This document contains a series of links to webpages which give different and sometimes contradictory ideas about the virtues of raised beds for planting. Before you read those ideas, I would like to share some thoughts which might not be emphasized on any of these pages.

First: Raised beds drain "gravity water" down to the level of the base of the bed. "Gravity water" is the excessive water which can waterlog the soil, produce root rots and anerobic conditions bad for the rootzone life. A "plasma" or moisture film is left in the pore spaces, and by later capillary action (based on surface tension effect) moisture is drawn back upwards from the soil below to replenish soil moisture losses due to plant use and evaporation.

In order to retain the best condition of soil moisture the bed must be high enough to give to a plentiful supply of roots the drained soil, and the "tilth" or soil structure must be right for holding the moist plasma and drawing up capillary moisture. A surface mulch layer is needed to prevent excessive evaporation, or else some of the claims that raised beds lose water will come true.

Second: Raised beds give more surfaces (sides plus top) to exchange heat with the environment. This could mean the soil warms faster in the spring, allowing better germination of seeds and earlier growth. Insulated beds designed to be productive earlier and later, for longer growing seasons, will not be able to obtain heat through their sides, but they still have less contact with the surrounding earth which wisks away surface heat, so the beds will still have a slight advantage. Removable coverings (reemay, plastic sheets, plexiglas, or glass cold-frame covers) can extend the growing season better in raised beds than in surface-level beds, and the raised beds usually offer some supports to hold the coverings in place against strong winds.

Third: Probably the most unrecognized feature of raised beds is that they deter trodding on the growing soil. Over time a microscopic soil ecology develops which generates many benefits for the grower. The desired ecology is aerobic dominated (oxygen breathers) which requires oxygenated air to work its way down through the soil. If the pores are waterlogged, or compacted from being pressed down by walking or by the weight of machines, then anaerobic soil organisms begin to dominate, which is very detrimental for most cultivated plants.

Fourth: Since a "raised bed" is usually just a box without a bottom, it could become a container for composting and "vermicomposting" (vermicomposting is the practice of growing baitworms who convert organic wastes into a very high quality soil additive). By rotating around beds it is possible to always have a nearby empty bed (bin) being filled by weed-pullings and other organic material. To compost where one grows means less moving of materials, first out of the field to the compost pile, and later back into the field for soil dressing mulch.

I include links at the bottom of this page to a series of pages I maintain which explain in greater detail these four points. But look over these webpages from extension services and master gardeners to get a basic idea why some people think that raised beds are worth the trouble and expense of making them.

Some of these links also demonstrate commercial advertisements for kits and accessories. When an idea spawns an accessory industry it must be popular.

Each item below has an internet address (URL) to click, and an excerpt from the page giving a preview of the information at that link site.

ag.udel.edu/extension/information/hyg/hyg-36.html

Raised Beds for Intensive Gardening

A system of raised beds is one way to get maximum crop yields with efficient input. In raised-bed gardening vegetables are grown close together, planted in succession, and interplanted with other crops.

There are many advantages to raised beds. They provide better drainage and warm up faster in the spring than the traditional garden. The growing season can be started earlier, too. The garden is easier to weed, irrigate, mulch, and harvest. Only the garden area under production, not the paths, is watered, fertilized, and mulched, which saves both time and money. Since the beds are never walked on, the soil doesn't compact and better quality vegetables result. Space is saved, so more crops can be raised in a smaller area. And the garden is attractive and a joy to look at!

eesc.orst.edu/agcomwebfile/edmat/fs270.pdf

Raised Bed Gardening PDF

muextension.missouri.edu/xplorpdf/agguides/hort/G06985.pdf

Raised Bed Gardening PDF

ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1641.html

Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet Horticulture and Crop Science

Raised Bed Gardening
Gardening in raised beds, a common practice before colonial times, is enjoying a resurgence of popularity among home vegetable growers. In parts of the world with greater population densities or less tillable land, gardening in beds is still the norm.

What are "raised beds"?
The "raised" part means that the soil level in the bed is higher than the surrounding soil, and "bed" implies a size small enough to work without actually stepping onto the bed. A bed should be no wider than 4 feet, but length can be whatever suits the site or gardener's needs. Wider beds can be subdivided into sections accessible from planks or stepping stones. The bed does not have to be enclosed or framed, but if unframed, the use of power tillers is feasible. Framing offers several other opportunities, however; and a properly maintained bed will not need powercultivation.

Higher Yields
There are many reasons for the raised bed revival, but probably the most important is more production per square foot of garden.

Intensive Raised Beds PDF

www.adirondackdesign.com/raised beds.html

RAISED GARDEN BEDS

SIT DOWN RAISED BED GARDENING

Sit down gardening, now that's the ticket. Enjoy the pleasures of gardening without the sore back, chafed knees or constant battle with gophers and moles. It's possible!

Adirondack Design now offers attractive raised bed gardening with a moveable seat to match. True sit down gardening, with no stooping and everything within easy reach.

www.agweb.okstate.edu/pearl/hort/vegetables/f-6033.pdf

Raised Bed Gardening PDF

www.all-organic-food.com/micrfarm.html

MICROFARM

INTRODUCTION

The University of Missouri has created a website loaded with all kinds of useful information about agriculture. //muextension.missouri.edu This illustrated monograph is outstanding. It is transcribed here verbatim, but reformatted to meet our standards of visual communications. An amendment is provided by me that briefly describes Òintensive gardening/planting.Ó The author of this paper describes double-digging without in-depth explanation of its special value to intensive gardening.

Intensive gardening in double-dug raised bed format, can turn a backyard of a typical city home into a veritable cash cow. If no restrictions exist, planting your front yard as well, with a suitable fence around it to discourage unauthroized harvesting will be all the advertising you need. If you wisely elect to grow only organically, your crops will command top dollar. Plant an acre in this method, and you will surely have a family income sufficient to be your career.

Grow kcalorie crops for life support. ÒKcalorieÓ means nutrition energy heat value.

www.digmagazine.com/96/9-96/sylvia.cfm

Raised Bed Gardening
by Sylvia Ehrhardt
Gardening in raised beds instead of conventional rows is becoming more and more popular, and it is easy to see why - earlier crops in the spring and later crops in the fall, more produce in less space, less fertilizer needed, no costly machinery, better drainage, fewer weeds, elimination of soil problems, and better root crops. Gardeners who have tried raised beds discover that the soil is loose allowing air, moisture, warmth, nutriments and roots to penetrate more easily, and that this method of gardening helps correct the problems of poor, rocky or compacted soil and extends the shorter growing seasons.

www.fse.missouri.edu/agrability/GardenWeb/Raised.html

Gardening can be a great activity for individuals with disabilities, with some consideration to the special needs of the gardener. Raised beds provide an excellent option if the individual has the space and mobility to allow them to care for these beautiful garden plots. In planning a raised bed garden, the first step is to access the needs of the gardener. Each raised bed garden will be different depending upon the needs and desires of the individual gardener. As a general rule though, all raised bed gardens should be easily accessible, and fit aesthetically into the surroundings.

www.gardeners.com/gardening/content.html

Raised Bed Tunnel

The Raised Bed Tunnel is designed for a 3'x6' raised bed and provides ample headroom for tall plants. The All-Purpose Fabric transmits 80% of sunlight while protecting your plants from cold down to 28 degrees F.
The Raised Bed Tunnel can be used as a cold frame early and late in the season and can protect your plants from pests and other unwanted guests such as deer and rabbits. It can also be used as a method to encourage ladybugs and other beneficials you release into the garden to stay put.

www.gardenguides.com/TipsandTechniques/raisedb.html

Raised Beds

If your soil is heavy and packs down easily, try a raised bed. A raised bed is a mound of prepared soil 6 to 8 inches high. It can be made permanent by edging with wood, stones, logs or bricks. The soil in a raised bed is more porous because no one ever steps into the bed to pack it down. This allows good drainage so that air, water, and fertilizer will penetrate to the roots more easily.

You'll find that your raised bed is more attractive and easier to maintain than conventional row gardens. Cultivating is easy since you'll be able to reach into every corner of your bed and pull young weeds as they appear, and succession planting will eliminate bare spots. When deciding what to plant in your beds, consider companion planting. Companion vegetables and herbs will help control insects and improve the overall health of your garden.

www.geocities.com/frugalfolks/raised_beds.html

Raised Beds for Intensive Gardening
Intensive gardening is a way to get maximum crop yields with efficient input.
Vegetables are raised close together, in successive plantings and crops are interplanted.
The key is to use raised beds.
Raised beds provide better drainage, and they warm up faster in the spring so the growing season can be started earlier.
The raised-bed garden is easier to weed, irrigate, mulch, and harvest.
By using raised beds, only the area of the garden that is under production, and not the paths through it, are watered, fertilized and mulched.

This leads to savings in both time and money.
By never walking on the beds, the soil is not compacted and better-quality vegetables are grown.
Space is saved by raising more crops in a smaller area.
And the garden is attractive and a joy to look at!

www.noble.org/ag/Horticulture/raisdbed/index.html

Welcome to Permanent Raised Bed Gardening Online
--not organic--

www.okstate.edu/OSU_Ag/agedcm4h/pearl/hort/vegetble/f6033.html

Raised Bed Gardening
Sue Gray, Tulsa County Extension Horticulturist

Raised bed gardens have been in use for centuries. Permanent beds, raised a few inches above the soil level and arranged just wide enough to reach across by hand, are an ideal way to grow vegetables and small fruit. Several rows of vegetables can be grouped together in a bed with a permanent walkway on either side. Soil in which plants are grown is never walked on and thus free of compaction.

The idea of growing plants in single file, "row crops," started when the horse and plow needed space between rows to cultivate crops on a large scale. Later, row spacings were 24 to 36 inches apart to accommodate tractors and their implements. Out of habit, many home gardeners plan single row vegetable gardens; however, foot traffic on each side of a single row can severely compact soil by the end of a growing season.

Raised bed gardens can range from a simple rectangular plateau of soil to a more elaborate bed framed in wood or stone and mortar. Although more expensive and time consuming to build, permanent structures will keep soil in place during heavy rains and will stay neater looking in the landscape. However, for a large garden, several beds of mounded soil are very adequate to achieve desired results. Just make sure that plenty of mulch is used over soil to hold it in place during drenching rains.

www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/hort2/MF2134.pdf

Raised Bed Gardening PDF

Raised Bed Garden Systems
Maintenance-Free Plastic Raised Beds

We Do Custom Designs!
Our unique kits are maintenance-free, non-toxic, and look great! The tongue and groove boards are pre-cut and pre-notched for easy assembly. No tools or hardware required for standard sizes. Available in Weathered Wood, Arctic White, Hunter Green, and Cedar. Assembles in under 10 minutes!

www.theguarden.com/guarden/GFseries.html

Raised-Bed Frames
Quick Assembly
Durable components snap together easily with push-in fasteners.

Decorative yet Tough
Rounded corners topped with decorative caps form a strong, durable structure without compromising looks.

Heavy-Duty
Thicker than "2 by" lumber, the recycled content plastic frame has three insulating air cells at work within the frame to moderate the soil's heat.

www.utextension.utk.edu/spfiles/sp291n.pdf

Vegetables
Raised Bed Gardening PDF

www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/homegard/raisbeds.html

Gardening With Raised Beds

Richard S. Hartley
WVU Extension Service
Ritchie County Extension Agent
10/1998
This growing technique, centuries old, remains popular and useful to the home gardener to get maximum crop yields from input.

Any structure that contains a growing medium above the ground is often referred to as a raised bed. There are several good reasons for raised bed gardening.

A raised bed is ready to plant several weeks before a regular garden plot, especially during a cool, wet spring. The soil of a raised bed warms up faster. Also, excess soil moisture drains away from the bed. Overwatering is less of a problem. The growing medium may be improved or replaced easier. Soil compaction can be greatly reduced or eliminated. Watering and fertilization become more economical. Raised bed increases the effective use of your growing space.

The raised bed garden is both convenient and attractive. Raised beds seem to break tasks of gardening into smaller work units. As you bend or kneel, a raised bed is generally 10 inches closer to you. You feel that you are weeding an individual bed instead of the entire garden.

By designing and using the raised bed technique, you can use 60-80% of its area for growing plants. This almost doubles the space used for growing in a garden laid out in rows.