Gardening above ground opens up possibilities of fresh veggies and beautiful flowers to so many new and veteran gardeners. They are turning to a range of alternatives to in-ground garden beds, such as a window box three stories up or a raised bed on the back patio, to solve a variety of gardening issues.
What sorts of issues, you ask? We have rounded up a five issues that find their answers in the form of the Urban Raised Bed from Smart Pots and other above-ground gardening alternatives.
Garden Where You Have No In-Ground Space
Living in a condo complex, a densely populated neighborhood or a spot that offers no private sun-filled yard? Raised beds give you the ability to hold soil anywhere where there’s a surface to place it. Turn a sunny paved spot in the driveway or condo balcony into a veggie-producing garden or a flower-filled place for pollinators.
Grow Where the Soil is Suspect
Many soils surrounding homes—urban and otherwise—have unhealthy levels of contaminants from construction debris, previous industrial use and other reasons. Raised beds allow you to easily and safely grow in the space by holding soils of known origin.
Protect Plants from Underground Pests
Keep grubs, nematodes, slugs and other soil-living, plant-destroying pests at bay by cutting off underground and soil-surface access to your garden.
Raise Your Garden to a More Convenient Height
In-ground gardens require lots of bending and kneeling to care for the plants. The Urban Raised Bed brings the garden’s soil up 18 inches so plants are far easier to access.
Garden Above Ground With the Seasons
The sun moves across your space with the seasons. Where the light is strong and perfect for cool-season crops may be too intensely sunny for summer growing. Move a raised bed to the perfect spot depending on the conditions—and that might even be in garage or basement for winter growing.
How the Urban Raised Bed Can Help
The Urban Raised Bed addresses each of these gardening situations. Unlike the other fabric products from Smart Pots, the Urban Raised Bed is designed for a semi-rigid structure with the insertion of 1-in. PVC lengths (not included). This framework allows the Bed to hold far more soil and plants than if it was unframed. The Urban Raised Bed comes in two sizes:
24-in. by 48-in. by 18-in. tall, holding approximately 13.5 cubic feet of soil
48-in. by 48-in. by 18-in. tall, holding approximately 27 cubic feet of soil
The fabric comes with sleeves into which the piping can slide for easy assembly and is ready for planting within minutes. And with its durable fabric, it’ll last for years.
Growing a garden is indeed a possibility for you this season! And now that you know you grow above-ground, you can start planning and planting. Head over to your favorite garden center or online store to obtain your Urban Raised Bed and look forward to blooms and harvesting edibles in just a few weeks.
Are the dog days of August getting you down? Just the thought of fall garden crops can be refreshing! Figuring out what vegetables to plant in August is a piece of cake. Your county extension office has easy-to-follow lists and tips for fall garden crops. If the office is nearby, drop in. If not, you…
Not every gardener is blessed with full sun, making vegetable gardening challenging. But, by choosing shade tolerant vegetables, it’s possible to harvest plenty of fresh, homegrown produce. Different levels of shade Before you begin experimenting with vegetables that grow in the shade, it’s important to understand there are different levels of shade, and each level…
Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting your Garden of Eatin’, there are tons of berry varieties that deliver abundant, mouthwatering crops. From tart to tangy to sugary sweet, these six varieties are definitely the way to grow: Strawberries These small perennials taste great with just about anything. Layer them on your favorite ice…
By definition, a plant fertilizer is either a chemical or a natural material added to the soil or growing media to increase its fertility and aid in plant growth. Understanding how best to feed your plants increases plant vigor and results in higher yields. The best natural fertilizer for plants There’s been a major shift…
As a gardener, nothing is more frustrating than watching your plants succumb to disease. Just when your garden is starting to flourish…. BOOM! A nasty case of mildew sends you back to square one. If you’re not careful, common plant diseases can become a persistent problem, turning your green thumb an ugly shade of brown….
As my strawberries are growing and ripening, I’m looking at and thinking about the rhubarb that’s growing a few feet from them. I do this every year and wonder why I never use it? Most people associate rhubarb with strawberry- rhubarb pie, as do I but it’s been years since I’ve had any. I enjoy…
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.