Many MWG readers use raised beds in their vegetable gardens. I do too – raised beds have so many advantages for the home vegetable gardener that is is hard to imagine gardening any other way.
As good as raised beds are, however, they do have some disadvantages. I feel that the advantages of raised beds completely outweigh the disadvantages, but it is still a good idea to know the what the limitations are. I have outlined a few for thought and discussion below:
Drainage – Raised beds drain very well vs. conventional beds and that is actually one of the best reasons to convert to a raised bed system. During wet times and in the spring at planting time raised beds are the way to go! But during the heat of summer when water is less plentiful raised beds often dry out much quicker than a conventional bed would, leading to stress, increased disease susceptibility and reduced yields. If drying out is a problem for you then supplemental watering and mulching might be the best solutions.
Poor Air Circulation – Typically we grow things closer together in a raised bed system to maximize our planting space and yields. Normally this isn’t a problem, but if the plants are too close together the reduced air circulation can cause diseases because the plants remain moist longer. I had this exact problem in my lettuce patch this year – the plants were so close together the bottoms never dried out and they ended up rotting.
Cost – Raised beds aren’t necessarily cheap. Unless you have several cubic yards of soil sitting around you will have to purchase enough to fill in the beds. The beds will also need some sort of edge to help contain the soil, typically wood. I tried beds without any edging last year and the experience was so poor I spent about $100 on wood this year to get the beds framed in.
Inflexibility – Plan your garden well — once you have your beds set up you are pretty much stuck with them the way they are. Moving a raised bed can certainly be done, but it isn’t something to do on a whim. I’d guess moving a 4 x 8 foot bed would take well over an hour, more if you have things like fences or gravel paths to deal with.
Yellow Squash Overgrowing the Raised Bed
Some Plants Sprawl – Raised beds and plants that sprawl like pumpkins, gourds, winter squash and others don’t mix well unless you have come up with a solid support system beforehand. The vines tend to go wherever they want, and more often than not end up in the walkways. That might not sound like a big issue, but typically we try to minimize the walkway space in a raised bed garden to have more room for the beds themselves. This year I have a yellow squash plant (see photo at right) that has overgrown the bed into the walkway and basically has shut down that path to foot traffic (it is too big to move out of the path and if I cut it back the plant will die).
What other disadvantages have you encountered with your raised beds? How have you overcome them?
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Those are pretty much advantages in my book.
We get sooo much rain here, that I need the raised beds for proper drainage, or the roots rot. I use extra mulch after the dry season starts and that helps keep them from drying out.
Watch the spacing on the plants and they won’t be overcrowded. Try the big/medium/little interspersed method, and plant quick crops amongst longer growing crops, then harvest and the longer growing crops, as they mature, will have plenty of space.
I had a large pile of black soil left over from remodeling, plus all the free cow manure (this is moo-town usa) I could haul. The boards also were all free for the scavenging. Try the local dump, transfer station, recycling station, or garage sales and construction sites for their leftovers. No cost at all (except gas) for all my raised bed materials.
My raised beds are a part of my permanent landscaping – around patios and fence lines. They will be there forever is the plan, as most of them also contain permanent edible landscaping, with room for the annual veggies among them.
Plan ahead for the sprawling plants, and plant them on the southern sides of the beds, and only in the southernmost beds, as yes, they will sprawl. I have wooden crib sides going up on some sides for the squash to grow up. And the ones in the southern beds just spill over onto the lawn, not a walkway, and I just let the grass grow once the squash get too big. Not much grass grows as the squash overcrowd the grass, but it is a simple matter to mow the grass back after the squash die back. By working with the squash’s natural tendencies, and not against them, we come to a nice harmony
Squash, cukes, etc will ALL vine if they have something to go up. Just attach securely to the side of the raised bed, cross tie the trellis or crib sides, or wire mess, and the squash will be very happy. I had spaghetti squash, patty pans, and even butternut squash growing up the wooden crib slats
The main advantage to me is ease of working in the beds. Getting older, it’s nice to have the beds up higher than the ground I am kneeling on
Thank you for stopping by again and leaving your comment! I’m with you on the ease of working in the beds. I sit on an old metal milk crate and do most of my work. The biggest reason I like raised beds is that the soil doesn’t get compacted because you never step in the beds. Loose soil makes gardening SO much easier. Even the weeding is easy enough that I actually keep up with it — and I HATE weeding.
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