Raised beds have their uses. They save stretching and bending.
Still, conventional gardening is cheaper, low maintenance and more
versatile. If you have no physical limitations, conventional, straight
in the ground gardening is an option with many benefits. All it takes is
a shovel, a little compost and a willingness to get your hands dirty.
Cheaper
Conventional gardening saves money in several ways. Here's just a couple examples.
No beds to build
Building garden beds takes time and money. Certainly, you can use
re-purposed and/or cull lumber. Still, it's not that easy to find it in
exactly the size you need or want. Lumber can be quite pricey if you're
talking about the type that holds up well to the weather. Skipping the
bed build and planting directly in the ground saves you money.
Buy less soil
Gardening requires nutrient dense soil. Raised beds have to be filled
at least 10 or 12 inches above ground level. That dirt can cost you a
fortune. With conventional gardening, you can simply amend existing soil
with compost or planter's mix. It will take some effort to "dig it in".
Still, the money you save will be well worth it.
Permanence
Most conventional gardens are located in the same spot every year. This provides the following benefits:
Less planning
After the first year, there is much less planning in a conventional
garden. After all, the location is already set. You remember where
everything was last year. You know how well it did. You know what needs
to be moved and where it should be moved to. It's a done deal, with less
prep time than you have when using raised beds.
Less preparation
Raised beds have to be constructed. Ground must be dug under them. As
mentioned before, there is a ton of soil to bring in. Filling a 4x8
garden bed takes at least a half yard of soil. That's a lot of
wheelbarrow loads. Then, there are the amendments. With conventional
gardens, you can simply till in last year's produce or compost and be
done with it.
Versatile
Works well for any vegetable
Not everything grows well in raised beds and containers. On the other
hand, people have been growing all kinds of different vegetables in
conventional gardens for centuries. If it's a plant, you can pretty much
put it in a conventional garden and it will thrive. Not so for those
raised beds. Some things simply don't do well there.
Natural disaster
Raised beds don't hold up as well in storms. For instance, if part of
your conventional garden floods, you don't suffer a huge loss. You just
lose the plants. With raised beds, your whole bed and all the soil in it
might be lost in a flood and have to be re-built.
