A Good Reason to Try Raised Bed Gardening

There are several advantages to raised bed gardening. Not only is a raised bed less compact and much better for many types of plants but it’s also easier on the gardener who no longer has to reach the ground to weed and tend plants. It’s much better for many people to bend over and tend plants in a raised bed than it is to try to get on the ground to do the same. And with all the advantages of gardening in raised beds, the only disadvantages seem to be how difficult it is to build them and then take them apart later.

Fortunately, for people who really want to try gardening in a raised bed, there’s a simple solution. The M Brace eliminates all the disadvantages by making it possible for anyone to easily and quickly build a raised bed.

The M Brace is simply a corner brace for a raised bed that you set in place. They’re sold in sets of four so that you can set your braces, simply slide the wood into place and in just a few minutes you’ll have a finished raised bed. The beauty of it is that you don’t need any tools. All you need are some two by fours and the braces, and of course the dirt to fill the bed with afterwards. In fact, the most difficult part of creating a raised garden bed with the M Brace method is shoveling the dirt in when you’re done.

The ingenious design allows you to simply slide two by fours into the braces without the need for nails or screws. When you’re finished, you have a secure raised bad that looks great from the outside because of the nice design of the braces. You can get the M Brace in a variety of different die-cut designs or you can get solid ones for simplicity.

So many plants do better in raised beds because the soil is looser and the moisture drains away much easier. Having a raised bed also allows you to garden longer because the soil stays warmer, allowing for earlier planting and helping plants survive longer into the end of fall. Given all of the advantages of raised bed gardening, both for vegetable gardening and flower gardening, there’s really no reason not to try it now that it’s been made so easy.

The M Brace is available in some home and garden stores in California and other Western states but it’s also conveniently available online so that gardeners in every state can give them a try. They’re $165 for the set of 4 that you need to make one raised bed. You can make a square bed or a rectangle, with any sides up to 12 feet long. You can also take your bed apart just as quickly as you put it together if you need to move it to another part of your garden.

The M Brace is an ideal way to get a raised bed garden without the hassle and work of measuring, cutting and building one.

Photo Credits: http://www.artofthegarden.net/

Originally posted 2010-04-28 19:41:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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What is Zone Gardening and How does it Effect You?

zoneIf you are putting together a garden, and your plan is to grow live plants in a successful manner, then as a gardener one of the things that you are going to have to do is to choose the plants that fit in well with your own personal gardening zone. The majority of the plants that you are going to find in your local nurseries are going to be at least somewhat compatible with your area’s gardening zone. When you buy seeds, seedlings and bulbs in catalogs and through other sources, you should find them to be tagged so that you can tell what types of zones they are going to best thrive in. These zones are identified based on the overall climate for the region as well as the minimum and maximum temperatures that are recorded in the specific area.

The United States Department of Agriculture or USDA has a gardening zone map that is based on the lowest temperatures that are experienced all throughout the entire United States as well as Canada and Mexico. There are 11 different gardening zones that are designated on this map. The coldest zone on the map is zone 1 and the hottest zone on the map is zone 11. This map was originally released in the early 1960s, and it has been revised multiple times throughout the years. The current map that is in use by the USDA was last revised in 1990. In this map, zones 2 through 9 are all subdivided into two sections which are a and b, and these zones are represented by lighter shades in the case of a, and darker shades in the case of b. Each of these sections is designed to represent a difference of as much as 5 degrees Fahrenheit in each of the zones, with the lighter shades representing 5 degrees cooler than the darker shades.

A single state can easily fall into a number of different zones at once. Alaska, for example, has the zones 1, 2a, 2b and 3a within it. Florida is another one of the United States that has multiple zones located within it. The state begins at zone 8b and then it ends at zone 10b. All of the warmest regions within the United States are going to fall under zone 11. Hawaii, for example, falls into zone 11. The United States Department of Agriculture was the first group to develop these hardiness zones, but there have been other adaptations over time as well.

Using the right plants in the proper gardening zone is going to play a big role in making sure that you experience gardening success. Zone maps are capable of being found in book stores, libraries and online. Gardening supply stores also tend to be a good reference for this purpose. Don’t be afraid to ask questions at your local nursery if you are unsure about a certain plant and its likelihood to succeed in your country garden landscape.

Photo Credits: bill barber (very sporadic)

Originally posted 2009-08-10 03:47:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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