The Pro's and Con's of Raised Beds

Benefits

For gardeners

• Can look after plants and harvest whatever the weather using clean paths and without treading on the soil.
• Reach the soil comfortably from both sides, making it easy to look after plants.
• Easier to know where to walk, helping to avoid squashing plants and compacting soil.

For Growing

• Minimal soil compaction of air pockets and drainage channels. This improves yield and reduces the need for digging (compared with traditional plots that are dug yearly with soil trodden on to tend plants).
• Plants can be grown closer together in beds, often giving higher yields. The denser plant canopy also discourages weeds.
• Improve the drainage of ‘heavier’ wetter soils like clay. 
• Soil improvement (eg adding compost) is concentrated on the growing area and not wasted on paths. 
• Crop rotation is easier to organise when plants are in beds, ie growing plants in different areas of soil  each year to avoid nutrient deficiencies and the build up of soil-borne pests and diseases.•
• Easier to use crop protection methods such as cloches.•
• The height of taller raised beds may help deter low-flying pests like carrot root fly.

Drawbacks of raised beds

• Cost of materials and amount of work involved to make.
• Soil at the bed edges often dries out quickly, especially on ‘lighter’ sandy soils.
• Slugs have a habit of hiding at bed edges ready to eat crops.
• If beds are edged or raised, the design layout is relatively inflexible once built. The alternative to beds is growing plants in containers or using a flexible open soil layout without permanent paths.

Be careful not to trip over raised bed edges. Wooden edges in particular can be slippery when wet and may give splinters.