7 Beginner Raised Bed Garden Mistakes to Avoid

In this video I will share seven common raised bed garden mistakes. Gardening in raised beds is easier because you have control over more variable and can grow more in less space, unless you make these mistakes. So watch this video and avoid all 7 of these raised bed gardening mistakes.

MENTIONED PRODUCTS
Grassroots Fabric Pots & Raised Beds

MENTIONED/RELATED VIDEO
Winterizing Raised Beds:

DIGITAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:37 - How long should a raised bed be
01:49 - How deep should a raised garden bed be
04:02 - Materials to use for raised beds
06:15 - What do you fill raised beds with
08:39 - Do you need to refresh raised bed garden soil
09:51 - Do you need to mulch raised garden beds
11:25 - How do you prepare raised beds for winter?

________________________________________________________

Hey Guys, I’m Brian from Next Level Gardening

Welcome to our online community! A place to be educated, inspired and hopefully entertained at the same time! A place where you can learn to grow your own food and become a better organic gardener. At the same time, a place to grow the beauty around you and stretch that imagination (that sometimes lies dormant, deep inside) through gardening.

I’m so glad you’re here!

WHERE TO FIND ME (Some of the links here are affiliate links. If you purchase through our links we'll receive a small commission that helps support our channel, but the price remains the same, or better for you!)

[scottolson]

I've built 15 raised beds of various shapes and sizes, but by far my favorites are the 4 ft. x 8 ft. beds. Most of my beds are 12" tall however the first bed I ever built was 24" tall and I made the mistake of filling it completely with raised bed mix which hit the pocketbook pretty hard so I switched to 12" tall beds to save money. One thing I do include on all of my raised beds are 2" x 6"'s mounted flat along two sides so my 70 year old posterior has a place to sit while I garden. I try to keep off of my knees as much as possible.

[happycya]

We built one area to plant using basic cinder block and it works great. We also use the large totes with rope handles (made for your kids toys) to plant in and they have been wonderful! We line them down our arched cattle panels for a 16 foot arch for cucumbers and beans to climb....this year we are adding pie pumpkins and tiny watermelons. The only thing we plant in the ground is corn, this year we may add some carving pumpkins under the corn. For our tomatoes and some flowers we use the black buckets the floral department at Kroger displays give them away here and work wonderfully! We don't have near the size garden you do, but with our health issues what we do have is a lot for us!

[jackzampella]

Brian, I continue to be a fan of Next Level Gardening and always come away with something to make gardening in my 272 square feet of raised beds a little easier. 78 next week and I'll never quit the fight 😂. Thanks for your help, Brian. 👍

[robbiesmith]

Your videos should come with a warning to always have your pen and paper handy to take notes. I think you are a great teacher and I’m learning more than the brain can absorb. So glad these are videos that can be rewatched!

[SavageOO]

I'm a cold weather raised bed gardener (Michigan) and I do myself and my garden a huge favor by winterizing by mulching all of my leaves in the garden. I just lay down an incredibly thick layer of leaves (3x as thick as your probably imagining) and I let the ice and snow compact it over the winter. When spring rolls around, I dig most of the leaves and soil out of the bed, throw in a bunch of fish (usually carp, gar, suckers and bowfin), then I throw the leaves from the previous fall on top of the fish, then I put the soil back in. The following spring, there are no identifiable leaves or fish bones left and I do it all over again. It's a long hard process, but my garden is the envy of all of my gardening friends. I have 11 beds that are 8x3x1 and I try to do one or two beds per week, starting around April 1st.

[AnitasPomeranians]

I almost watched EVERY video about raised beds on youtube, and yet this video is THE MOST USEFUL of all! I learned a lot and cannot wait to build my raised bed garden😊

[homesteadgal]

Good informative video. In 2020, we converted one of our field gardens into a raised bed and container garden. Best gardening decision ever!
We made 12 4'x16' raised beds and have not regretted the decision to make them full-length -- we use oak fencing boards for our wood and the beds are a foot high. We have 12 raised beds plus 40 5-gal container grow bags.

We lined each bed w/ hardware cloth to keep out moles/voles. Two beds are dedicated strawberry beds and we just started one more bed for strawberries. We're Zone 6B and grow a great deal of our foods, canning or freezing our excess. The raised bed garden is fenced to keep our dogs out -- we used cattle panels for that. We have not found that the 16-foot lengths are a problem at all, in fact, it is good to walk lengths to keep an active eye on everything.

We also have another garden (a field garden). We won't convert that garden over because it was expensive to make our raised bed garden. Plus at our age, we're not sure we can keep up with the demands of 2 large gardens in years to come...who knows.

We used premium fill (mushroom compost and a soil blend - purchased from a reputable business). And we filled our beds to the top. We ordered bulk (2 dump-truck deliveries). Costly, yes, but this soil blend has been fantastic!! Now that the fill has settled, we topped-off the fill this year and the fill-levels are back at the top so that's 12-inches of lush growing soil with fairly decent substrate.
In all, our raised beds were done as an investment -- it continues to pay us back in so many ways. We wish that we had done this a decade or 2 ago.

[gedreillyhomestead]

The paths between the beds should be wide enough to accommodate your wheelbarrow. 👍

[babystepsgarden]

You are one of my most favorite people on YouTube! I learn more from you every day! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Thank you for taking the time and work to make these invaluable videos!

[craighalle]

Do not use walnut leaves or branches as they poison the soil so nothing grows. I reinforced my beds on the outside to maximize internal grow space. I tried to line inside the bed walls to keep the arsenic from the roots. I also placed hard plastic on the top of my fencing so the squirrels could not climb in. I need to make chicken wire covers for my 4X4 beds so the birds can't eat my strawberries, before I can. Every thing else you spoke I agreed with. I also have to use a grabber to plant with and pull weeds because I can no longer bend down far enough to do it by hand and it works well for me. Another great video Brian. Keep on growing with it. May the Lord keep blessing you and yours.

[Ken-hd]

I really enjoy your content, Brian. Your presentation style is great. However, for me, the overload of information is causing severe "cerebral flatulence". I watch a video, go to my garden, and forget what I just learned! You keep doing what you're doing. I'll keep working on me. Eventually, I WILL get it! Thank you and Blessings to all.

[shavian]

I’ve used scrap scaffolding planks for my first raised bed. A bit long at 13’ x 5’ but it does the job. Next time I used corrugated iron and pressure treated wood to build an 8’ x2’ bed, two planks high which works well. Filled the bottom with logs and crap brushwood and then my own compost. Mr first crop of over-wintered broad (fava) beans is flowering mid-April and looking great. Thank you Brian for so many great tips.

[adigmon]

We just put in two 3.5’x20’ raised beds that are 2’ tall. It’s A LOT of growing space! We used 3 cattle panels and tposts to make a 12’ long trellis over the top that connects the two beds. I love it and don’t mind walking around it at all. We made our beds out of repurposed barn tin and framed the outside panels with treated lumber. The wood doesn’t touch the soil, it’s on the outside and I lined the inside walls with landscape fabric. They turned out beautiful and I think they will last a really long time. We filled them with pine straw, leaves, and small sticks. Our local nursery has a garden blend soil we had delivered…it was our least expensive option and I mixed a ton of perlite into it. I mulched with wood shavings and everything is doing fantastic so far!

[JohnsSuburbGarden]

Brian...thank you for this. This year I built new raised beds in my small suburb garden to maximize the production this year....as I was building them, I was recalling all your tips from your how to videos on building them. Hope today is a restful day with your family...have a great week!🍅🏡

[denisemouledous]

My beds are 3 x 9. I’m short so 3 ft is my perfect width and I chose 9 ft because I got 2 -12 ft boards and cut 3 ft of each one to make one bed. My beds are now 7 inches but my new beds will be 14 inches high.

[cynthiablanton]

Amazon has provided a huge amount of cardboard for the base of my raised beds.
I should probably stop shopping now 😬😂

[charlesblakney]

A simple way that I’m trying this year is to char the lumber on the inside with a weed burner. I have heard that some charred Timbers that are buried have been preserved for over a thousand years.

[swampsagacity]

I used cinder blocks to make my beds because wood rots quickly where I live.
I can move, rearrange, or disassemble the beds any way I want.
I can also use the holes in the blocks to plant extra flowers or herbs.

The blocks were less expensive than the lumber.

[truckywuckyuwu]

You can make your wood last an extra 4-5 years simply by giving it two coatings with some cheap vegetable oils. It cures and it helps with water resistance. My garden beds are 11 years now, and they're touching the soil and have had many years with lots of rain. No rot yet.

[PLNK]

Your video on winterizing raised beds was so helpful