Meanwhile, raised beds can be found in many gardens. But which plants are best suited for growing in raised beds? Find out more here.
Raised beds are trendy. It doesn't matter whether they are made of stone and permanently installed in the garden or made of wood and are mobile and can be placed individually with casters. And this horticultural fad has a clear advantage: by raising the root area, it heats up faster in raised beds in summer, meaning that higher yields can be achieved than with cultivation in beds. In winter, however, the unwanted cold gets in faster and can therefore lead to frost damage. But which plants are particularly suitable for growing in raised beds? We will get to the bottom of this question below.
Planting raised beds: making the right choice
In order to achieve good yields in a raised bed, the plants (whether vegetables, herbs or fruit) can be selected according to various criteria. Of course, the growth height of the plants is crucial, because with high-growing crops, care and harvesting can quickly become difficult. In addition, not all plants get along equally well in such a small space and the nutrient requirements of the individual cultures can also be decisive for the selection. So it makes sense to always grow plants with a high nutrient requirement if the last change of the substrate was not too long ago.
In the first year of life of a raised bed, so-called heavy consumers such as coal, carrots or strawberries can be cultivated very well. A good option for the plant combination in the raised bed is to grow both plants with not so high nutrient requirements and those that require a high supply of nutrients. In addition, a partial change of the substrate in the raised bed - at least in the upper 30 cm - at the beginning of each gardening season in spring is optimal. In addition, some herbs such as the aromatic hyssop or lavender are well suited for cultivation in raised beds, as the essential oils they contain can counteract infestation with animal plant pests.
Criteria for selecting suitable plants
- Growth height and space requirement
- Nutritional Needs
- Compatibility with other plants
- Positive effect against pest infestation (herbs)
- hardiness
The following products have proven themselves in our raised beds:
- Floragard Universal Organic Raised Bed Soil: Peat-reduced special soil for ecological gardening in raised beds, the Flora Bio-Mix fertilizer ensures a rich harvest and vital plants.
- Floragard Organic Soil Tasty: Peat-free organic special soil, suitable for tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines and other fruit vegetables.
- Floragard Mulch Pine Bark: Decorative mulch made from pure pine bark, protects plants from frost and cold, naturally suppresses weed growth.
Universal organic raised bed soil 40 liters€12.89Details →
Floragard organic soil delicious 3x20 liters - for tomatoes, vegetables, berries and… €20.97Details →
Floragard Mulch pine bark 25-40 mm 60 L • coarse • decorative flooring •… 12.99€Details →
Plants in raised beds: The 10 top plants
From vegetables to herbs to fruit: Due to their specific properties, these 10 plants are particularly suitable for growing in raised beds. With which plants in combination they get along and make sense, of course, has to be considered elsewhere.
Salad
Regardless of whether lettuce, radicchio, lollo rosso or iceberg: Leafy greens are particularly suitable for cultivation in raised beds because they grow quickly and quickly leads to income. In addition, lettuce does not have a particularly high nutrient requirement and does not leach out the very limited substrate in the raised bed. In addition, lettuce is very compatible with other plants in the raised bed.
Zucchini
Zucchini grow very sprawling and therefore require a lot of space in the bed. When planting in a raised bed, you can place the zucchini plants on the edge so that they hang down the sides. The rapid heating of the soil in the raised bed also promotes the growth of the warmth-loving courgettes.
Real hyssop
Hyssop is a Mediterranean herb with a particularly high content of essential oils. In this way you can spice up the kitchen, but also keep unwanted pests out of the bed. aphids or snailsFor example, they are driven away by the intense odors and so you can keep the pressure of certain pests in the raised bed low even without using pesticides.
Mediterranean herbs
In general, Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary, basil, thyme or lavender can be grown in raised beds. In the summer they enjoy the extra warmth. But overwintering the cold-sensitive plants can sometimes be difficult. Just as the earth warms up more quickly in summer, the cold in permafrost temperatures also finds its way into the raised bed more easily in winter.
Tip: For an optimal supply of nutrients to the plants in the raised bed, a primarily organic long-term fertilizer such as our Plantura organic universal fertilizer is ideal. This gently releases its nutrients to the plants over a period of three months and sustainably stimulates soil activity in your raised bed.
Strawberries
Strawberries can also be successfully cultivated in raised beds - over several years. Since they also diligently form runners, they are very easy to propagate yourself. A little fun fact: From a botanical point of view, the strawberry is not a berry at all, but a so-called aggregate fruit. A real berry, on the other hand, is the tomato.
Onions
They may make you cry when you peel the onions, but in some dishes they simply cannot be missing. It is therefore more than justified that these leeks find a place in the raised bed. They are put into the ground relatively early in the gardening year (March) and only harvested in autumn when the leaves have dried up. Although they take up a lot of space in the raised bed, they are also relatively likely to lead to a successful harvest.
Tages
People call the tagetes the marigold. At first glance, this ornamental plant doesn't seem to have much use beyond the bright orange or yellow flowers that grace the garden with vigor. However, you can reduce small roundworms, so-called nematodes, which infest various plants and can thus lead to crop failures and reduced vitality. Tagetes secrete toxic substances to the tiny worms that can only be seen under a microscope, causing their death.
Mangold
Although the leaves of the chard are used, botanically it is one of the beets and is therefore related to sugar beet, beetroot and co. Swiss chard must be watered regularly when growing in the bedwill. However, since only individual leaves are removed during the harvest, it can remain in place throughout the summer and be harvested again and again. This saves the cultivation of new plants and the space in the raised bed is permanently used.
Carrots
Of course, carrots are also suitable for growing in raised beds. In this case, too, the additional heat in the raised bed helps to shorten the cultivation time and lead to an early harvest. However, care must be taken to ensure that the raised bed is deep enough and offers the carrots enough space to develop the orange-colored turnips that are in the interest of cultivation.
You can also successfully plant your raised bed with these top 10. In principle, almost all plants are suitable for growing in a raised bed. Depending on why the plant should find a place in the raised bed, you should ask yourself a few questions before making your selection. Any gaps that appear can always be filled quickly, and experience has shown that spontaneity and improvisation provide additional fun and unexpected success when gardening in raised beds.