Home Garden Companion

Ilona's Garden Journal

buy quality plants
  • Plant Library On The Journal
  • Garden chores
    • Do as I say
  • Ilona’s Garden Home
    • Old House Blog
    • Garden Librarian
  • Ilona’s Garden Flavor Shop
  • Privacy Policy

do as I say General gardening Vegetable garden

Raised Beds


After writing about Kitchen gardens, I put into action some temporary raised beds in my vegetable garden. I have had some permanent raised beds in my front garden since its inception. The driveway beds are also a type of permanent raised bed situation. I think there are pros and cons to the technique.

The pros, of course, are that you have more control over the tilth and quality of the soil. There is a barrier to encroaching lawn, good drainage, and it simplifies keeping the garden unified and paths tidy (as in the kitchen garden concept).

The cons may be more due to laziness than actual problems with the technique of raised beds, but I continually have to pull weeds from the two original permanent beds which leaves the soil needing to be constantly topped up. It is hard to keep it looking neat when situated within lawn ( as those two beds are) since the grass must be partially hand trimmed. the answer is to keep up with weeding the beds, but the better soil sometimes means that weeds like it too well… just as your chosen plants do.

The retaining materials need a bit of maintenance, but that is a minimal problem.

In the vegetable garden where the plants are all annuals I like to till. That is why those beds end up being temporary: simply hilled up earth for the season. I like the idea of raised beds in a Kitchen garden, but I often dedicate most of my maintenance time to the ornamental plantings… and that has meant the vegetable part of the garden gets out of hand late in the season. After seeing Carols pictures, though, I am really tempted to put the work into making an area that could qualify as a bona fide Kitchen garden. There is something so neat and pretty about those geometrically lined spaces of boxes and pathways.

What is your experience with this? Do you like raised bed gardening or find it more hassle than it is worth? Easier and better, or not?

Picture used with permission

Technorati Tags: ,


DISCLOSURE: I may be an affiliate for products that I recommend. If you purchase those items through my links I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. Thank you, in advance for your support! Privacy Policy
« Mr Brown Thumb is back! ..and other gardenblog highlights
Does It Ever Stop “Being Busy”? »

Oh, hi there!

I was a garden blog pioneer, and began writing on this blog in 2003. Before that I had begun a garden website that has been at its own domain since 2006, Ilona's Garden.

I still love writing, gardening, and art after all these years, although travel and grandchildren have become a big part of my life, now.

Standouts

Do You Grow Herbs? 10 Reasons To Love Them

There are so many ways to enjoy herb plants, that they are not for herb gardens only. Think about tucking them into the landscape, into containers or into your home. I do I enjoy thee? Oh, Herb, Let me count the ways! 10 Ways I Enjoy Herbs (and you can, too!) In companion plantings, herbs […]

10 Cool Season Annual Flowers To Plant

Shirley poppies and Bachelor Buttons Not every garden writer alerts you to the fact that annuals can have seasons that are shorter than other choices. For places like Ohio which have hot summers, there are common annuals that only do well when our weather is cooler, such as in early summer. Those flowers sort of […]

Newest Postings Here

  • HELLLOOOO, From The Other Side
  • February Gardening, Last of Winter in the Flower Garden
  • Compilation of Past Mini-Posts of 2003
  • Wayback in Ilona Garden Time
  • 3 Tips For Landscaping Successfully With Ornamental Trees

Finding your way home via the garden path


Read reviews from the GardenLibarian

Visit For A Spell

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • Wanelo

Portrait of a Gardener

gardener musings

Musings

What’s Wrong With Today’s Gardening?

Modern gardening

What Is Wrong?

Garden Journal

fine garden journal

Journal, Planner and Log Book

Shop Small Trees and More

People’s Choice

Wayback in Ilona Garden Time

posted in Uncategorized

1910 garden plan

3 Tips For Landscaping Successfully With Ornamental Trees

posted in Landscape Design Know-How, Landscape Trees

Garden update

Mid-Ohio Gardening Update

posted in 2018, How's the weather?

All Season Garden Color with Bold Foliage Effects, Masterful Contrasts

posted in Garden design ideas, Landscape Design Know-How


Bonsai Trees

Stay updated!

Get all the latest tasty goodness straight to your inbox!

Topics

Past Posts

Join Me

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Garden Enthusiasm

Garden Enthusiasm Delivered

* indicates required

View previous campaigns.

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2021 · Part of Ilona’s Garden by Ilona Erwin