DDC's Vegetable Garden - A Midwest Vegetable Garden experience

Tips for Successful Raised Gardens

Start small. Start with a small raised garden to see if it works for you.
Keep any weeds down with a deep layer of mulch.
Start with easy seedlings like lettuce, parsley, and basil
Make sure you use great soil. Good soil is important in any garden, but it is essential in a raised garden. There’s not a lot of room for error here, so get the best soil you can afford.
Make it as deep as you can. Shallow raised gardens are much harder to deal with than deep ones.
Add trellises to grow vegetables up and save space. One zucchini left to its own will take up a huge amount of space, for example. Train it up so you can grow low-growing vegetables in front. Here are 15 sturdy trellis ideas.
Fertilize regularly. Use a good organic fertilizer, as often as the packaging says.
Start a compost pile so you have a ready supply of goodness to add to your raised garden. Remember, raised gardens do not “make” their own nutrient like an in-ground garden might. You’ll have to feed it everything it needs.
Plan for a cover. Raised gardens are even more susceptible to bugs and animals than in-ground gardens. It’s a good idea to plan for an animal-proof cover if the need arises. Could be anything from a simple net cover to a complete roof.