Raised beds should be narrow enough for you to reach easily. Remove grass and loosen soil - with enough depth of 12 to 16 inches. If possible enclose the raised bed with walls to keep the soil in place.

If you are a gardening buff, then you might have heard of the term, ‘raised bed gardening'. I have to confess to being quite ignorant on the subject, but upon overhearing, quite by accident I assure you, an argument by a young couple over whether they should go for the more conventional garden, or whether they should try their hand at raised bed gardening, my interest was peaked. After all what on earth was a ‘raised bed garden'?

Being the curious minded soul that I am, I was sorely tempted to push my way through a trolley of plants and enquire in all politeness what a raised bed garden really was. Fortunately for all involved, sanity prevailed at the last minute and I found myself reluctant to push my way through.

I did the next best thing and gathering my purchases hot-footed it back home where I could turn to my computer for instant gardening help. Calling upon the services of my favourite search engine, I typed in the words ‘raised bed gardening' and stumbled upon a veritable plethora of information. Information which I shall now try my best to impart to you in a manner that is understandable.

So, to begin with, a raised bed garden is exactly what is sounds like. A garden upon a ‘raised bed'. Mostly though you are not raising the height of your entire garden so much as you are raising it in little bits and pieces. To do this people tend to utilise things like large containers, or pots. Troughs are also a favourite, as they provide a longer length for the gardener to work with.

There are generally two reasons why you would go in for raised bed gardening, with the first reason being purely to do with aesthetics. Having said that, if you find it difficult to bend down continuously when gardening, then the raised bed gardening is also ideal for you. But the second and main reason you would even consider a raised bed garden has to do with soil and drainage problems that you just can not overcome easily, in your normal, ground level garden.

Raised bed gardens are attractive, and easy to maintain, with the added benefit of being able control exactly what goes into your soil mixture, and how much water you use when watering your plants.

You also have the ability to protect your plants more easily from burrowing rodents, weeds, and unwanted feet trekking through your beds.

A more sensible method of gardening I have yet to hear of, and that wasn't the end to the long list of benefits to be found in raised bed gardening. But the one I liked the most had to do with being able to grub around in my garden in any weather, without the actual ‘grubbing' part. No mud, see? Since the plants are in raised containers, you don't actually have to get down on your hands and knees in the mud to do your gardening!

Gardening in raised beds is of course ideal if you live in a region of poor soil. By filling with topsoil, compost manure and peat-moss the soil will drain easily and warm earlier in the spring