These are some tips I gathered when I made my first loft bed, and things I wish I had thought of beforehand.
Things to Consider When Preparing a Raised Bed Garden
1. What is the size?
A loft bed is usually three to four feet wide and about six to eight feet long. This allows you to easily access the raised bed from the side for planting, digging and weeding without stepping into the garden where the soil might be compacted.
Prepare a Raised Bed Garden
6 Things to Consider Before Preparing Your Raised Bed Garden
Comment by TaraNolan (98)
Are you planning to build and/or install a loft bed? I want to emphasize that a loft bed can be placed anywhere with 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day. They can be any size you like. However, for the purposes of this article, I'm going to discuss standard rectangular loft beds, which are usually built from untreated rot-resistant wood (like Niki's amazing loft bed unit) or concrete blocks, and what you might think of wanting in Consider when preparing a raised bed garden.
These are some tips I gathered when I made my first loft bed, and things I wish I had thought of beforehand.
Things to Consider When Preparing a Raised Bed Garden
1. What is the size?
A loft bed is usually three to four feet wide and about six to eight feet long. This allows you to easily access the raised bed from the side for planting, digging and weeding without stepping into the garden where the soil might be compacted.
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Height is also important. If you're placing your raised bed on a hard surface, such as a driveway, or on hard soil, you'll want to make sure it's deep enough for plants (especially root vegetables like beets and carrots) to take root. If it's too shallow, the roots will stick into that subsoil (or hard surface) and hit the brick wall. I usually recommend at least 10 to 12 inches.
2. How do you choose the perfect location?
Location is everything when preparing a raised bed garden, but it doesn't have to be your backyard. Your loft bed can be placed in a sunny side yard, front yard or even driveway.
If you have a slope and assess whether the area is well drained, you will need to make modifications. Here are some tips to help you plan where to put your loft bed.
3. How will you weed?
Good question because this is a common problem. If you've ever tried cutting and raising turf, you know it's a tough job. A simpler weeding method is to outline the space, cover it with a layer of cardboard, and then cover it with a layer of soil. The grass will break down and voila! A new garden venue. Doing this in the fall will make everything fall apart in the winter.
4. Want to install irrigation?
If you want to build a full drip irrigation system with a line running from your faucet or rain barrel, you may want to do this before your raised bed area is finished and filled. This way, you can run hoses under paths or mulch and adjust the bed where the hoses connect to the irrigation system.
5. How much soil do you need and what kind of soil do you need?
There are handy soil calculators that can help you determine how much you need to fill a raised bed, like this one from Gardener's Supply Company.
As for soil type, I want to emphasize buying the best quality you can afford when preparing your raised bed garden. When I have multiple raised beds to fill, I ordered a triple mix from a local supplier (after discussing my options with them over the phone) and surfaced it with organic vegetable compost. I like to suggest keeping some reserves to replenish your loft bed throughout the seasons. If you want more details on the best soil for raised beds, visit this link.
6. Should you stake both sides?
When I built my first two loft beds, one of the things I wish I did was install a couple of midpoint stakes to keep the bed from moving over time. This is one of my first high bed tricks!
Not sure how many vegetables you can grow per bed? Here are a few illustrated 4×8 raised bed layouts that you can use to determine the placement and spacing of vegetable plants.
