When you are starting a garden, the first step is building a bed for the plants. There are two main ways that you can do this; you can build a raised bed that is an elevated box with soil inside with sufficient depth to support the plants inside or you can plant in the ground. There are also other options such as planting in pots, garden walls, vertical gardens etc. that you can consider depending on your requirements.
You can also find commercially available raised garden beds Australia such as wicking beds. These are very convenient. When you are creating a raised garden bed on your own, you can use wood or masonry to create the framework of the garden bed. You can decide the size of the bed. You will need to elevate the bed a minimum of 6 inches. The higher you have the bed, the easier it is to work with it as you will not have to bend. But you also need to consider the amount of soil that is required to fill the bed. If you want a more easily accessible raised bed you can use blocks on the ground to elevate the bed frame. It is a lot easier to manage raised garden beds and you will be able to create a garden in a small space quite efficiently. Most of the time, when plants are in the ground, there can be some damage to them due to foot traffic. This will also compact the soil. With a raised bed, you will be able to create a pathway for those working in the garden to use without having to disturb the beds.
Drainage is more effective when it comes to a raised garden bed and you will also be able to enjoy a longer growing season because these beds can warm up quicker than those in the ground. Because you are not tilling the soil after every season, the plants have better growing conditions and the roots can breathe better. You will also not need to weed very frequently and maintenance is quite low. Weeding can take up much of your time when you maintain a garden. With good care and maintenance, you will be able to eliminate weeds over time. Sometimes, the soil in your ground can be quite hard and not conducive to gardening. In this situation, you can use a raised bed that will allow you to plant without having to worry about nature of existing soil. You will be able to grow specific crops that need certain conditions with the use of raised beds. Because you are concentrating on a small area, you will be able to conserve materials as well.
In-ground gardens use the existing soil and most of the time, this will be just fine for gardening. But you will need to till it, water it and provide fertiliser and mulch. When it comes to community gardens, you can simply use tractors to prepare the soil which will reduce the initial cost of gardening. Because you are not bringing in new soil, you will be able to save some money as well. You can always test the quality of your soil to get a better idea of its composition. There is a lot of work you have to do initially when it comes to raised beds which is not something that you don’t need to do with in-ground gardens. And you will also be able to design irrigation systems easily. Raised beds have a tendency to dry out quicker than in-ground beds so here you will be able to conserve some water. But in the end, it depends on your specific requirements of whether a raised bed or in-ground bed is more feasible.
