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Success with raised beds for gardening, landscaping, or a combination of both is quite easy.

In the simplest form, you simply pile up dirt, or get a scoop or a truck load, and spread it a few inches thick. You now have a ‘raised bed,’ and it works great for landscape plants or for garden vegetables.

Plants love the loose soil of a raised bed. There may be a need to water a little extra in dry weather, but that’s about the only downside to raised beds, other than a little cost to establish them.

Beyond the simple method mentioned above, there are formal garden beds with edging of wood, bricks, blocks, stones, or other materials. Good soil is added inside the newly created bed—ideally, you can tailor it to meet the needs of whatever plants you intend to put in the bed. Then, plant and mulch. Simple and usually successful.

Then there are large areas that are developed using the same methods, but on a grand scale, using machines rather than shovels and wheelbarrows. Even compacted soil, where a road or swimming pool has previously made the ground so hard that you can’t do much, can come to life with a few inches of good soil added on top of such an area. Larger projects frequently are more informal, and the curves of the yard help determine the contours of the new raised planting areas.

Dangerous slopes can be terraced, with good soil placed behind retaining walls, and create an extensive garden or landscape where the former steep area made it difficult to use. I recall placing huge retaining wall blocks once on top of compacted fill material and creating some splendid flower beds for a couple, many years ago.

Retaining blocks, timbers, walls, and other structures should ideally be placed on a hard and firm base or original, undisturbed soil. From there, you can add up to 30 inches of soil—and more, if you get any necessary approvals from local governments or other authorities. Or, rural areas may have no rules; still, be careful to do terracing in a way that will last for many years.

Carefully constructed retaining walls can handle any water runoff in big storms, and yet hold up

without damage. Good terracing can even act as ductwork, funneling water to where it is most useful. Slight slopes, plus the use of drain lines plus gravels without dust and fines, can accomplish about anything for the purposes of successfully creating raised beds for gardens or for hedges of general landscaping.

In summary, a raised bed can be as simple as 2 x 4 timbers nailed into a square, with tomatoes, onions, or peppers planted inside. Or a raised bed can also be where truckloads of dirt are brought in and raised areas are created around the house or out in the yard, with trees, shrubs and flowers planted inside, where they can thrive and grow into big trees or fruitful bushes more rapidly than if planted in typical soil of a city or urban yard.

If this piques your interest, there are loads of books and websites with more information on creating and utilizing raised beds. Try some this year—it’s never too late to plant something!

The author is a landscaper. He can be reached at (606) 416-3911 or www.rockcastles.net