Despite the large volume of information on raised gardens and planter box gardening, many people still make mistakes. Here are the common mistakes that gardeners make when erecting raised garden beds or a planter box:
- Making Beds Too Wide: When a raised garden bed is too broad, it makes it impossible to efficiently work from all sides. However, some gardeners make their beds too wide (more than four feet), pushing them to step onto the soil. In the process, they compact the earth, making it difficult for plants to grow.
- Using Unsafe Materials: A common mistake is for gardeners to use materials like chemically-treated or pressure-treated wood. Plants may absorb the chemicals when they leach into the soil, endangering your health. That’s why you should go for decay-resistant lumber, bricks, stones, synthetic lumber, or concrete blocks.
- Avoiding Mulch: Despite its many benefits, some gardeners choose to altogether avoid mulch. They forget its usefulness in retaining soil moisture, maintaining soil temperature, and preventing weeds’ growth.
- Using Unhealthy Soil: Using the wrong soil in a raised garden box leads to unhealthy crops. That includes fast-draining potting soil or one with too many chemical fertilisers. If you want healthy plants, then you should use a mixture of bagged soil and organic materials.
- Improper Irrigation: It is evident that plants cannot grow without water. Therefore, you need to water your planter boxes regularly and adequately. If you aren’t available to water the plants using a hose or watering can use drip lines or soaker hoses. These will irritate your plants without creating unnecessary breaks.
- Garden Beds Placed Too Close: To create a comfortable working room around planter boxes, you should leave some space between them. Unfortunately, some gardeners overlook that, finding it hard to get rood for maneuver around the garden.