Permanent Raised Bed Gardening: Introduction

Even hard-to-reach crops like strawberries can be harvested while comfortably seated on the bed border.

Accessories like trellises can make raised bed gardens even more productive.

Many permanent beds are constructed using rigid materials. Because of this, they can be engineered to readily accept plastic crop covers and mulches, trellises, harvest aids, bird netting, shade screens, wind breaks and other cultural and environmental control items.

At the Noble Foundation Horticulture Center, various raised bed materials and production methods have been evaluated over the past 16 years. Each type of material evaluated has advantages and disadvantages.

Three of the more promising unconventional materials evaluated include rubber lumber fabricated from used automobile tires, corrugated sheet metal and high density plastic mesh, commonly used for windbreaks and construction site barriers.

We will focus on the use of these three novel materials in raised bed construction. Information on preparing these beds for planting is also included.