cardboard from the raised bed kits in the bottom then the sticks then a bunch of leaves before adding dirt. Please keep posting your articles on how to start a bed and tips for planning and growing vegetables. Your ideas and information are very helpful to me.
G’day from Western NSW….ALL the rains have missed us here inland very fry, so we need just a LITTLE bit of the rains, it’s been very challenging for ALL along the East Coast. Always give a thumbs up, your articles are ALWAYS informative AND fun to watch….will try using the racetrack method for the corn next time tried it with my paisley with great success…..thank you once again
Garden newbie here! Absolutely loving your articles mate! Now I’ve just set up my raised garden beds, which included some logs. But now I’m wondering about termites! Living in Darwin we get them a lot… I’d appreciate any advice on how to tackle this!! Don’t want to wreck my veggies before they even grow 🥲
Hi Mark, just wondering if you would be willing to show us the best orientation of your garden beds? Does the direction of the beds, north – south or east- west make any difference to growing? And what vegetables are best for sowing during autumn. Thank you sweetie for all your articles they’re amazing 🤩 and I’ve learnt so much from you 🥰🥰🥰
Just found your website and it’s a great inspiration, man! I’m combining the knowledge you’ve passed on with some generational knowledge from my family and I’m going to finish building my raised beds this week. Looking forward to learning and growing my “green thumb”. Good on ya and keep up the good work!
Hi Mark I enjoy perusal your articles I live in Perth and this weekend Im finally getting my veggie garden started, I have my chooks and a few fruit trees to plant into the yard as the weather cools, my dream is to have a property where I can get a good size garden and a small orchard growing to sustain myself and my family
I do have to say that as a smaller woman, when I was able to do heavier gardening, I used what we call shears (long bladed scissor like tools for shaping hedges), for chopping up greenery before turning it in. Also, here in the US, the Native Americans had a methodology of “three sisters” for planting their corn … three seeds went into a hole (one corn, one squash and one bean) and a small piece of fish on top … each one of these plants took certain ingredients, and deposited another … keeping a perfect balance. I am assuming the squash was a winter squash and/or gourd, and assuming the bean was not a string bean, but a dried bean like pinto or other native american beans depending on the indian nation and territory. Am wondering if you have tried this self-sufficient soil renegeration planting?
Thankyou, been perusal for sometime and love your website. I’ve learned from you and I want you to know I appreciate it. Getting my in ground gardens & raised planting tubs ready. Planted.onions and carrots. I use empty, used, cattle tubs 20gals? mineral half tubs after drilling drainage holes. Farmers are glad to get rid of them after their cattle eat it . Thanks off grid in Oklahoma Mt Momma
This was a brilliant and very educational article, three different ways to tend to the garden bed to prepare it for different things, and doing three different forms of planting. This is going to my saved articles. Now if only i could find that article you did where you explained what you used for breaking down clay soil because i keep asking people and forgetting what it’s called and the internet at large seems to not know either.
Hi Mark – thanks so much for this fab article! I love this website so much and I’m learning so much. I love your raised beds and have been looking for some to convert our no dig garden, but I haven’t found any as large as yours. Most are really narrow. Where would I look to find some like these please? Thanks again, awesome content…
Hi Mark, thanks for some hot tips. I really enjoy how you make it look so easy. I live in the CABOOLTURE area and am also a keen grower, in recent years I have had trouble harvesting mangos disease free and if possible would be great to see a article on how to combat this problem, unless you already have a mango vid already out. Anyways great if you could take this into consideration, cheers.
A Mexican elder visiting eastern Canada said that traditionally, seeds used for planting were chosen from the center of cobs and pods. The idea was that seeds growing nearer the pod or cob where it is attached to the plant contains mostly earth energy. The seeds nearer the tip had mostly air energy and those in the center, a balance of both earth and air and would be stronger growing. Makes sense to me. Does anyone else know more about this? Thanks, Randi Cherry
Hi Mark, another great article thank you. I have just discovered your website, very helpful.I note your soil is looks very coarse(a bit sandy??) I’m in Mansfield Victoria and around our house the soil has little depth before getting to the mundane underneath. probably why its grazing land not cropping land. All out fruit and Veg are in raised beds. My soil packs down very quickly and it dries out very quickly. when I dig it up for planting etc it becomes very lumpy and not so nice(like your soil) to work with. Any tips to improve the “stuff” I plant in? Again thanks for a great article(s). Peter
Hey I have a question. I’ve only just started gardening thanks to a few weeks of bingeing your content, and I’m curious why don’t you dig in the old mulch? Seems it would be great organic matter no? I’m thinking of every year after I’ve harvested throwing some fast nitrogen, bone meal and potash over the old mulch then dig it all in. Is that a horrid idea? Thanks for the content man!
Thanks for another great one, Mark. I envy you your climate. Here at 400+ metres above sea level in southern Germany, it’s stiill brass monkey’s weather. on the way down to minus 5°C or lower for the night. In bright sunshine, it hit a high of +6° this afternoon. About mulching: We can’t get that sugar cane stuff you use. Have ylou ever tried straw instead’? And does it work as well?
I know this is a bit late asking but would all these technique work in other places, For instance I live in California. Would this react the same way. I’ve been composting all my vegetation but want to know about meats like you’ve demonstrated. Fish guts, chicken, etc. I appreciate your articles and any information you can provide. I know we have very different climates.
Mark – like others I was laughing to tears with your solution to the mulch dust – you looked like a blowfish trying to get all the air out – and we have all done this! I must comment on your term “reverse shark” though. To me that means a shark that goes backwards. I respectfully suggest “inverse shark” since that better conveys the idea that the shark is upside down. In any case, I look forward to all of your postings – they make my day!
Is that cypress mulch? Please let me know? I’m in STL, MO, USA. Along with a crazy-about-gardening Hainan wife. We have giant challenges with deer that were not allowed to shoot. I just want her to be able to produce so much that takes care of us and a couple neighbors and if the deer in. Thank you for any type of mulch advice.
GDay Mark, With the exception of the seedlings in this article I haven’t seen you labeling. Especially when planting seeds. Is this because you find it unnecessary and just take whatever comes up or do you label ‘behind the scenes’ once you stop filming? If /when you do label I’d be interested to know what you use? I’m also in the subtropics and can’t find anything that lasts the distance. Love the website mate. Cheers.
hey Mark, just wondering if you have tried using food scraps in the smaller gardening pots as filler before transplanting seedlings. I live in an apartment so space is an issue but would love to compost. Just wondering if food scraps is a good way to go without having to use a lot of soil to fill up a pot, or it will take too much energy to convert to compost without the presence of worms.