When beginning the planning process, take a look around your lawn and decide how much of it you’re willing to dedicate to your vegetable garden venture. Transforming an area of your lawn into a garden space isn’t difficult, but it does require thought and planning. After constructing your raised beds, you could be committed to your configuration for six months or more.
You’ll need to find a good spot for your raised vegetable garden beds. Consider if you’d like for them to be close to your house, perhaps right off the patio, for ease of care and harvesting. Or perhaps you have a good flat spot in the farther reaches of your yard that would be a perfect place for installing your new raised beds.
When choosing the placement of your raised vegetable garden beds, consider how many sunny hours each spot will receive. A lot of veggies require full sun (at least six hours per day), but if you’re wanting to prolong the growing time of some cool weather vegetables, like broccoli or lettuce, you may want to place a bed in a shadier spot to prevent early bolting.
While in the planning phase, think seriously about how many different types of plants you want and can reasonably care for.
Are you a hobby gardener who wants to try out some new fun varieties, or are you looking forward to freezing and canning an abundance of produce?
What you plan to do with your harvest can help you determine how many raised beds you’ll need, and what size you need to build them. Determining how many plants you can fit in each square foot or raised vegetable garden bed will help you make these important decisions.
Once you know how many beds you need to make your vegetable garden dreams come true, it’s time to think about materials. Raised beds can be made from a variety of materials, from galvanized metal to rock, but one of the most cost-effective and eco-friendly options available is wood.
When using wooden boards, you’re able to easily control the height of your raised beds. Sourcing untreated lumber will help you to prevent chemicals from leaching into your garden soil, leading to a healthier harvest. You can prolong the life of your untreated beds by choosing a wood that’s slower to decay, such as cedar or osage orange.