put the shovel down

Why you want a raised bed garden

When I clean the toy closest, it looks as pristine as my freshly weeded garden.

The first moment my daughter gets to the completely organized closet, it looks like chaos—not unlike the way weeds seem to spring up overnight in some gardens.

I can’t help you with your toy closet, but I have strong thoughts about handling the weeds in your garden.

PUT THE SHOVEL DOWN! THE LESS YOU DISTURB THE SOIL THE LESS WEEDS YOU WILL HAVE!

One of the things that causes excessive weeds is turning over the soil.

Weed seeds stay sleepy (aka dormant) in the soil for years! YEARS! So when you till or dig deep and disturb the soil, you bring those seeds up to the surface or close to it, where they have what they need to sprout (aka germinate). A recipe for disaster if you are a gardener with limited weeding time.

HOW TO GARDEN IN A WAY THAT DISCOURAGES WEEDS…

I bet the title gave it away: Raised beds are key to fewer weeds.
Here are the top three reasons why.

• What you make the raised beds out of helps keep the weeds from creeping into where your planned garden plants are

• Working in raised beds makes tilling it harder, so you don’t have to battle weed seeds from years past.

• Raised bed soil settles and topping them off with new soil covers last year’s weed seeds.

There is no right or wrong way to garden. Raised beds make a huge difference for new gardeners looking to make gardening easier to fit into their lives!

If this convinces you to choose raised beds, this guide will teach you how to build them quickly and easily.