As nice as the idea of ​​growing your own tomatoes and cucumbers is, the gardening that goes with it means one thing above all: hard work. From sowing the numerous seeds to caring for the growing plants to harvesting the grown crops, it is a long journey - involving a lot of time, patience and back problems. So it is hardly surprising why raised beds are becoming increasingly popular: they not only require less space, but are also particularly easy on the back.

Tip: The width of the raised bed should not be more than 120 centimeters depending on your height - otherwise it will be difficult to work in the middle of the cultivation area.

If you opt for a raised bed made of wood, particularly durable boards (approx. 2.5 to 5 centimeters thick) are recommended for the side walls - for example made of larch, robinia or Douglas fir. Make sure that the type of wood is untreated and free of pesticides.

Otherwise you will need these materials:

Once you have all the materials together, the wooden boards and posts must first be painted with the glaze. Once the side walls have dried, you can continue with the construction of the raised bed.

Tip: If you don't have your own garden, you can also create a mobile raised bed on stilts on the balcony or terrace. You can get the complete kit for this here, for example.

Filling the raised bed correctly is crucial for successful planting. For this reason, the following components should be stacked in the correct order at least a meter high:

First place coarse material such as tree or hedge clippings (twigs and branches) on the bottom of the raised bed, it serves as a kind of drainage. Then lay a thick layer (about 20 centimeters) of chopped wood such as branches or bark mulch. Then pour your garden waste on it, such as grass clippings and leaves - you can also use the previously dug sod here. Now layer half-ripe compost on top (approx. 15 to 20 centimetres) and finally the planting layer. It consists of humus-rich soil mixed with mature compost. Now you can plant the raised bed. Also in this point you should choose the seeds carefully.

Tip: In the first year, heavy feeders – i.e. plants that withdraw nutrients from the soil as they grow – are particularly suitable for sowing. These include, in particular, peppers, leeks, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini and celery. After three years, however, other plants such as spinach, lettuce and radishes or strawberries are already available.

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