Raised Gardens

Introduction

Raised gardens can be an excellent alternative to traditional garden types for the following reasons.

Types of Raised Beds

Drainpipe Rain Garden

If your garden is too small for a regular rain garden (or perhaps you have an alleyway or street facing downspout with no space to dig) then creating a mini container garden to host wetland plants is the solution you need! 

These compact gardens can absorb and clean water before allowing it to run off. They can boost biodiversity, and add a natural looking point of interest to an otherwise ugly or boring part of your building.

These can be build right up against your wall, without risking the structure of your foundation, and only need occasional maintenance to remove and replace dead plants, or trim back any that have become overgrown.

Herb Spirals

This is is similar to a raised bed, generally built with rocks or bricks to create the edges and help hold the soil in place. These are a great way to provide a variety of growing conditions (microclimates) in a very small space. Herbs that love dry soils should be planted at the top, and those that prefer more water can sit at lower levels of the spiral. Sun-loving plants can sit on the sunny side, while more delicate plants won't mind sitting in the shadier sections.

Hügelkultur Beds

Hügelkultur beds are traditionally raised to around 2 meters high, but more recent versions involve digging trenches, and not building as high. For example only to around a meter high or even less depending on the available resources including wood.

They can be lined with rocks or set inside of raised beds, or you can leave them bare, with only much and plants to hold everything in place.

"Hügelkultur (pronounced “hoogle-culture”) is German for “hill culture.” Hügelkultur entails growing crops on a raised, earthen mound that consists of a foundation of fresh or rotting logs and branches covered in layers of manure, compostable materials and soil."- Eco Farming Daily

6:07 minute video shows a variety of ways these can be built.

Potted Gardens

For people living with only balconies, paves spaces, heavily polluted soil, or for those who have to move frequently or don't know when they'll settle down potted plants offer an excellent option. The plants are more mobile in case you move or have to bring them in during storms, freezes, or heatwaves.

Potted plants have less soil to work with, so they may need to be fed and watered more often than those with more soil. Potted plants also offer the option to move them around if you realize the area they are in doesn't have enough sunlight, or gets too much sun or rain.

Avoid using black pots as these absorb the most heat, and can cook your plants in strong, direct sunlight. Lighter colours pots will help reflect solar heat, but you can also position your pots so that certain pots and their plants can shelter the more delicate plants.

Traditional Raised Beds

In wetter climates with poor soil, raised beds can be a great solution for keeping roots from getting waterlogged, and you can easily build healthy soil on top of clay or other troublesome soil types. 

People with bad backs, or who use wheelchairs may still be able to garden so long as the bed is a reasonable height.

Materials for Raised Beds

Resources

Drain Pipe Wetland

Hügelkultur

Maps

International

Europe

UK

Grants & Funding

Europe

UK

National award schemes There are a number of key organisations offering grants and advice to community based projects e.g.