Raised-Bed Gardening: How to grow more in less space

by Simon Akeroyd

Overview

Whatever the size of your garden or outdoor space, raised beds can work for you. With Simon Akeroyd’s Raised-Bed Gardening: How to Grow More in Less Space, home gardeners will find the perfect bed to suit their needs and objectives.

Greater yields and less watering are the keys to using and maintaining raised garden beds. The heart of the book comprises step-by-step instructions for building and maintaining 15 types of raised beds – from the conventional to the innovative “keyhole garden,” which is particularly effective in hot and dry climates, to rooftop. The book also offers plans for raised-bed dining areas and designs to be used by children.

Illustrated with 250 images, Raised-Bed Gardening answers numerous questions, including how big and high to make a bed, using reclaimed and recycled materials, extending the season, tackling pests, watering and water conservation, and maintenance.

Herb, vegetable and ornamental gardens are explained in detail as well as:

• building a bed with center pond
• rotating crops
• creating fruit cages
• dealing with compost

Also included are suggestions for building projects and planting schemes to inspire you to create your own unique raised-bed garden.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631863707
Publisher:	Taunton Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/16/2016
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	434,627
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Simon Akeroyd is a garden writer with a passion for both kitchen gardening and cooking. He contributes to numerous magazines including Grow Your Own (as the Allotment Gardener) and was also a garden and food writer for the BBC. His books include Shrubs and Small Trees, Lawns and Ground Cover, the Allotment Handbook, A Small Course in Veg and Fruit, RHS Vegetables for the Gourmet Gardener, and (as co-author) Grow Your Own Fruit. He was previously a garden manager for the Royal Horticultural Society, and worked at both RHS Wisley and Harlow Carr.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
1. THE BASICS
Why raised beds?
Choosing materials
Using reclaimed and recycled materials
Filling a raised bed
How big?
How high?
Construction basics
Extending the season
Keeping pests off your crops
Watering and water conservation
Maintaining a raised bed
Dealing with the waste—compost!

2.TYPES OF RAISED BEDS
Conventional raised bed
Keyhole garden
Hugelkultur
Raised beds with pond at center
Raised beds with crop rotation
Ideas using recycled materials
Raised bed kits
Raised bed greenhouse/polytunnel
Raised bed fruit cage
The ornamental raised bed
Vertical garden (planting in pouches) to cover walls
Rooftop gardens
Tabletop gardens
Raised beds for children
Raised bed seating area
Strawberry raised beds
Ideas for front yards

3. PLANTING PROJECTS
Herb garden
Veg garden
Ornamental garden
Rooftop garden
Summer veg

Bibliography
Resources
Index
Credits