You Made Your Bed. Now Plant in It!
It’s almost time. Open the seed catalogs, grab your garden gloves and start thinking. What’ll it be this season? An explosion of vibrant wildflowers, a garden of fresh herbs, or all the makings for fresh summer salads?
For a growing number of gardeners, the raised bed has become the solution to a spectrum of backyard challenges. Whether it’s built from stones or logs, the raised bed offers terrific advantages, like…
#1 – The Perfect Mix
If your backyard soil is sandy, rocky or just doesn’t offer the proper nutrients to grow beautiful plants, just create what you need! Depending on what you’re growing, you have the power to customize a potent growing medium – using ingredients like topsoil, compost or peat moss. Like any recipe, the quality of the ingredients matters.
#2 – Soggy No More
No plant likes soggy roots, which can leave the door open to disease. Unfortunately, when you plant at ground level, you settle for whatever drainage you get. With a raised bed, gravity is on your side, giving you great control over how wet – or dry – the soil is kept.
#3 – Weed Like to Help
Life is too short to pull weeds. Period. Just lay a weed barrier down before you fill the bed. And news flash: newspaper is a great choice for this!
#4 – Gopher It
Even if you’re planting in an urban neighborhood, there may be critters burrowing up from under ground. With a raised bed, you can lay down a layer of chicken wire to thwart them.
#5 – Raising the Bar
While we think all plantings are beautiful, there is something very thoughtful about raised beds. They are deliberate. Raised beds look neat and defined, like well-manicured centerpieces in your outdoor space.
We hope this post has given you reason to think about creating a raised bed. Now it’s your turn to let us know. How will you make your bed?
Here’s a perfect choice for helping your spring plants take root. Just arrange the flexible Apex soaker hose throughout your bed and let it flow. Your new plantings will receive the steady, controlled stream of water they need to establish themselves.
