As an organic gardener, you face a lot of excitement and confusion on how to approach organic gardening. Do you go straight to planting in the ground, or do you use a raised bed? Basic questions such as to whether to go with the traditional garden bed or the modular garden bed must have run across your mind. If you appreciate structure and organization, you are probably reading this to help you decide on one of the two options. Your decision will possibly be based on your availability of time, construction skills, and your general skill level when it comes to organic gardening. In the end, you desire to maintain the ideal environment for your plants to flourish. This article will help you decide on which method to use between the traditional and modern beds.
Traditional Garden Bed (DIY)
These raised garden beds consist of a rectangular frame made through attaching wood boards with screws. Planting then commences when the frame is filled with soil. In case there are gophers in the area, consider laying wire mesh at the bottom before filling the bed with soil.
Basic tools and materials needed are; nails/screws, hammer/drill, pencil markers, cedar or redwood boards and a saw. Note: Due to its natural resistance to insects, rot and its durability, Cedarwood or redwood is advisable for the frame.
Directions:
Measure, mark and cut the boards to your desirable length using the saw.
Cautiously attach the corners to form the rectangular layout. Be careful not to split the board ends while doing this.
Expanding
Over time, you may become zealous with your garden and it may feel restrictive in terms of space. In this case, you may consider expanding your garden bed. How? Carefully dismantle one end of the bed, add additional desirable length to the existing ones with a backing board or anchor posts then reattach the removed end to the new boards. This will means a longer garden, thus more gardening space. Be careful not to split the wood while expanding.
Are Traditional Raised Beds Right for You?
This technique seems quite simple to a handy person since you do everything yourself. The gardener, however, is in need of carpentry skills a myriad of tools and specific natural wood, all of which may be cumbersome to a time constrained gardener.
If you find this rather strenuous on your part, worry not for ingenious minds have managed to crack this one for you. They have come up with a much easier and more reliable way of raising a garden bed as we will read below.
Modular Garden Beds (Gardening Lincoln Logs’)
These garden kits have significantly made garden beds easier to assemble and use. The boards are typically made of pre-cut cedar that is calculated to join together by hand. In addition to this, the boards are easy to expand due to the nature of the connecting pins that hold them together allowing for easy in and out sliding. You can expand your organic gardening space within minutes, creating different layouts that can fit in even the smallest of places. In addition to all this, a feature that allows for stacking more boards onto each other creating deeper sections of the bed available as well.
Expanding
With all the features mentioned above, it is proving way easier to use the modular garden bed. You no longer run the risk of splitting wood while hammering them together; you also save yourself from injuries that come with doing the manual work yourself. You only need to instead pull the connecting pins in order to make and expand your garden bed. At the end of the day you have been salvaged from hammering, marking, cutting and all that activity that came with the traditional, do it yourself, gardening bed. The only problem you may experience with this is in a situation whereby the boards of the modular bed shift affecting the ease of the connecting pins, which happens at times.
Takeaway
In the end, you have to try and weigh which of these two designs will suit you most you’re your organic gardening. If you are the kind that loves using your hands and constructing stuff, well the traditional raised garden bed would be ideal for you. Whereas the modular bed is more convenient to most in terms of saving time and flexible layouts, you may need to consider the expense you will incur purchasing it. In the end what matters is that you love and enjoy your entire gardening experience.
