Benefits of Raised Garden Beds
Raised garden beds are a great option for urban homesteaders who may not have a large property but want to grow their own produce. If your suburban or urban property is anything like mine, the ground soil was a clay mess full of debris deposited over the span of 100 years. Installing raised garden beds was the clear choice. It allowed us to create clearly defined growing areas without potentially spending years improving the existing soil enough to generate a healthy vegetable crop. After doing a fair amount of research, we created a clean slate in our front yard by removing the existing shrubs and plants primarily for curbside appeal. This process took a fair amount of work but was worth the effort. Once the raised garden beds were installed, we quickly saw many benefits and advantages of in-ground planting.
The first and most important is the substantially improved soil quality. Creating your own soil mix allows you to optimize soil conditions and drainage based on what you plan to grow in any raised garden bed. The soil can also stay soft and loamy, avoiding compaction issues that would otherwise occur from consistently being stepped on.
Raised beds are much better at ensuring proper drainage and preventing water logging that may otherwise occur when dealing with ground soil. This can be a major issue in the Pacific Northwest, where we experience consistent rainfall.
Being able to optimize the spacing within a raised bed gives you the benefit of maximizing your yields; this can be especially important when you live on a small property like we do and need to ensure you’re getting the most out of every available square foot.
The soil in the raised beds was able to warm much quicker in the spring, allowing us to plant our starters in the beds much earlier than we would have been able to if we had opted to plant in-ground. Extending your growing season in the early spring and into the late fall is a major benefit raised garden beds provide.
Another major benefit that doesn’t get enough attention is how much easier it is to manage weeds and pests. The clearly defined edges make it difficult for weeds to infiltrate your beds, and the same goes for pests. Weeds that do appear in your beds should be easy to manage and remove.
After a long day of gardening, you'll thank yourself for not having to crouch down or get on your hands and knees. Raised beds give you that ease of access you otherwise wouldn't get from planting in the ground. This can be a lifesaver for people like me who’ve spent too many years in the Army.
It goes without saying that having raised beds enhances the overall appearance of your garden. I can’t tell you how many compliments I get from people passing by on how great our garden looks. Combined with all these other benefits, I can’t recommend raised garden beds enough.