In article , jane jane@moonrose.
demonmapson.co.uk writes

Course this also depends on the aspect of the land. My lottie slopes
diagonally, so putting in pieces of wood on the downward sides of each
bed helps to level it and stop water running straight off and away
from the plants. I've done what you describe for the past couple of
years, with carpet pieces as paths, and it does help management, apart
from the slope. This season for one bed I put in some sides, levelled
the soil and it worked so well I'm now trying to 'fence' in all the
beds.

[reply to both messages]

Yes, as always gardening decisions are a combination of personal choice
and given circumstances. If your beds need some shoring up at the lower
end, then that is the right thing for you to do. Where soil has a
tendency always to be very loose and friable, raised beds can spill over
onto adjoining paths and can need holding in. Some gardeners find a need
to raise a veg. growing area to overcome problems of drainage, or
because their soil has a persistent tendency to clog up and return to
sub-soil. In other gardens where the main aspect is flower beds,
herbaceous borders, lawns, shrubberies etc., a veg. growing area can
seem a little informal and the gardener may choose to box it around so
as to make it conform more to the general garden plan.

My point is that an area will not crop better just because it is at a
higher level than the rest of the garden. Raised bed gardening can be
done at any level, but it will only succeed if the necessary
horticulture is carried out. That can vary widely depending on many
factors, but mainly it implies: that the soil is not compacted by
treading, as it is with row cropping; the soil is kept in high fertility
by animal and/or green manuring, and by fresh composting; the crops are
rotated on a 3 or 4 year plan and they are cleared earlier rather than
later; the bed/s are rested in fallow after 3 or 4 crops have been taken
and they are kept free of perennial weeds (annual weeds can easily be
pulled out from the free soil, or chopped off to bio-degrade in situ.)

This is all very much easier to carry out than to describe. By these
means, an area can remain productive, healthy and simple to manage for
any length of time. Organic or non-organic methods can be followed, but
the system is more suited to organic growing.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.