A small vegetable garden outside Austin, Texas

There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to planting in either raised beds or a traditional garden and the use of one over the other, depends on a great number of factors.

Planting in raised beds has a number of advantages: 
  • Provide an extended planting/growing season for the vegetables (generally)
  • Can be used instead of the soil in the ground if it is of poor quality
  • Weeds can be more effectively managed
  • The soil is not compacted and roots of the plants can flourish allowing better plant growth
Planting in raised beds has a number of disadvantages:
  • There is a cost involved in purchasing the border/perimeter materials, which may not be so affordable for some
  • Less of the backyard will be utilised as the raised garden beds take up more room than a traditional garden patch
  • The more raised beds you have in your garden, the higher the costs will be to purchase the materials
  • It takes time to assemble and set up the raised garden bed before planting anything in there
  • Assembling and disassembling the garden bed material is often difficult and cumbersome if you want to move it to another part of the garden, or transport it to another home

Planting a traditional garden has a number of advantages:
  • There are no extra costs associated with planting in the ground
  • Very easy to relocate the garden in different parts of the backyard
  • It's easy to find a spot for you garden, no precise measurements required, just dig where you want to plant your seeds/seedlings
Planting a traditional garden has a number of disadvantages:
  • Planting/growing seasons is strictly limited to time frames within the season, not easy to extend past
  • Soil may be compacted which can cause some plants not to flourish well if their roots do not have freedom
  • Poor quality soil may not always be able to be reconditioned to a more appropriate state with fertilisers and other raw materials
  • It may be costly to try to invigorate poor quality soil to be acceptable for growing vegetables and fruits

1 comment:

bambu batu said...
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The dirty dozen to avoid