Gardening Vivian | 12 Apr 2010 06:15 am
Get Rid of Your Gardening Aches and Pains With Raised Beds!
Are age related problems stopping you from enjoying your gardening? The sore back from too much bending, sore knees from too much kneeling or just the long recovery from aches and pains after a stint in the garden. I know these problems first hand, as a baby boomer I had to find a solution and I did! Bring your garden to you by making use of raised beds!
Whether you’re in the age group that needs to start thinking about adapting your methods or you’re wheelchair bound, all you need is to build some raised beds about 3 feet wide by about 2 feet high and any length that will fit in your garden. Simply built with a timber frame, they get rid of the need to kneel and severely reduce the amount of bending, so saving your back.
What other benefits do you get from this form of gardening? Let’s see… there’s the removal of soil problems, greatly improved pest and weed control, the above mentioned ease of access and the increase in your crop harvest.
Any plants that love well-drained soil can benefit from being grown in raised beds. You don’t have to raise just vegetables. You can also easily grow herbs, fruits, and flowers in raised beds and make your job easier.
Because you’ll be planting your seeds or seedlings much closer together, you reduce the amount of water required. The combination of planting closer and less water will give you the extra benefit of far less weeds to worry about, because you’re not providing them with ideal growing conditions…. space and light.
Raised beds can be used to extend the growing season, making it easier to start seeds outdoors earlier, and grow later in the season. This is a great way to get even more produce out of the area in a season.
You’ll be able to use rich, well composted soil in your raised beds, so any type of soil problems you’ve had in your garden become a thing of the past. This way of gardening allows you to overcome any shortcomings you have in your soil.
Another great benefit of raised bed gardening is the fact that the gardener doesn’t walk on the soil in which the plants are growing. This helps prevent the soil from being packed down, so the roots can grow through the soil more readily.
A lot of pests and diseases will become a thing of the past because of your ability to select good quality soil for your garden beds. Another advantage that will lead to an increase in your harvest and superior quality of your crops.
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