Raised beds promise a boost for gardeners

By its nature, spring arrives with a cacophony of singing birds and a burst of lush, green leaves. The season doesn’t really know the meaning of the word moderation, and why should it? To the anxious gardener, spring may be a season of bursting out across the yard, raking here, pushing the wheelbarrow there. It’s hard to moderate spring cleanup efforts, and sometimes only a sore back and aching legs convinces us we should slow down.

Raised beds are often cited as one way of making the tasks associated with gardening more body-friendly or ergonomic. Even a slight elevation of the soil can make a dramatic impact on the ease with which garden crops are tended and harvested.

In fact, the practice of gardening from raised beds is ancient. Medieval gardeners produced flowers, fruits and vegetables from slightly elevated beds. The soil in raised beds warms earlier in spring; the elevation of the beds makes harvesting easier; the definition of the bed edges makes maintenance simpler.

Beds can be constructed to custom specifications. Six-inch-high raised beds might be just perfect for children to kneel beside with their plastic gardening tools. A 30-inch-high raised bed might be more comfortable and convenient for those gardening from a wheelchair.

Raised beds can be customized with crops in mind, too. A 12-inch-high bed might be best suited for growing the long taproots of carrots. A relatively low, 4-inch-high bed is suitable for growing greens.

Constructing raised beds can be quite simple. They do not necessarily need to be edged with any construction materials, but using wood, stone or brick around the edges of a raised bed is an effective way of keeping the soil within its desired shape. Raised beds are often made from readily available, easy-to-handle materials such as boards, plywood, woven twigs or cedar slabs.

A rot-resistant material should be selected. If intended for growing food crops, the use of treated lumber should be avoided.

Raised beds can be constructed in an array of shapes. Curves can be added through bending and shaping 1/4-inch plywood.

Perhaps the most simple and economical raised beds are made with 2-by 8-inch boards. Lumber made from cedar, hemlock or locust are fine selections. Spruce and pine work well, too. Simply form a box using the boards, nailed together at the corners with 3-inch nails. To anchor the box to the ground, use 18- to 20-inch-long stakes that have been formed using 2-by-2-inch lumber. (Cut a 2-by-4 in half lengthwise if you don’t have appropriate staking material.) Cutting the stakes to a point on one end will improve the ease with which they are driven into the ground.

Set your raised bed “box” into place on the desired site and drive a stake into the ground directly inside each of the four corners of the box, where the 2-by-8-inch boards meet. Anchor the box to the stakes using more nails.

Fill the raised bed with a mixture of one-third loam, one-third compost or composted manure and one-third peat. Start early greens in your newly constructed bed.

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, RR1, Box 2120, Montville 04941, or e-mail them to dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.