I tried raised beds for the first time last year. I was very happy with it. I don't think I'd go back.

Please keep in mind though that I can't directly compare as my gardens have all been in different states and I had a gap of a few years with no garden at all.

If the soil here was better I probably wouldn't have built the beds quite as high.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

Our soil is wonderful sandy-loam, but we have gone with raised beds (2' walls) for 2 main reasons: 1) easier access for us as we age and 2) no access for veggie-loving wild rabbits (bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha).

We have in-ground raised beds. I know that sounds weird, but we have a very large garden. After tilling up the whole area, we made a path about 3' wide around the garden, and one down the middle. The soil from the paths was tossed on the garden, and then we tilled again. We have mulch on the paths.The paths help keep the grass out.
Our reasoning was this: we have such a large garden that divving it up into raised beds was going to be very work-intensive, and expensive for the materials we would need; also we have good blackland prairie soil which needs only a little amendment; and lastly, drainage is not a problem for us. We do have rabbits, but we also have a barn cat who loves to hunt. Judging from our rabbits, a raised bed would have to be about 5' off the ground to deter them!

RTG

If you have good soil, I think it's probably your choice.

For me, I want raised beds for some crops but not others. For instance I don't think I need raised beds for corn or beans, since we have very nutritious red clay soil, and corn and beans grow well in it without much except fertilizer. Don't need to mulch them.

When the soil needs amending for crops like peppers or eggplants or tomatoes, I like a raised bed to "keep eveything together" soil-wise. I also like them when plants are extra-sensitive about moisture and mulch is needed. I like to keep it within the bed-frame.

So my attitude is "provide a raised bed if your plants would substantially benefit from it". If not, I let my lazy side rule and just plant in the open garden area!

I love my raised beds. The main reason i built them was my garden area is on the bottom of a slope,dirt was mostly gravel with lots of water seepage from the gravel... The good news, they do wonderfully in that area. The seepage/ water supply underneath the beds allows me to water very little even during the drought we had last year. Being at the bottom of a southerly protected hill, i have very little wind damage problems, and stays warmer there so i plant real early and have Lettuce year round in my unheated, uninsulated coldframes... Nobody else around here can say that.... I'm going to double my garden size this year and also put 2x4's flat on mine this year so my skinny rear end has a little wider resting area. I really like the no-till, deep mulch, no weeds aspect.

I have excellent soil but I still like raised beds for some things. I find it much easier to keep mulch in place in the raised beds for some reason, and I also like the very clear definitions of walkway vs garden area that raised beds create, and even though my soil is good I still like to amend it in the fall with leaves and chicken bedding, which is easier in raised beds. When I plant in areas that are right in the ground, I find that weeds creep in faster for me.

For some things, like pole beans, that will vine upwards, I don't use a bed. At my place I can just take a spadeful of sod and flip it over where ever I fancy planting them that year, and plant the seeds right there, so I will certainly take the "lazy" way if I find it works out well. But something like lettuces or tomatoes, I place in raised beds. It just depends on the crop.

I agree with some of the previous posters that it depends on the crop. If your crop requires a much different type of soil than you have, or would benefit from the depth, I do raised beds. I do it for root veggies, works great for carrots and beets. I would not do it for corn or beans, sometimes for tomatoes, but not always. Also, sometimes I have done raised beds when there is a difference in elevation in my yard that I want to adjust to level out, so one of my beds is a lot deeper on one end (I put the long carrots there)

I use a mixed solution like some of the other folks. Tall crops like corn, tomatoes and anything on a trellis go in the ground. Short things are in raised beds. Parts of the body aren't as young as I think they are and harvesting is easier with crops that are raised. That way I can take a camp chair out there and sit and pick. Saves on the back and knees.

g'day rtg,

do the raised beds hey? too easy, see the pics on our site might give some ideas?

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

I like a mixture depending on the crop. Corn, beans, tomatoes, broccoli, onions, strawberries, and squash are fine in more level soil. Melons, watermelons, potatoes, and carrots love more raised and amended beds.

I agree that a lot depends on what you are growing. My preference is to grow in beds that are about 3' wide - raised or not - so that I can easily reach the center, never walk on the soil, and don't waste amendments on areas that I am not growing in.

However.....Corn does so much better in blocks....and squash, pumpkin and other big sprawlers are well suited for large blocks.

Kay

I like the idea of a raised bed, though I am concerned about the cost of the soil needed to fill it. At least with an in-ground I can simply add some compost and be good to go. That's probably my only hang up at the moment, but it isn't cost prohibitive, so I just have to make the choice. The area I am considering is a flat area.

Now, to add a twist to the topic...I have another garden area at my house that is on a slope, so I dug the bed on the slope and planted in rows across it. I have another sloped area I can dig out and plant directly in the ground, OR, I could attempt a raised bed, adding a little more height to the bed at the bottom of the slope, allowing me to level the area off to a degree (not much), but also achieve a raised bed.

Is this completely insane?

One way to make a slightly raised bed is to simply make channel/walkways .......piling the channel dirt on the areas between channels which are your raised beds....gives good drainage also. These channels can be close together or a bit wider.

Ragtimegal, since you have good soil, there is no need to fill a tall raised bed. You can create a low border around the garden to keep amendments contained. Over the years you can add to the height if you want to. Or not. Or start flat and add walls later. That is what I am doing with my gardens this year.

And a retaining wall project like you mention (no it does not sound in the least crazy) is going to take a lot of material all at once. So you might want to concentrate resources into that.
Kay.