There are some great raised vegetable beds available from your local garden centres and online but before you rush out and spend a small fortune on them, have a think about how else you can build your raised bed vegetable garden.

All you need to do to create a raised bed vegetable garden is raise the level of some of your garden.  The raised area then becomes your planting area. All you need to do is raise the level by between six and twelve inches and you can do this with a variety of materials such as brick, wood, corrugated iron, paving slabs put on edge…..the list is endless.

So, if you have decided to create a raised bed, have a good look around to see what you can do it with before you rush off and spend your hard earned money.  If there is nothing available check out the cost of buying wood and building them yourself before you spend a small fortune.  This is really basic woodwork.  The corners are simply made up of wooden stakes with two planks nailed or screwed to them.  Woodwork does not get any easier than this, especially if you get the local timber yard to cut all the wood to size for you.

Think about the size.  None of you beds should be wider than four feet.  That way you can easily reach the centre from either side.  Don’t make them too long as you need to be able to walk around them easily.  Ten feet is a good maximum length; just put a path in every ten feet if you are building a long raised bed.  The four feet width is fast becoming the industry standard so if you do keep to this width you will be able to get all sorts of useful accessories like custom built poly tunnels that will fit your raised beds.

The thinking behind a raised bed garden is quite simple.  In a traditional garden you dig the garden over every year, plant your rows of vegetables and then spend the year walking around on your vegetable garden carefully avoiding anything that is growing.  In the process you compact the soil between the rows which means that come the Autumn you have to dig the garden over again to loosen everything up and get some air back into the garden.

Raised beds split your garden into clearly defined planting areas and the paths in between.  Because all of the planting area is easily accessible from a path you are no longer walking on the planted garden which means that the soil never gets compacted.  Garden worms will aerate the soil and keep it nice and loose for you doing away with the need to dig the garden over once a year.  (Benefit number one).  The worms will also “dig in” any compost that you put on the surface and help to feed the roots of the plants you sow.

You also have clearly defined paths which means that the actual planting area can be planted more densely than a traditional garden.  A raised bed vegetable garden can actually improve the yield of the garden.  (benefit number two)

So, easy access, bigger crops, no more digging and if you plan it right and think a bit, you can do it all on the cheap as well.  Should have done this years ago.