Raised Garden Bed – Review

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Review Raised Garden Beds

If you want a raised garden bed and you are a bit handy you can buy all the stuff and make it yourself or you can can buy a kit.  Timber is always a good choice, although you should be careful using treated timber,  you can make one out of breeze or besser blocks there are also a few around that are made out of colorbond metal like a water tank. It just needs to be strong enough to contain the soil, deep enough for the roots to grow and retain the moisture and open enough for excess water to drain away.

Be Careful What You Buy

There are heaps of raised gardens on the market that come in kit form that are marketed as being perfect for both first time vegetable grower and experienced gardeners. I thought it might be a good idea to have a look at some and see how they stack up. The questions that you need to answer are:

• Is it deep enough – I’ve looked at quite a few and the big problem I see with a lot of them is that they are too shallow.  The ones that sit on the ground are fine as you are really just containing the normal garden soil and so the plants and your garden bed can go down into the soil. The ones that are elevated, which are really just a big pot, need  to be at least a foot (30cm deep) so there is enough soil to deal with the depth of the vegetable roots and so it doesn’t dry out too quickly. It won’t be full right to the top either so a 9 inch one will end up being 7-8 inches almost useless in my opinion.
• Is it sturdy enough – it must be strong enough to hold the soil in if they aren’t strong enough they will bow out with the weight of the soil and fall apart. Look for one that has a brace to strengthen it if it’s made of timber.
• Is it durable – it needs to last a few years sitting out in the sun and rain and it will be constantly wet from the inside as well
• Does it fit in my space – check the measurements carefully.

These are my 3 best buys

4-in-1 Modular Raised Bed

Four ways to put it together makes it suitable for lots of situations

It’s made from colorbond steel so should be really durable and won’t need a brace. There is a two year manufacturer warranty.  You can set it up in 4 different ways. It is 15 inches deep so plenty of room for roots. It sits directly on the ground so drainage won’t be a problem. It has a plastic strip which goes around the top so the edges won’t be sharp. You just need a screwdriver to put it together. It’s reasonably priced at $199. It doesn’t have a bottom so it should be placed on a surface like grass, dirt or gravel rather than on a solid surface. In my opinion this is an excellent product. You can get the details here