If you have poor soil, or a short growing season, a raised bed garden may be a way for you to get growing quickly. To learn what's involved in constructing a raised bed, read on! The tips contained in this guide will help you learn how to plant a raised bed garden.

• A raised bed garden is a garden that is constructed several inches above the natural terrain. It is usually constructed within a frame that is filled with topsoil. Not everyone uses traditional building materials to construct a raised bed garden. Some people make the local news by using unique found items to build with and get praise for recycling.

Remember that in that case you need to be very careful you know exactly what the materials are made of and whether they are safe for edible produce. For example chemicals from discarded railway ties could leach into the vegetables you are growing and potentially make them unsafe to eat.

For further reading check out resources below, Related Mahalo Pages at right, and some of these pages How to Fertilize a Garden, How to Pick Fresh Produce, How To Make Fried Eggplant, How to Make Mashed Potatoes Videos, How to Microwave a Potato. and How to Prune a Tree to start.

(Creative Commons photo by Paul Sayer)

• Raised bed gardeners can help in cases where the soil is poor, the gardening season is short, or the gardener has a tough time finding a location that gets good sun.

1. Ideal garden soil should be rich with organic material, dark, and loose. If you live in an area with very rocky terrain, or soil thats heavy with clay, it might take substantial work to get the soil ready to plant. In these cases, it may be simpler to place a raised bed on top of the existing soil.
2. Raised beds heat up more quickly that traditional gardens, allowing you to plant vegetables a bit earlier. This can expand your growing choices in areas of the country where spring arrives a little later.
3. You have a greater choice in where to plant with a raised bed, allowing you to position your garden in the area of your yard that gets the most sun.
4. Raised beds are less likely to be invaded by some weeds that spread underground, and you don't need to worry about hitting tree roots when tilling the soil.

• Flower beds can be 8-12 inches deep;vegetable beds should be 12-18 inches deep. The edging of the bed holds the soil in place, and can be constructed of landscape timbers, metal strips, bricks and mortar, or stone.

1. Design the bed so that it drains well

2. Consider the landscape surroundings. Beds should be shaped and constructed of materials that blend in with your yard.

3. Keep the size of the bed in proportion to the area around it for best visual appeal.

4. You can get started in raised bed gardening with a crested bed, where you mound the soil without using an edging.

5. Lay out the garden with a garden hose or string, to see how it will look.

6. Make sure to remove existing vegetation before placing the bed.

1. Install a weed barrier between the edging and the soil.

2. Then you are ready to add soil. For vegetables, you'll want to use a mixture of one third top soil, one third peat moss, and one third perlite.

3. Grade the soil so that it slopes slightly away from the center to the edge of the bed.

1. If you're planting a perennial garden, or including shrubs, consider the size the plants will be at maturity.
2. When mixing perennials and annuals, locate perennials at the rear of the bed where they will be less likely to be disturbed when you remove and replace the annuals each year.
3. After you've finished planting, add a three to four inch layer of mulch to preserve moisture and control weeds.

• Introduction
• Step 1: Why Plant a Raised Bed Garden?
• Step 2: Design the Raised Bed
• Step 3: Fill the Raised Bed
• Step 4: Plant a Raised Bed Garden