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If you have heavy clay soil that just won’t grow anything, raised garden beds are the way to go.
Raised beds can go anywhere and be made from many material such as lumber, blocks, straw bales, water troughs, bricks, etc. If you have trouble bending down, raised beds allow you to garden at waist height, so no bending.
Soil
Raised beds let you create the ideal soil mix. They also lend themselves to lasagna gardening where you build the soil with layers of alternating green and brown material. If you build your beds now or before snowfall and fill them with soil mix, they will have all winter to compost and your spring garden will have marvelous soil. Just be sure to cover the soil with shredded leaves or other mulch to keep weed seeds from taking hold.
Drainage
Raised beds drain well. Because you never walk on your soil and compact it, the plants have this beautiful rich, loose soil to grow in. The soil also warms up quicker in spring allowing you to plant earlier and grow later. Because of the frame, you’re able to add covers that will allow growing plants that like the cold all winter.
No Tilling
Raised bed gardens don’t need to be tilled and weed populations decrease over time if you keep them weeded in the beginning. Using hay, straw, or shredded leaves to cover the soil when planting and during the winter will mean very little weeding. Tilling in ground gardens every year brings all the dormant weed seeds to the surface where they can grow prolifically.
