How to Plant a Raised Bed Garden

After you have designed and built your raised garden bed, it is time to plant flowers or other plants. Before you decide what to plant, however, looking closely at your new garden will help you determine which plants to use and what will grow the best. If you keep those factors in mind, you can have a beautiful garden with color and greens.

Instructions

1. Look at the sun. Determine how much sun your raised bed garden will have during the day. This will help you choose the right plants. If you have 2 hours of east sun in the morning and shade until the sun sets in the west later in the afternoon, you do not want to use plants that need a full or half day of sunlight.

2. Determine the depth of your plant bed. If you have a shallow bed, then you will need plants that don't need much root room, such as herbs and annuals. If your bed is deep, you have more options for different plants.

3. Choose plants that have similar soil and watering needs. If you choose a plant that grows in sandy soil and one that grows in rich soil, you may lose one or the other because the soil is not appropriate for both. Determine your soil type, then select plants that like that kind of soil and that need about the same amounts of water..

4. Choose plants that have similar fertilizing needs. For example, a rose bush and a herb plant have different fertilizing needs. If you plant them in the same bed, the rose food could hurt the growth of the herb plant and the herb fertilizer will not be enough to promote flowering of the rose bush.

5. Space the plants out in the raised bed garden. Don't overplant the bed because the roots are going to grow in a confined area. Plants with roots that need room to spread could choke off other plant roots if the bed is too full of plants. Space the plants out about every 8 to12 inches apart.

References

• Planting a Raised bed Garden