Unpopular opinion: raised garden beds are overrated for most backyards

I see everyone building these expensive wooden boxes that rot out in 3-4 years, but isn't it cheaper and easier to just till the ground and add compost? My neighbor spent $400 on lumber and hardware cloth, and my in-ground rows are producing twice the tomatoes for like $30 in soil amendments. Am I missing something or are people just following Instagram trends?

2 comments

2 Comments

riley_taylor1d ago

I get the "Instagram trends" thing for sure. I tried a raised bed once and the sides warped after two winters, now I just dig straight into the dirt with some compost mixed in and it's way less hassle.

lane.eric1d ago

Exactly, that's the same thing I figured out last year. I built two nice cedar beds and one of them completely fell apart after three winters, so now I just dig straight into the clay with some compost and it's way more productive with basically zero maintenance. Instagram makes it look like you need all this fancy infrastructure, but the ground itself works fine if you just give it a little help.