| Lubbock Avalanche Journal
Spring is in full swing and with our longer days and warmer temperatures, thoughts are drawn to the garden. For gardeners looking for approaches a little different from ordinary plots, raised beds could be in their future.
Raised beds are a hot topic among gardeners. Lubbock AJ reader Rolla R. von Lubbock is one of them and requested a discussion about raised bed and soil gardening. So let’s look at some advantages and disadvantages of each scheme.
In the ground
• The floor is already in place. This may or may not be an advantage depending on the soil texture (percentage of sand, silt or clay).
• Minimal costs. Soil is already in place, but it can be costly to modify problem soils.
• Charts may already have been created.
Raised beds
• The soil texture can be checked with exact amounts of sand, silt or clay. Gather a floor to fill the bed, which will drain well, retain moisture, and provide ventilation. Clay soils (equal parts sand, silt and clay) are ideal. The soils can be adapted to the harvest. For example, carrots need deep, crumbly, loose soils for long straight roots.
• Depending on the volume needed to fill the bed, purchasing soil of the exact composition can be costly.
• The dimensions of the beds can be designed to improve the overall landscaping.
• Easily arranged into a desired design.
• Paths that form walkways between beds can be narrow or wide.
• The orientation can be adjusted.
• Raised beds require less bending to weed and care for plants.
Types of raised beds
• Wood. Wood is the most commonly used material. Build the sides with 2 inch cedar or redwood boards. Never use treated wood. The beds are usually rectangular, 8 feet long and no more than 4 feet wide. Boards are stacked to raise the bed to the desired height, usually no less than 15 inches and often 36 inches. Tomatoes, pumpkins, and corn are deeply rooted and require deeper soil. Onions, garlic, beets, herbs, radishes and lettuce have shallower roots and require less soil depth.
• metal. Metal makes a smart raised bed. Metal warms the soil early in the spring, but heat is transferred to the soil in the summer. Position to avoid the extreme summer temperatures. Various types of metal beds are commercially available. Gardener’s Supply Company (gardeners.com) has coated color-bonded steel beds in 38-inch diameter round beds at 15- and 29-inch heights, as well as modular panels that can be mixed and matched.
Galvanized irrigation gutters sold by Tractor Supply and Gebo’s are unmounted and durable. Sizes vary from 2 feet wide x 1 foot high x 4 feet long 40 gallon ovals; 2 feet x 2 feet x 4 feet with 100 gallons; and 8 feet x 2 feet x 8 feet with 700 gallons.
The Texas Tech University horticultural gardens and greenhouse north of the United Supermarkets Arena offer an excellent variety of different types of raised beds.
Gardeners cannot go wrong with any of these approaches. Dig in the dirt this spring!
Ellen Peffley taught college horticulture for 28 years, 25 of them at Texas Tech. During this time she developed two types of onions. She is now the sole owner of From the Garden, a nursery farmette. You can email her at Gardens@suddenlink.net
