Information and prices presented by Marigold Botanicus of House & Garden Church Corner

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Not many years ago most New Zealanders grew their own vegetables – fair to say that most New Zealanders also lived on large sections with plenty of land.

There is a big trend today for once again growing our own veggies and the reasons are many – not the least of which is the economics of doing so plus the added advantage of freshness and if you go about it the right way you will not have used any harmful chemicals and so you and your family or friends will eat healthier.

Why grow veggies and herbs in a raised garden bed?

• You can place them over concrete or patios and save space
  
  
• By raising them to a height that is comfortable to work with you save a lot of bending – basically there is usually a co-relationship with age and height! The most popular heights are 300mm and 400mm but you can go higher or lower
  
  
• The soil, being above ground level traps more heat which means you can plant out sooner and provide a better growing medium for your plants
  
  
• By using a combination of soil, compost and growing mediums such as Bio-Blend the roots will grow deeper, the plant will be healthier and yield more
  
  
• As you are not tramping on the soil it does not get compacted and so allows easier growing
  
  
• You can move the raised beds to different places in the garden
  
  
• You can cover them to protect them from birds and frost

When you are filling your raised bed, throw some old bricks or similar on the bottom, particularly along the drainage openings. If you have spare soil then throw some of that in then fill it up to within 150mm of the top with compost then finish it off with Transform* which you can very lightly dig in – then start planting.
  * Transform is the miracle mix that will transform your garden – made from worm castings

Another good idea is to partition your raised bed into specific areas – you can use one area for herbs, another for carrots, another for lettuce, another for tomatoes etc. By doing this you will find that certain plants provide a natural protection to insects and bugs and so protect other plants growing near.

You can protect your raised garden beds against slugs and snails by placing a small border of stone chips around the outside edge of the beds at ground level – this blocks the slimy blighters from going any further – they don’t like the sharp edges.

House & Garden have a large range of sizes and options – refer to the list below. We also offer special deals on compost, Transform, packs of vegies and packs of herbs.

You also have the option of treated and un-treated timber – our treated timber has a special compound added to the process to stop it leaching into the soil so no worries there. Treated timber will last a lot longer than un-treated but the choice is your to make.

Regardless though we suggest you line the bins with a weed mat which keeps the soil “breathing” and also keeps it from escaping from the raised bed.

Marigold Botanicus - December 2008