A planter bed does not have to raised, but some prefer to have raised beds to make it easier on their back. According to Miles Stair at endtimesreport after the initial building of the bed, the maintenance of the beds are a snap. You plant, water and watch your food grow.
How to Make a Planter Bed
Planter beds can be made of virtually anything. Some people use railroad ties, old tires, concrete blocks, or landscaping timbers. A planter bed can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. You simply lay out your construction materials to fit the size bed that you want.
My garden beds are fashioned from 8 ft. by 8 ft. railroad ties, and are laid out in squares butted against one another. In that way, I use fewer railroad ties, and I can walk on the ties to avoid walking on the soil in the beds. A person can lay out their beds in whatever design that pleases the eye.
What Type of Soil to Put into the Bed
A person can put topsoil or potting soil into their beds. Using a heavy clay soil makes working in compost more difficult. It is better to put in loose, loamy soil. Mixing in compost and manure will cut down on any needed fertilizing. A person can go completely organic by enriching the soil using only natural products such as compost instead of chemical fertilizers.
After putting in the soil, cover the bed in black plastic. Cut out a small hole for your plant. Then cover the beds with mulch that does not have dye in it, or hay can be used. The black plastic kills any weed seeds, but allows the plants to grow on through. This ensures that there is virtually no weeding required.
Get Out of the Row Mindset
You do not need to plants your seeds in rows in a planter bed. I have found that If you visualize your beds in 1 foot squares and plant your seeds in those squares you can grow two or three times the food in one bed. Almost all plants can be grown closer together due to the richness and looseness of the soil, and the fact that there are no weeds competing for the same nutrients. You can also interplant slow growing plants next to fast growing ones in the same bed.
Beginners Tips
- Tack up wire fencing, or chicken wire around three edges of some of your beds. Your beans, peas, squash and cucumbers can be trained to grow up the fence wire, saving space in the bed.
- Do not plant tomatoes too close together, because the plants will be almost double in size from row garden tomato plants. You will need something strong to stake up your huge tomatoes.
- When growing potatoes, leave that bed uneven, the potatoes grow better in hills.
Leslie Jaynes - I am a very busy mother of six wonderful children. I am a registered nurse in the Intensive Care Unit. My passions are my family, ...
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