We don't have raised garden beds in our yard, and as a result, our dog digs our garden up. Vegetable garden, flower garden, she is no discriminator of garden beds. Now that garden planting time has arrived, I'm plotting a yard of raised garden beds to thwart her canine garden digging habits. Using the garden to train my dog isn't my only motivation for building some raised garden beds, though.
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I'm hoping the raised garden beds will not only do the trick of teaching the dog which part of the garden is not open to muddy remodeling but also help me save on mulch and compost in my garden. Prepping my garden beds for planting is not nearly as rewarding as planting each vegetable in neat garden rows, so saving time on that piece is convenient, too. Not that prepping raised garden beds doesn't require planning ahead, of course, I'll need to build the raised beds, for starters. But once they're in place in the garden, I should be able to use the raised garden beds for several years.
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Not only that, but the raised garden beds also provide a weed and grass barrier. I don't have curbing around my garden, so the lawn tends to grow into the garden beds and compete with my vegetable seeds. And of course weeding a garden is a constant battle, so if building some raised cedar beds now will save me pulling weeds in the hot August sun, I'm willing to build!
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Right now I have plenty of space for a garden, but raised garden beds are a great way to take advantage of any garden space. Raised beds can be built over existing soil, but they don't have to be. If your only garden option is a patio or concrete area, you can build raised garden beds over them and have a vegetable garden in the middle of the city. Having a raised bed is also a good way to mark garden beds for planting - it's easy, for example, to remember from one year to the next which vegetable grew well in which garden area. Raised garden beds can also prevent your vegetable garden from becoming a mass of unidentifiable vines. A vegetable like zucchini that's prone to taking over garden space is easily contained by the wall of a raised garden bed.
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Perhaps it's wishful thinking, but I'm imagining a summer full of easy (well, relatively easy) gardening once those raised garden beds are in place, and a glorious weed-free vegetable harvest. Not to mention a break from refilling holes of all sizes and re-planting the tomato garden after the dog has pulled them out. I'm banking on the raised garden beds being a digging deterrent - if not, I will have to build a dog run, too, which is again extra effort. Still, it seems a few building projects early this spring will save me gardening woes over a long period of time.
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Right now I have plenty of space for a garden, but raised garden beds are a great way to take advantage of any garden space. Raised beds can be built over existing.... Learn more at Raised Garden Beds and cedar
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