As city landscapes grow more dense, finding space for gardening can be a challenge. Enter the raised bed garden, a perfect solution for urban dwellers with green thumbs. Offering flexibility and control, these compact gardens suit city environments beautifully.
Learn how to create pet-friendly gardens and wildlife-friendly gardens (use fruit protection bags over netting). Also learn how to stop birds flying into windows.
The Raised Bed Book shows how to make an accessible raised bed with fertile soil, for any sized garden. Find clear diagrams, inspiring planting plans and photography, plus profiles of 8 designs from professional gardeners. Includes tips on choosing a site to designing and and plants to grow.
Raised Bed Gardening is for DIY enthusiasts, to show you not just how to plant, but how to build your own raised beds, using a few common tools. Plus find information on planting and spacing and how to harvest and store your produce.
One of the standout benefits of raised bed gardening is the improvement in soil quality. Unlike traditional garden plots, raised beds allow for better control over the soil composition, which can significantly impact plant health and yield. Use peat-free compost to protect endangered wildlife.
The height of raised beds can also deter certain pests. Many common garden pests, such as slugs and snails, prefer to crawl along the ground.
By raising your plants, you create a natural barrier that makes it harder for these pests to reach your plants. Furthermore, you can implement creative strategies like companion planting to repel unwanted insects while attracting beneficial ones.
Where to Buy Ready-Made Raised Beds
Marmax Products are suitable for gardens, schools and allotments, sold in self-assembly packs with instructions. Made from recycled plastic, these will not rot, corrode or splinter so outlast timber, and are also weatherproof.
Brown in colour, they include a 25-year construction guarantee and include galvanised screws (stainless steel screws available at extra cost).
We don’t recommend their recycled plastic birdhouse, it could overheat. Choose untreated wood instead, read our post on safe havens for garden birds.
Woodblocx offer raised beds that are high enough to be accessible for people in wheelchairs. The modular system is easy to use, and they are sold with a 15-year guarantee (made from treated pine). The wood is treated with water-based preservative and dowels are made from recycled plastic.
