A raised bed is the most efficient use of space to create a good vegetable garden. The bed is fed with home made compost every year keeping the soil fertile and not requiring extra nutrients. Compost bins and raised beds work well together.
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- A new raised bed
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- Setting the first level
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- Testing the height
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- Setting the overall level
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- Treating the wood
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- Bottom up construction
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- Fastening boards
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- Ready for back filling
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- Packing the trench
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- Back filling the raised bed
The key point in constructing a raised bed is to ensure the overall bed is level. This is for aesthetic reasons and practical reasons, ensuring the bed looks level with surrounding structures and ground levels, and ensuring even drainage across the bed. With a feed of compost and a crop of beans and other nitrogen fixers this year, the bed should restore its own organic soil structure over the next year.