Raised Gardening Bed.

Different Types of Raised Gardening Beds

For those who are interested in raised gardening bed, there are a few different types of raised beds to consider before building a garden this way. There are temporary raised gardening beds and permanent raised beds. Which one to use depends on a variety of circumstances.

Temporary Raised Gardening Bed

Temporary raised beds are among the easiest raised bed gardens to create. Because no structure is built to contain the soil. These beds are built using extra soil and compost to raise them, and they work best for back yard vegetable gardeners. These raised beds are simple, but they are known to flatten quickly because there is no structure in place to keep the soil raised. Temporary beds may have to be raised several times each season.

Permanent Raised Beds

Permanent raised beds are more expensive to build because a material is used to build retaining walls to hold the soil in place. These are more commonly seen because they can be used for several seasons. The boxes can be constructed out of a variety of materials including:

• Wood: You can use nearly any kind of wood you want, whatever matches your garden, including railroad ties or landscape timbers.
•  Stones: You can use nearly any kind of stone you want, but larger stones work better than smaller ones.
• Brick: Brick is also a good material to build your raised garden box.
•  Concrete: If you are going to use the box for many, many years, then concrete is an effective way to build the box.
• Plastic: Several different types of plastics, vinyl, and rubbers work well to build the boxes.

Choosing Which One to Use

If you are trying to decide between a temporary and permanent raised bed garden structure, consider the following:

Will you use the raised bed for more than one year? If you are just getting into the idea of raised bed gardening, it may be a good idea to use a temporary one to determine whether or not it is for you. If you go and spend a lot of money to build permanent raised boxes and decide to abandon the hobby, it will become a waste. If you are just learning about gardening, stick to a temporary setting for a year or two until you learn more and can make a decision on your own.

Do you have funds to construct one or more permanent boxes to raise the garden bed? If you want to use the raised bed approach but don’t have the  money or materials to construct a permanent box, then you may wan to stick to using a temporary raised bed until you have the means to build the boxes. If you know what you’re doing and know you will use the boxes year after year, then building a permanent structure will do you well, because you will be able to use it over and over, making the investment worth it. If you decide to go with a temporary bed, you should realize that even though they are cheaper to build, they will require more work, to keep the bed from flattening.