Raised beds are a gardening favorite for many reasons. They have long been a favorite of apartment dwellers since beds can be constructed in any shape to take advantage of small or odd spaces and are easily disassembled for moving.
Raised garden beds also allow those who can no longer kneel to the ground or stand again from a kneeling position to continue gardening. They can even be constructed for wheelchair accessibility. Constructed so the gardener can reach across the bed, they are usually less than 4 feet across when accessible from all sides and less than 30 inches when accessible from one side only.
On e major advantage of raised bed gardening is ease of soil control. The raised gardener is not limited to their areas native soil. Since different vegetables thrive in different soil conditions, purchasing premixed soil can be a cost effective way to assure the perfect soil balance for each type of plant.
Soil depth can be as shallow as 6 inches for herbs and many other plants so a few bags of potting soil goes a long way in raised bed gardening. Making a separate bed for vegetables like carrots that need a depth of 10 inches to 12 inches saves on soil cost when using premixed, purchased soil.
The perfectly balanced, premixed soil can even be bagged and taken with the apartment dweller when moving. The raised beds, made of rot resistant lumber, snap together plastic fencing, cement blocks, or bricks can be constructed in decorative shapes and, like the soil can be moved when the garden moves.
Proper drainage is easy to achieve with raised bed gardens and watering could not be simpler. A soaker hose, a hose with many small holes for water to drip through or hand watering are ideal for raised bed gardening.
Weeding, tending to the plants and harvesting natures bounty all become a joy when the garden is an easily accessible height. And, a mini-greenhouse or bird resistant cover is easy to add.
This is my favorite of all the vegetable design ideas I have used due to its simplicity, attractiveness, and all around access.