Raised bed gardening is a great place to start developing your green thumb. Raised beds are great for beginners, since you get to pick the soil and you do not have to worry about amending the existing soil. Raised beds are easier to manage than traditional beds, with the ability to segregate plantings and even raise the beds high enough to have a seat. We recommend our topsoil blend, which is 50 percent compost and 50 percent topsoil. This will give you a great base to plant anything from vegetables, to shrubs, to flowers directly into the soil.
Get started
Choose a site that will get 8 hours of sunlight, particularly for flowers and vegetables.
Select the bed’s frame. Popular choices include a rot-proof wood like cedar, cinder blocks or our favorite: stone.
Make sure the bed is at least 6 inches deep, allowing you to access the whole planting surface without having to step on the soil and compact it.
Prepare the soil
Loosen the soil up to allow for root growth. If you find any grass or weeds, incorporate it back into the soil.
To help stifle weed growth, place a layer of newspaper over the soil and water it down. This will block the weeds from growing but decompose before long.
Fill in the bed with a compost blend, giving it the right soil structure and a slow release of nutrients to feed your plants throughout the growing season.
Finish the job
After planting the seeds according to the garden center’s instructions, finish by covering the soil with mulch to protect from over-drying and suppress weed growth.
Raised bed gardening is a great place to start developing your green thumb. Raised beds are great for beginners, since you get to pick the soil and you do not have to worry about amending the existing soil. Raised beds are easier to manage than traditional beds, with the ability to segregate plantings and even raise the beds high enough to have a seat. We recommend our topsoil blend, which is 50 percent compost and 50 percent topsoil. This will give you a great base to plant anything from vegetables, to shrubs, to flowers directly into the soil.
