Gardening Services Guide

Archive for the ‘General Gardening Tips’ Category

What is raised bed vegetable gardening? Why would anyone use this type of method to garden anyway? If you have seen pictures of raised beds, they look as if they are very large planters that allow you to grow various plants off the ground. Most commonly, they are done man made. In fact, you can easily make your own with just some wood and careful planning. Raised bed vegetable gardening has many advantages, too.

What Are The Benefits

Raised bed vegetable gardening offers benefits to both you and to the plants that you grow there. For example, you will find that this method allows you to grow plants that are off the ground, which means you won’t have to bend over or crawl through the garden to do your weeding! Much easier on the knees, that’s for sure. This also helps to make gardening more accessible to elderly people that can no longer get down and crawl around.

Another benefit to raised bed vegetable gardening is that it allows for excellent drainage for your plants. The plants can easily grow into the sunlight. A common problem for many in standard vegetable gardening is that the ground will wash away with any rainfall taking with it the nutrients that are necessary for good growing. Another reason this is beneficial happens if the gardener places timbers around this dirt. Then, if the water can not easily drain away, it can pool, becoming unhealthy for the plants growing there. With raised bed vegetable gardening, this is not the case because the beds are raised enough off the ground to allow water to pass through it easily. It also retains water better in this manner as well.

How To Make One

If you would like to add in raised bed vegetable gardening to your home or gardening location, the process can be simple. Build a perimeter around the area in which you would like to place the garden. This is commonly done with wood but other materials can be used as you see fit. Then, place a layer of gravel at the bottom to help encourage water drainage. You can make the bed as tall or as short as you like, and same with the width and depth of it. Fill it in with clean dirt or top soil, with all the nutrients necessary for your growing and you are set to get started.

Raised bed vegetable gardening is the prime way to do your gardening. While it may take a few minutes to set up, once done, you’ll love how easy it is to maintain them.

There are few vegetables or, in this case, fruit with the mass appeal of tomatoes. They are incredibly versatile and can be used for salads, Italian dishes, and a wealth of other culinary masterpieces. Unfortunately, in some areas, tomatoes are being priced at over $3 a pound. The up side is that everyone, regardless of their available space can grow their own healthy, delicious tomatoes by planting them in a tomato gardening container.

All that is really necessary to grow your own tomatoes is a sunny climate. Of course there are a few other odds and ends that will make it easier. You will need containers. Five gallon sized pots work well. For best results plant one tomato plant per container. You will also need the tomato seeds or seedlings, soil, and wooden stakes to hold the plants up when they grow too tall. String is helpful for attaching the stalks to the stakes. You may find fertilizer and a plastic tray for drainage to be useful as well. Drainage is important in your choice of tomato gardening container.

Certain types of tomato plants seem to grow better in containers than others. Many experienced growers of container tomatoes suggest using the bush varieties of plants. Cherry tomatoes are popular because of their smaller size, but don’t let that stop you from experimenting with the full sized versions. Early Girl and Celebrity do well with tomato gardening container use, as do Sweet 100s and Christmas Grape. Decide what size of tomato you want to grow and what purpose you want them for. For example, if you were planning to use your tomatoes primarily in salads, cherry or grape varieties would be an excellent choice.

Of course sufficient sunlight is vital with any type of plant. Before planting your tomatoes check the area you want to place your containers for roughly 4-6 hours of sun. Sunlight promotes good, steady growth. The right balance of water and sunlight is crucial for tomato gardening container success.

With all of the recent attention given to pesticide use in the media, growing your own tomatoes is one way to ensure you know exactly what you are getting in your produce. It is also economical and convenient. There won’t be any more need for a trip to the store because you forgot tomatoes. The containers don’t take up a lot of space and only one tomato plant can yield all the produce one family needs. The low cost of a tomato gardening container is minimal when compared to the high price of tomatoes in a grocery store. What are you waiting for? Pick your favorite tomato, select a container, and enjoy the benefits of tomato container gardening.