In recent years, the interest in gardening has risen. And so are the innovative ways to garden, even for people with physical limitations. If you are suffering from back or knee injuries but still want to garden, an elevated raised bed garden just might be the blessing you were waiting for. The elevation of the raised garden bed can be adjusted to any height that is comfortable for you. It eliminates the kneeling and bending that is part of traditional gardening.
With the gardening season just around the corner, it’s a great time to check out the available options and select the things that will help you grow plants the smart way. An elevated garden bed will provide the biggest harvest in the smallest space and with the least physical exertion.
The elevated garden beds are attractive and ideal for use in any outdoor location. These gardening bedscan be purchased onlineor would be an easy DIY project for someone with basic carpentry skills.
What Is An Elevated Garden Bed?
An elevated garden bed is a deep, rectangle planter box with four legs. It is similar to a raised garden bed but high enough so that the gardener doesn’t have to bend or kneel. The elevated legs can be adjusted or built to the perfect height for the individual gardener. This is an ideal standing garden bedfor people with mobility issues who need to sit down while attending to the garden chores. These growing beds also eliminate the stress placed on the back since you won’t have to bend over to plant, prune, or harvest.
Elevated garden bed or standing herb garden planter provides a way to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers for for people with physical limitations:
– Seniors with back problems
– People with knee or back injuries
– People who are wheel-chair bound
– Pregnant women
– Patients recovering from surgeries
– Apartment residents with balcony
The elevated garden box (bed) is typically 2-3 feet wide and 18-inches deep. The length varies between different styles, and the height will vary, but it is usually around 3-feet tall. Wooden vegetable planter boxes made from Red cedar wood is a popular choice for making elevated garden beds since the cedar wood is rot-resistant and will last for years.
The building material, size, and shape of this type of garden planter are only limited to your imagination if you build it yourself. Regardless of what the elevated garden box is made from or its size, the idea is to build the planter up to a comfortable working height for the gardener.
Highly Recommended Elevated Planter Boxes:
These are some of the elevated, waist-high planter boxes that makes stand up gardening easier:
Best Choice Products 48x24x30in Raised Garden Bed
Yaheetech Raised Garden Bed 48x24x30in Elevated Wooden Planter Box with Legs
FOYUEE Raised Planter Box with Legs Outdoor Elevated Garden Bed with Wheels
Cedar Raised Garden Planter Box Kit Outdoor Elevated Bed
Raised Garden Bed, Elevated Plant Box with storage
Advantages Of An Elevated Raised Bed Garden
An elevated garden bed will provide you with the best of both worlds when it comes to growing plants. These elevated garden beds will produce the same healthy, productive plants as a regular raised garden bed, but in a small space and with less back-breaking work.
– An elevated raised bed garden can fit into small spaces and can be configured to fit into whatever area you have. Ideal for use for gardeners that live in an apartment, condo, or townhouse. Even people who live in a single-family home with a large yard can also benefit from using these types of garden beds. Place the elevated garden beds on a deck, patio, or near the home so you can watch as your plants grow and food or flowers develop. Harvest time is more accessible too since the plants will be almost at your fingertips.
– An elevated garden bed will be weed-free. Since the growing medium used in this type of garden bed is free of weed seeds and the growing bed is above soil level, weed seeds are not in the soil. They can’t germinate and compete with garden plants for nutrients and moisture.
– You won’t have to install an irrigation system to keep plants hydrated— no worries about water-logged soil or soil draining too quickly. The selected growing medium will be contained within the bed and be balanced so it won’t become overly wet or dry.
– The soil in an elevated bed will warm up quicker in the spring, so you will be able to start planting the garden earlier. Earlier planting means an earlier harvest. After the long winter, all gardeners are anxious to get outside and get something started in the garden.
– The soil will not become compacted because there is no foot traffic in the garden bed. The soil remains loose for easy turning, planting, water penetration, and air circulation.
– The raised beds are easy to cover during the winter months to prevent heavy snowfall from compacting the soil. Also, in case of an early or late frost, it’s easy to place a protective covering over vulnerable plants in the garden, so the frost will not kill.
– PVC pipe and plastic sheeting can be utilized to create a mini hoop house over an elevated garden bed to extend the growing season. A mini hoop house can enable you to grow food plants all-year-around if you live in a climate with mild winter weather.
– Elevated garden beds are available in a wide range of materials. You are sure to find a size, style, color, and material that will be the perfect complement to the exterior design of your home. Cedar wood is the traditional material often used to construct outdoor gardening items, but metal is increasing in popularity. Powder-coated steel is a light-weight building material that is durable, affordable. It will stand up to the elements as well as cedar wood. Heavy gauge plastic is also another building material that is durable and long-lasting.
Look for building materials that are rot-resistant, rust-resistant, sturdy, and long-lasting. When buying ready-made elevated garden beds (or when building them yourself), make sure the legs are strong enough to support the weight of moist soil. Also, don’t forget to consider the weight of the mature plants loaded with fruits.
Issues with Elevated Garden Beds:
It may not come with drainage holes.
If the access water does not drain away from the planting soil, the plant roots will rot and drown the plants. When you buy raised garden beds online, make sure it has drainage holes at the bottom of the planter to let the water drain away. If you are building an elevated bed by yourself, don’t forget to drill ¼” holes every 9” to 12” interval in each direction.
It may require lining the bottom.
It is essential to line the bottom of the planting area of an elevated garden bed to prevent the soil from running away through the drainage hole. A liner also separates the growing medium (soil) from coming in direct contact with the planter. This will help prevent harmful contents of the planter material from leaching into the soil, as well as rotting the wood bed.
Popular choices for lining an elevated garden bed are:
o Landscaping fabric (Recommended)
o Newspaper
o Cardboard
The below options should not be used for lining the bottom of the elevated planter as they prevent the water drainage or may leach harmful chemicals to the soil:
o Plastic sheets
o Vinyl sheets
o Rocks and pebbles
Water drains the nutrients away.
Like other containers, elevated raised garden beds face the same issue of essential nutrients running out of the soil with each watering. To prevent the dirt from becoming less fertile over time, add high quality granular vegetable fertilizer at a regular interval during the growing season. [Hint: For best result, follow this vegetable fertilizer guide.] Make sure to revitalize the soil with fresh compost, earth worm castings and rock dust at the beginning of each planting season.
Hard to move after filled.
It is painful to move the elevated garden bed after it is filled with soil and plants unless you opted for elevated raised garden bed on wheels. Make sure to carefully consider all aspects of the planter’s placement before filling the planter with dirt.
Challenging to grow tall and vining plants.
Plants like corn and sunflowers will need 6-8 feet of overhead space to grow. If you are growing indeterminate tomatoes and cucumbers, they will need to be supported with stakes or a trellis. They will need 4-6 feet of overhead clearance.
If you plan to grow tall-growing plants or plants that need to be supported, keep that in mind when selecting the elevated garden bed location.
Even if the overhead space is not a problem, harvesting and tending the tall vegetables can be problematic if you have physical limitations or mobility concerns.
If you can live with or mitigate the above challenges of the elevated garden beds, here is what you need to know about setting up and filling your elevated garden box.
Where To Set Up An Elevated Garden Bed
It’s a good idea to place the garden in a visible location from a kitchen window, backdoor, or outdoor space, which is used frequently. If the garden is in your line of sight and viewed often, it will be better care of and be more productive due to the increased maintenance.
Before filling up the planter with soil, check your local HOA guidelines for any placement restrictions.
Locate the elevated planter box where you get the maximum amount of sun per day. For growing most of the vegetables and annual flowers, at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight is ideal.
If possible, find a place where the planter is protected from strong wind. This will prevent the soil from blowing away in the wind and keep the planter from drying out too fast.
Having a water outlet nearby the elevated planter will reduce the stress of carrying a watering can back and forth. This is especially important during the hot months of summer when you may have to water twice a day!
How To Fill An Elevated Garden Bed
Before filling with the selected growing medium, make sure the elevated garden bed has plenty of drainage holes in the bottom. One every foot or so is sufficient. Place a coffee filter over each hole or a sheet of newspaper in the bottom of the planter to prevent the soil from leaching out with each watering.
Fertile soil produces healthy plants. The best soil mix for the elevated raised planter box is ½ of Peat moss+ ¼ of coarse vermiculite + ¼ of compost. At the beginning of each season, add ¼ cup of all-purpose fertilizer per square foot of the soil. This growing medium will support vegetable plants, herbs, fruiting plants, and flowers.
Tips For Planting In The Elevated Garden Bed
Make sure the elevated raised garden bed is deep enough for the plants you want to grow. 18 inch deep raised garden bed can support the root system of any vegetable, herb, or flower plants. It is also enough for growing root vegetables. Although you can plant anything you want in this type of planter box, here are some tips to maximize the harvest and get the best out of your elevated planter box
– Elevated Raised garden beds allow you to grow more food in a smaller space by following the Square foot gardening method. Plants can be planted closer together than traditional layouts. The fertility and improved structure of the growing medium in the planters can support more plant life and food or flower production. These types of gardens are typically better cared for because it’s easier to tend to the plants, which will make them more productive.
– Always group plants with the same soil, water, and sun need in the same elevated raised bed planter.
– Vegetables and flowers can be grown together and will provide mutual benefits to each other. Marigolds are a natural pest repellent and are easy to grow. Nasturtiums are edible, increase the nitrogen in the soil, and cascade over the edge of the elevated raised garden bed, thus taking up very little space and adding a lot of floral colors.
– Add a few flowers for fragrance and to attract pollinators, like lavender and bee balm. It will create a well-rounded, productive garden in an elevated box.
– Each spring, prepare the elevated planters by amending the soil to keep it fresh, healthy and productive.
FAQs about Elevated Raised Garden Beds:
How do you line the inside and bottom of the elevated raised garden bed?
Choose a high-quality landscaping fabric from a trusted source. Measure the length, width and depth of the growing area of your elevated raised garden bed. Cut the pieces of landscaping fabric according to the size. Using a landscaping stapler, attach the landscaping fabric to the sides of the bed.
How to keep the soil fertile throughout the season?
Since regular watering can drain the nutrients away from the soil, the soil can lose fertility over a few months. For the best result of your gardening efforts, it is essential to supply critical nutrients (N-P-K) in the form of fertilizers. At the beginning of each gardening season, add new compost, earthworm casting, and all-purpose fertilizer to the soil. Continue fertilizer application according to the vegetable fertilizer schedule during a growing season. Granular and slow-release fertilizers are better than liquid fertilizers for plants growing in an elevated planter box.
Do I need to change the soil of the elevated garden bed each year?
No, you don’t need to change the soil every year. However, it would be beneficial to refresh the soil with new compost at the beginning of each season. Turning the soil can also help revive old soil.
Do you need to empty the soil from the elevated raised bed during the winter?
No, it is not needed to empty the soil from your elevated garden bed. Just cover a plastic sheet over the bed. Weigh it down with a few bricks, so the plastic doesn’t fly away in high winds. Keep the plastic on until you are ready to plant in the spring. Alternatively, you can grow a cover crop during winter if you want.
If you find this information helpful, don’t keep it to yourself! Share the link to this article on yourFacebook pageor gardening group. Your fellow gardeners will thank you for it!
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