Raised beds or not

[valedevento]

I am starting a new veggie garden on my new plot of land and was wondering whether to make raised beds or not. I know that there are several advantages with raised beds, like better weed control and it's better for your back and they look good too. Do you know any disadvantages? We have a moist, sandy soil and all the neighbours grow directly in the soil. We have hot, dry summers and usually mild winters.

Does anyone have experience with raised beds? Any advice will be appreciated.

 

[Chuck]

I am starting a new veggie garden on my new plot of land and was wondering whether to make raised beds or not. I know that there are several advantages with raised beds, like better weed control and it's better for your back and they look good too. Do you know any disadvantages? We have a moist, sandy soil and all the neighbours grow directly in the soil. We have hot, dry summers and usually mild winters.

Does anyone have experience with raised beds? Any advice will be appreciated.

The only cons that I have with raised beds is that you have to redo them from time to time and they also require a little bit more water. Other than that, raised beds are the way to go

 

[Corzhens]

That was our mistake - not making raised beds for our cassava crop. It's just a small garden for 12 cassava cuttings. We made 3 beds with 4 sticks (of cassava stem) placed on each bed. With the fertile soil and the regular irrigation, the cassava grew fast. But when the rains came, the place was inundated for days which led to the demise of some cassava plants. If only we had raised beds, the plants would have been preserved.

 

[Durgan]

From your description it appears you have adequate drainage, which is the driving reason for having raised beds. Sandy soil can dry out quickly and necessitate constant water when a dry spell appears.

I have raised beds for drainage reasons, also my underlying soil is heavy clay, which is heavily modified with compost to make it viable.Without my raised beds during periods of heavy rain, the soil would be wet for long periods, inhibiting growth.
http://www.durgan.org/URL/?NXIKF 2 June 2015 Garden
Pictures of garden 2 June 2015. Season has been cold so far, frost and rabbit damage has been encountered. But optimism prevails and a reasonable harvest is expected.

 

[Fernsdaddy]

The only cons that I have with raised beds is that you have to redo them from time to time and they also require a little bit more water. Other than that, raised beds are the way to go

I have 4 raised beds now, the first one is 13 years old and looks just as good as it did the day I put it in, I did spend a little more for the wood but red wood will last for a very long time, but your right if you pine or some other soft wood you will need to replace it every few years.

 

[majorcatfish]

have 11 beds and produce 11 months out of the year..
yes as others have said if you use pine you will need to rebuild them every 3-4 years.
yes you will need to water them more often, a deep watering is called for but on a good note you can produce more..

 

[marlingardener]

We have "sort of" raised beds. We dug a path around our gardens, then threw the soil on the garden resulting in a vegetable bed about 6" higher than the surrounding soil level. We have heavy soil, so drainage is helped, plus we don't have to rebuild retaining walls. If there is such a thing as an "inground raised bed" we have it.

 

[headfullofbees]

Heavy soil is great for brassicas, especially cauliflowers.

 

[valedevento]

Thanks for the advice everyone, we will start making our raised beds soon

 

[NicoleM]

I would definitely suggest raised beds for the better weed control alone. I made that mistake, I have 2 planter boxes that are not raised at all, and I am having a terrible time keeping up with the weeds that are popping up constantly due to the rains we've been having on and off

 

[Douglas Gossard]

I have 16 raised beds and am building more. I think its the only way to go., My native soil is almost pure sand so I build my soil, too. 1/3 sand, 1/3 sandy loam, 1/3 compost. I will use vermiculite also and resupply compost all the time. My soil is like plant crack.....lol I even started to plant flowers and I was blown away by the show last year. I usually only grew veggies. I use the square foot method.

 

[maxen57]

I've always wondered what difference would flat beds and raised beds make on plants. Then I suddenly remembered that it rains a lot during the monsoons here in our country. Where I'm from it doesn't flood so much because we are in a higher location.