What Type of Garden Should You Have?

Now that you’ve found the best location for your garden, it’s time to think about which gardening method you will use.

Raised Bed or Container?

Most raised garden beds have no solid base and therefore are open to the ground, allowing plant roots access to the soil below, whereas a container plant grows in a confined space.
Raised beds require simple construction, whereas containers can easily be purchased ready to go. Both types need to be filled with soil, but if you have access to native ground soil, you can use a mixture of that in a raised bed, saving money on soil costs.
Containers demand more frequent watering, which is a consideration if you’re often away from home. Raised beds allow more growing options, but typically container gardens require less maintenance and labor overall.

Figuring Out Size and Shape

Most gardeners who can give an hour per week to garden tasks during peak season can easily manage a few raised beds. Although raised beds come in a variety of shapes and sizes, I recommend sticking with a conventional size. A simple 4-by-8-foot, 4-by-12-foot, or 3-by-6-foot bed provides plenty of plant layout options.
If you choose container gardening, you will likely find your limits not in the amount of time you can give but rather in your budget. Purchasing containers and soil can become costly. You can always start with a few containers and add more as your budget allows.

Mix and Match Garden Types

What if you can’t decide on the type of garden you want? Many gardeners enjoy growing with a mixture of these forms. I grow vegetables and herbs in the ground, in raised beds, and in containers. Because there are pros and cons to each method, I use each to my advantage.
Frequently harvested plants such as herbs and greens are ideal container plants. Some vegetables, such as onions and peppers, thrive in the warm, well-draining (but not too well-draining) soil of raised beds. And some crops, such as corn, are best suited to the larger space of an in-ground garden.
Regardless of the place, remember vertical gardening. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and pole beans, for example, benefit from trellising whether in containers, raised beds, or the ground.

References

Bradley, Fern Marshall, Barbara W. Ellis, and Deborah Martin. The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control. New York: Rodale, Inc., 2009.

Bradley, Fern Marshall, Barbara W. Ellis, and Ellen Phillips. Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. New York: Rodale, Inc., 2009.

Bradley, Fern Marshall, and Jane Courtier. Vegetable Gardening. White Plains, NY: Toucan Books, 2006.

Cool Springs Press. Gardening Complete. Minneapolis: Cool Springs Press, 2018.

Damrosch, Barbara. The Garden Primer . New York: Workman Publishing, Inc., 2008.

Harrington, J. F. “Soil Temperature Conditions for Vegetable Seed Germination.” University of California at Davis. Accessed October 18, 2019.

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/documents/12281/soiltemps.pdf .

McCrate, Colin, and Brad Halm. High-Yield Vegetable Gardening . North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, 2015.

Reich, Lee. Weedless Gardening . New York: Workman Publishing Co., Inc., 2001.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (blog). “The Major Plant Families in a Vegetable Garden.” Accessed October 22, 2019. http://www.southernexposure.com/the-major-plant-families-in-a-vegetable-garden-ezp-190.html .