Such a raised bed can be planted in many different ways, according to your ideas. You can create a practical kitchen garden with fresh fruit and leafy vegetables, but also a delicious snack garden or even a flower bed. Only plants that take up a lot of space above or below should be given a different location - otherwise the raised bed will quickly fill up and the limited space will not be used sufficiently.
If you plan well, you can enjoy several harvests from the raised bed per year
What goes in the raised bed?
Useful plants such as vegetables, herbs and sweet fruit such as strawberries, currants or gooseberries feel at home in the raised bed. Perennials, grasses, bulbs and summer flowers as well as small shrubs also thrive here.
Large selection of vegetable plants
The nutrient-rich soil in the classic raised bed is ideal for hungry vegetables such as cabbage, celery, tomatoes and zucchini. However, less nutrient-requiring vegetables such as radishes and lettuce, carrots, spinach, beetroot and chard or less demanding ones such as onions, peas and French beans also thrive in the raised bed. When planning the cultivation, you should keep an eye on the growth rather than the nutrient requirements of the individual plants: If you are already gardening at waist height, tall plants such as pole tomatoes or runner beans make little sense - by the end of June at the latest you will need a ladder for care and harvest. Plants that grow very wide (such as courgettes) also take up a lot of valuable space in the raised bed and should therefore be cultivated individually.
Annual and perennial herbs
Kitchen herbs such as parsley, chives, lovage, chervil and dill thrive and benefit from the protected growing conditions. Be sure to plant biennial and perennial herbs preferably at the edges so that they don't get in the way of you later when clearing the raised bed in autumn. Mediterranean herbs such as thyme, hyssop, rosemary, oregano, sage and curry herb grow too much in a compost raised bed and develop little aroma. You need your own raised bed with lean soil. For example, the sides of a Euro pallet raised bed, in which you can easily integrate plant boxes, are perfect.
berries and other fruit trees
Picking is easier in the raised bed
Of course, strawberries should not be missing in any snack garden. But many berry bushes also feel at home here, as long as you choose small species and varieties. Red and white currants and the related black currant thrive in a raised bed with potting soil or commercial potting soil. Raised beds filled with bog soil are ideal for blueberries that do not like lime and prefer acidic, humus-rich soil. When it comes to gooseberries, definitely look for mildew-resistant and thornless varieties that are easier to care for and harvest. However, a ground-level garden is more suitable for a large tree or strong-growing blackberries.
An ornamental garden in a raised bed
Most perennials are perennials. H. they survive the winter and sprout again from the rootstock every year. Evergreen species even show their foliage all year round. For perennials, grasses and roses, it is best to use a roof garden substrate, which usually consists of garden soil and lava granules (€13.99), or a high-quality potting soil with a high proportion of clay or sand. Compost or pure bed and balcony potting soil decomposes too quickly, so you have to fill in new soil every year. Perennials combine well with bulb flowers such as crocus, tulips and daffodils, as well as annual summer flowers.
How to plant the raised bed
In spring you can sow many vegetables, herbs and flowers directly in the raised bed. If you use a cold frame attachment (available for many prefabricated raised beds), the season can even start about two to three weeks earlier. In addition, many plants can also be grown on the windowsill from February and can then be placed in the bed as young plants.
direct sowing
With compost raised beds, you should first fill the bed with a five centimeter thick layer of seed soil, as pure compost is too nutrient-rich for many seeds. The soil should be finely crumbly and slightly moist. Put large seeds, such as those of zucchini, cucumbers or pumpkins, one at a time with the tip pointing down into the bed so that they are about three to four centimeters deep in the ground. Bush beans and peas, on the other hand, are sown in groups of three to five seeds per hole. Cover these seeds with soil about two to three inches deep. Fine seeds are sown directly from the bag in rows or spread over the bed surface. Sowing is more even if you mix the seeds with fine sand beforehand. Seed tapes or seed plates have proven to be very practical, in which the seeds are already inserted at the correct planting distance.
Planting young plants
With pre-grown young plants, you can make ideal use of the space available in the raised bed, because the vegetables ripen faster and you can then carry out subsequent sowing or planting. You can put lettuce, spinach, chard and cabbage in the raised bed as early as March / April. A cover made of anti-freeze fleece helps against cold nights. Vegetables that are sensitive to cold and frost, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini and pumpkins, on the other hand, should not be planted outside until mid or late May. Aubergines and Chinese cabbage only come out at the end of May / beginning of June. Late-ripening types of cabbage such as broccoli, romanesco and cauliflower are also only planted in June/July.
tips
Plants grow better and faster under protective foil or glass than in the open bed. With a cold frame raised bed, you can actually start the gardening season from mid-February by sowing lettuce, lamb's lettuce, postelein and garden cress.