I am thinking of putting in some new Victory Garden areas in my yard. Right now, I have the time to plan it out and I was torn between creating a new raised bed, repot some empty containers, or just plant in the ground. What I wanted was the good, the bad, and the ugly on raised beds. So, I turned to my Favorite Master Gardener Guru, Hillary.
Raised Beds Pros and Cons – By Hillary Swertz
It seems you can’t scroll for two seconds on Pinterest without seeing gorgeous raised beds. “I should probably build one of those,” you think to yourself. After all, everyone’s doing it. It seems like you’re supposed to put in a raised bed if you plan on having a garden.
But that logic didn’t fly in the eighth grade with that awful hairdo, and it doesn’t fly now. Building raised beds can be an EXCELLENT solution to many common gardening problems, but it’s not perfect. It might actually be a disadvantage in some situations. Here are some questions to ask yourself before taking the plunge and building raised beds.
#1- How’s your soil?
A soil test can reveal if you have high levels of any toxins. A simple shovel-ful can tell you if there’s more broken glass than dirt.
#2- How much money do you have?
Buying lots of lumber, bricks, or cinder blocks can cost you. So will filling a bed at least a foot deep with store-bought topsoil.
#3- How stationery are you?
Do you own your home, or are you renting? If you’re renting, how would your landlord feel about some yard renovation? Either way, how long do you plan on staying at your current location?
#4- Does your proposed location have access to sun and water?
There’s no sense building a raised bed in an area with full shade.
#5- How mobile and/or physically fit are you?
If you’re someone who struggles with mobility (especially if you’re confined to a wheelchair), bending down to weed your potato patch might be a huge challenge. Similarly, if being on your hands and knees for periods of time isn’t an option, you probably shouldn’t grow straight in the ground.
Now that you have a better sense of your situation, let’s get into the pros and cons of the three main types of garden beds- containers, in the ground, and raised beds.
Container Gardening
Pros:
- Flexibility
Of all the kinds of gardening, container gardening gives you the most flexibility. If your family moves often, you can literally pick up your plants and bring them with you! There’s no sense in dumping truckloads of cash into expensive beds if you need to move in a few months.
But flexibility is good even for people who want to stay put. Gardening in containers means you can easily bring your plants indoors if there’s a threat of inclement weather. You can plan on transitioning plants that wouldn’t survive the winter to live in your bedroom when it gets cold, too. I’ve even seen very dedicated people move their sun-loving plants from one side of the yard to the other every day to follow the sun.
2. Fewer weeds
Need I say more? As long as you’re not using soil contaminated by weed seeds, you’ll have much less work in the weeding department. If weeds do show up, they’re usually easier to control because the soil is less compact. This means you can generally pull them right up!
3. Controlling spreaders
One of the biggest mistakes I ever made as a gardener was planting oregano in my main bed. With some plants, if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. Also, they’ll maintain control of that entire mile with the might of a militia.
If you have a burning desire to plant “spreaders,” container gardening will answer all of your problems. (Well, almost all of them. Ask me about the time my strawberries jumped ship and formed a colony in my mint container.)
Cons:
- Dry out easily
Because plants in containers have no access to water tables or moisture reserves in your yard, they dry quickly. On top of that, once they dry out, containers can sometimes be tricky to rehydrate properly. If you’re going to garden in containers, keep an eagle eye on their moisture levels.
2. Don’t handle frosts
If you live in a northern climate and worry about frost, know that container plants won’t handle the cold as well. In a normal bed, the soil will release the day’s heat overnight, thus cushioning the plants from mild, late-night frosts. Your containers won’t have the same heat reserves, however. Make sure to cover, insulate, or otherwise protect containers every time there’s a threat of frost.
3. Can be expensive
Those containers had to come from somewhere, didn’t they? The same goes for your container soil.
If you have ways of cheaply sourcing soil and pots, this won’t be a true ‘con’ for you. And there are plenty of cheap sources! Check gardening centers for their cast-off pots, tell friends you want dirt for your birthday, or even make your own containers from anything that can hold a plant. I’ve seen teapots, used tires, even old toilets used as plant containers. Your only limit is your imagination!
In ground
Pros:
- Plants can ‘stretch’
Plants in the ground have the advantage of spreading their roots as deep and wide as they like. This means they can access resources plants in other garden types can’t. They can reach water more easily, their roots extend further to find nutrients, and they’ll never be potbound.
2. Best drought and frost tolerance
Of the three kinds of gardening we’ll look at, nothing can beat a garden in the ground for frost and drought tolerance. They’ll have the ground’s heat to protect them when containers are defenseless against a fall frost. They’ll also be able to survive droughts better with extensive root systems that can reach more moisture in the soil.
3. Cheapest
You don’t have to buy soil and you don’t have to buy containers or lumber. That’s a win for you! You can still expect to shell out for things like fertilizer, seeds, and/or compost (unless you learn to make your own compost). However, this is the norm for all three types of gardening.
Cons:
- Very stationery
This might not be a con for you if you want to “put down roots” in this location. But for those whose lives are less stable, the idea of a semi-permanent fixture in the yard is problematic. Developing an in ground garden from scratch takes a lot of work. If you can’t see yourself gardening here for at least a few years, I’d suggest looking into other options.
2. Requires physical mobility
In ground gardening is the lowest of the low, in terms of height. If bending over, reaching down, or holding flexible positions isn’t in your wheelhouse, in-ground gardening will be a challenge.
3. Requires half-decent soil
When permaculture expert Eric Toensmeier went to start a garden in Holyoke, MA, he discovered at least half of his property’s soil was “urbanite.” That is, the soil was heavy clay with “chunks of concrete, brick fragments, and pieces of asphalt.[1]” If you’re in a similar situation, you shouldn’t plant directly into the soil. If you have years at your disposal, you can take the time to build up the soil and make it healthier.
However, if soil tests reveal things like high lead levels (common in Northeastern urban gardens), or if your backyard used to be a toxic waste dump, you cannot grow edibles straight in the ground. (see Sunflower Power to help with that)
4. Access to sun and water
If your whole yard is in full shade, you’ll struggle to grow a decent victory garden there. Because you can’t pick up an in-ground garden and move it to more favorable locations, you need to pick locations carefully. Check to make sure your potential plot has mostly sun for much of the growing season. Also check to make sure your garden hose (or whatever watering system you’re using) will reach the beds.
Raised Beds
Pros:
- Trendy
There’s no denying it. Raised beds are pretty to look at, give a garden a clean and organized feel, plus they look great on your Instagram! If aesthetics mean a lot to you, a raised bed will likely beat out a hodge-podge of containers.
2. Get around bad (or non-existent) soil
This sounds obvious, but having the garden a foot or two higher than ground level can be a big plus. If your soil is contaminated, you can get away from it. I should note that if your soil specifically has lead contamination, a raised bed won’t completely solve the problem without yearly maintenance.[2]
You can also build a raised bed directly on top of pavement, thus building a garden where none existed before.
3. Easier access
If you have a hard time bending down to the ground, you can raise the garden up to your preferred level. (As a note, elevated beds are great for wheelchair accessibility. Instead of just a box on the ground, an elevated bed is a box on STILTS on the ground.)
3. Heat up faster
A large pile of soil raised off the ground behaves differently than the rest of the earth. Thanks to more surface area that gets the sun’s warming rays, the soil in a raised bed will heat up faster than that in the ground. Instead of staying locked in a hard freeze til around your frost date, raised beds mean planting earlier. However, this pro is directly related to a con. Speaking of which…
Cons:
- Cools down faster.
Most plants growing directly in the ground are protected from mild frosts by the soil’s heat reserves. Just like containers, raised beds aren’t as good at protecting plants from cold weather. If you want to take advantage of the earlier planting times of a raised bed, make sure you read up on frost protection for the fall.
2. Costly
Of the three types, raised beds have the potential to be the most expensive. Lumber- especially good quality, long-lasting, non-pressure treated lumber- is not cheap. Lumber is the most common choice for a raised bed. You also have to budget for bringing in truckloads of soil to fill all your beds.
You can bring the cost down by scavenging for building materials. Perhaps a neighbor is tearing down his garage, or a friend has a pile of cinder blocks in his backyard. Just make sure that whatever you chose to use is non-toxic (not covered in lead paint or pressure-treated) and will survive the elements for at least a few years.
3. Semi-permanent
Similar to an in ground garden, putting in a raised bed is an investment. You don’t want to build one if you’ll need to take it down in a year. (Or maybe you do want to. Maybe shoveling dirt out of a raised bed and into a truck bed for hours is your idea of fun. Have fun with that.)
In the end, the only right answer is the one that best fits your personal needs. After all, the best bed- whether it’s raised, in a container, or on the ground- is the one that works best for you. Finally, don’t forget- one gardener can utilize all three types in her ecosystem!
My first build in my new yard will be a compost area. If you’re wanting to know the benefits of composting you can read about it here: https://victorygardengal.com/4-easy-steps-to-starting-a-compost-for-your-victory-garden/
As always, Hillary has excellent advice! I can’t wait to get started!
I’d love to see your Victory Gardens and your spoils – I answer every email and I love hearing about your gardening adventures.
Happy Planting!
DeeAnn
The Victory Garden Gal
[1] Toensmeier, Eric. Paradise Lot: Two plant geeks, one-tenth of an acre, and the making of an edible garden oasis in the city. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013.
[2] https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2010/11/02/lead-in-urban-garden