The Practicality of Having a Raised Flower Bed

The Practicality of Having a Raised Flower Bed

The raised flower bed can be aesthetically pleasing in virtually any environment. Nearly anything can be planted within it giving the area a great deal of functionality. Whether you are planting trees, bushes, or flowers, these beds can be versatile for your specific landscaping ideas. While raised flower beds can be very attractive, have you ever stopped to think of the practicality they provide aside from just aesthetics? There is more to one of these constructs than what you may be realizing.

1. Cleanliness – A raised flowerbed has less chance of collecting tidbits of garbage that could blow into your yard. While these bits of trash may collect to the side of the bed, you have less trash to physically pluck out of your flowers and bushes unless someone places an object and forgets to remove the trash. Businesses that have raised flower beds outside of their establishment could actually see an increase of random trash – until a trash can is placed nearby.

2. Easier to Weed – Instead of being hunched over your flowers on all fours, you could sit on the edge of your raised garden and pluck intruding weeds. This is aside from the fact that a raised bed is less likely to accumulate weeds due to the lack of ability that the seeds have to invade the soil. While it’s not impossible to have a few unwanted guests taking up root in your garden, the odds are significantly reduced that they will.

3. Animal Invasion – It’s not often you’ll see a dog jump into a three-foot-high raised flower bed to relieve him or herself. Raised beds help to prevent the invading animal kingdom from destroying your hard work. Female dogs have a way of killing plant life with urine and keeping her away from the gardens can help them live longer. While cats are still able to reach even the tallest of beds, there are many ways you can thwart their efforts as well.

4. Children – A raised flower bed has less of a chance of being trampled by children. Flowers that are ground-level are subjected to all kinds of violence from various elements. Playing children can demolish a beautiful bed of marigolds if they are able to walk through them. Although they may be innocent of malicious behavior, children are well known to not pay attention to what they are doing. While it may be an accident to ride a bike through the garden as they learn how to ride, the risks are still high.

The Practicality of Having a Raised Flower Bed

5. Flooding – It is quite easy for a ground-level flower bed to experience flooding whether it is from nature or human design. Raised flower gardens can be designed to spill off extra water when there is too much. Although flowers require some water, they can still drown and die.

There are many ways to design a flower garden for your home. When developing your plans of how to organize your yard, keep in mind the surrounding elements. While building for aesthetics is the primary goal, you should have a plan for being practical as well. Otherwise, you could be spending a great deal of time repairing your garden from the ravages of life. In what ways do you protect your garden from being subjected to damage?

This is a guest post by Liz Nelson from WhiteFence.com. She is a freelance writer and blogger from Houston. Questions and comments can be sent to liznelson17 @ gmail.com.