What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages of A Metal Raised Garden Bed?

If you open a garden in the backyard, you may want to reach into the soil now. But before you truly plant anything, you must figure out what kind of garden you want to build. Due to various reasons, metal protrusions are particularly popular. However, despite all their advantages, the use of metal raised beds also has some drawbacks. Today, we will introduce some advantages and disadvantages of metal raised garden beds to help you make a decision.

The metal raised bed is a durable and movable garden, perfect for small spaces. These beds provide better drainage, are easy to modify, and reduce weeding. However, the construction and maintenance costs of metal protrusions may be high, and they may not be ideal in warm climates as they retain heat.

What is a metal raised garden bed?

Hey, this is not complicated! A metal raised garden bed is simply a raised garden container made of metal. Whether you use a livestock sink or build your own garden bed with corrugated metal sheets and glitter, it doesn't matter. You can even use metal buckets with the top cut off, in fact, these are very suitable for growing watermelons in narrow spaces.

Metal raised beds can also be used commercially and are suitable for anyone who wants to start gardening as soon as possible, or those who do not have the tools to build their own beds. Metal beds can be made into any size, from small things like window frames to containers as large as card lathes - anything that suits your garden space.

What are the advantages of a metal raised garden bed?

Nowadays, there is a reason why metal raised garden beds are so popular. This is because they have a lot to offer! If you are planning to start a garden, metal protrusions are definitely worth considering. Check out some amazing benefits that these protrusions must provide.

Metal raised garden bed saves time

Traditional underground gardens require a lot of preparation work. The area must be marked and then the soil must be crushed using a rotary machine or tractor and a pull plow. Once flipped, the soil must be raked to remove roots, sticks, and rocks. This may sound like just a few steps on paper, but it may be a laborious process.

The metal protrusion does take some time initially, especially if you build it yourself. But once you have prepared the bed, all you need to do is fill it with topsoil, and you can go. The pre packaged topsoil provided by the Garden Center is clean and free of any debris. If you are preparing an underground vegetable plot, it must be removed by hand. This saves time and makes the garden setting process easier.

They are easy to move

One of the main drawbacks of underground gardens (and huge cultural gardens) is that once you build them, you cannot move them. They are trapped in place, and if you need to rearrange your property, you must wait until your garden is completed for this season, then deconstruct the bed and build a new one elsewhere. This is very troublesome.

The metal protrusion is movable. A small metal bed can move while the crop is still growing. Even if you still need to wait for the end of the growing season to move the large metal bed, at least you can reuse the bed. You don't have to tear them up and build new ones, saving time and money.

The metal raised garden bed is very durable

Wooden raised beds are another popular type of garden, and they share many benefits with metal raised garden beds. But because they are wood, they will decompose over time. Using treated wood can extend its lifespan, but due to the garden soil being kept moist for a long time, this environment can promote wood decay. Even treated wood will decay over time.

In addition, using treated wood can cause chemicals from the wood treatment to seep into the soil, thereby contaminating your crops. It is best to use plastic to line up the protrusions made of treated wood before planting. However, this may lead to poor drainage. Therefore, even if you protect the bed from the effects of wood decay, you may ultimately make your plants susceptible to root rot.

On the other hand, metal beds do not release chemicals, so they will not harm your product. And because they are moisture-resistant, they are very durable. Metal raised beds can be used for more than 30 years, while wooden beds can only be used for an average of 5 to 10 years.

They allow you to start your garden faster during the season

Metal conducts heat, keeping the soil good and warm, suitable for seedlings. This means that you can start planting with metal bumps earlier in the season, rather than planting on underground vegetable fields. You can also continue to grow until early winter. The longer the growing season lasts, the more food you can grow.

Of course, just because the metal raised garden bed keeps the soil warm doesn't mean you don't need to take additional measures to prevent plants from freezing. You still need to cover crop with plastic or paint cloth to protect them from seasonal frost. However, due to the metal bed's ability to quickly heat up the soil, you can get a quick start for 1 to 4 weeks during the gardening season and continue to grow after someone else cultivates their garden for a year.

You don't have to spend too much time fighting insects and other pests

Gardening is all fun and games until your crops become victims of pests and hamsters. So this is just a big headache. However, fortunately, metal protrusions can help combat these two annoying pests. Keeping plants away from the ground and insects can make it easier to control pest levels. Of course, insects can still climb onto metal to reach your plants. But metals can get hot in the sun, which helps repel insects and protect your crops.

And due to the metal protruding from the ground, ground squirrels, moles, or shrews cannot enter. Therefore, the roots can grow unrestricted, which helps your plant establish quickly. This not only helps them resist diseases, but also means that you don't have to water them frequently.

Metal raised garden beds require less weeding

When you plant plants in underground vegetable fields, you are only reusing the native soil. Although this may not necessarily be a bad thing, the soil is only cultivated, which means that all the plants that grew before you cultivated are still there. It's only a matter of time before they revive and turn your life into a nightmare of weeding.

Due to the raised metal garden bed being filled with a soil mixture made of pre packaged materials, there are fewer weeds that need to be treated. Over time, birds, squirrels, and other animals may spread seeds into your raised garden bed. Therefore, you need to uproot some here and there. However, compared to underground gardens, raised metal beds require significantly less weeding, which can save time and labor in the long run.

They are easy to modify

Different plants have different needs. For example, tomatoes prefer slightly acidic soil, while shrub beans rely more on nitrogen for production. The raised metal garden bed makes it easier to meet the personalized needs of garden plants. Because there is no traffic on the raised bed, the soil will never be too compacted. It remains loose, making it easy to mix coffee grounds, blood powder, bone powder, and other fertilizers into the soil.

The loose soil provided by the metal protrusion allows you to modify the soil of the plants when needed. You can mix the fertilizer with a hand trowel and a weed fork instead of using a shovel to break the ground like in an underground vegetable field.

They provide good drainage

Some garden plants do not like to sit in water for long periods of time. This is especially true for herbs originating in the Mediterranean region, including lavender, rosemary, sage, and oregano. Good drainage is crucial for maintaining the health of these plants. However, unfortunately, if your native soil is rich in clay, or if you live in lowland areas that tend to remain moist, your yard may not have enough drainage to keep them happy.

The metal raised garden bed filled with topsoil provides excellent drainage for these plants. The topsoil is porous enough to allow excess water to flow away, but also fertile enough to retain some moisture. You can lay gravel on the raised metal bed to further improve drainage. You can also start with a layer of wood to effectively create a huge raised cultural bed. This not only helps with drainage, but also provides valuable nutrients for your plants as the wood decomposes over time.

What are the drawbacks of a metal raised garden bed?

The advantages of metal raised garden beds far outweigh the disadvantages.

Raised metal garden beds are very expensive

For all their selling points, raised metal garden beds can be expensive. Commercially available metal garden beds may cost hundreds of dollars

Once your bed is filled, you may need to use compost, worm castings, or other substances to improve the soil to make it more suitable for your crops. You may also need to use coverings, which will make your metal raised garden bed more expensive. If money is not a problem for you, then these beds are a good choice.

Is a metal raised garden bed worth it?

If you have a small backyard space, or if your native soil is too clay rich to even consider planting a garden in it, a metal raised garden bed may be suitable for you. Overall, metal raised garden beds are durable, sturdy gardens that are easy to manage and reduce labor. Whether you are purchasing a new metal raised garden bed or building it yourself, you can save time and money in the long run.