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| Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/Doug Dealey |
| The neat appearance of a raised bed garden complements the diverse, heavy-bearing plants it contains. Such gardens have many convenient paths, making their plants easy to access and maintain. |
Building planter boxes may seem like extra effort when your soil is right at hand, but a quick glance at the picture will reveal the special appeal that raised vegetable gardens hold, both functionally and aesthetically.
In Europe, such gardens were first developed in countries where cultivation space was at a premium. French, Spanish, Belgian and Italian gardeners, among others, soon found that planting in raised beds reduced the amount of labor required to sustain their gardens and increased the yield from their plots.
Similar approaches to gardening were also practiced in Asia, where Chinese and Japanese gardeners used intensive methods to produce bountiful harvests despite the limits of space and soil. (Their familiar rice paddies are really submerged intensive plots.)
Raised bed cultivation eventually spread throughout the world, and today, this gardening technique is positively regarded for its neat and orderly appearance, as well as for the outstanding results it provides.
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| Photo Credit: ©2002 Dolezal Publishing/Robert Dolezal |
| These strawberries are planted in French intensive mounded rows of rich compost, then mulched with black plastic. (The plastic warms their soil, helps conserve moisture and acts as a barrier to prevent rot.) |
In addition to adding visual interest to the landscape, a raised bed garden allows you to overcome the challenges posed by rocky, clay-filled or boggy soil by replacing it with healthy, nutrient-rich soil, poured directly into the planting bed. And because these beds are aboveground, the soil level is also raised for gardeners, limiting the need for bending and stooping during care and harvesting.
Planting in raised beds dramatically increases the yield of the garden, too, because soil conditions within them can be made ideal for rearing plants. In addition, the beds tend to warm up earlier in the spring, extending the growing season.
If you normally grow vegetables in containers, you may wish to try “microgardening,” or French intensive gardening this season. This more concentrated gardening technique calls for sowing individual plants in raised areas as small as 1 square foot. (You can also use this approach to try your hand at growing exotic vegetables or special varietals.) Growing vegetables in raised planting beds isn’t for everyone – but it is a great way to garden. Not only do these beds make maintaining plants and harvesting produce easier on the back, they bring a unique look to the landscape. The question is, are you ready to rise to the challenge?
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