Raised Bed Gardening

At Garden Gate Lavender, structure always comes before bloom. Our fields might look relaxed, but every bed is built with intention - from the soil to the stone. The same goes for the raised beds in your garden. It’s not about trying something trendy. It’s about doing what works, long-term. Why Raised Beds Work Practically Raised beds give you control. Control over soil quality, drainage, and layout. If you’ve ever dealt with hard clay, patchy sun, or soil that won’t hold nutrients, raised beds stop that cycle. You bring in what your plants need, directly.

At the farm, we use raised beds for lavender propagation and companion herbs. Why? Because lavender thrives in loose, well-drained soil. A raised bed keeps the roots dry and warm, especially during early spring when fields stay soggy. Materials That Hold Up

Use materials that don’t break down in two seasons. Cedar and larch resist rot naturally, no need to treat them. Avoid pressure-treated wood, especially if you grow food. Reclaimed bricks or stone work, too, if you have them. The point is - build once, not three times.

Don’t overbuild. A raised bed should fit your arm’s reach, not just your yard’s dimensions. Standard width is 3 to 4 feet, so you can access from either side without stepping on the soil. Stepping compacts. Compaction ruins everything.

Soil: Get It Right From the Start

We blend sandy loam, compost, and a bit of soil for lavender. You might need something richer depending on what you grow but skip generic garden soil bags. They often lack structure and hold too much moisture. Raised beds drain faster than ground beds, so your mix needs to stay loose but hold nutrients.

Do a simple test - squeeze a handful of moistened soil. If it crumbles, it’s good. If it stays clumped or mushes, it needs sand or compost. Watering

Raised beds don’t hold water the way flat ground does. That’s a good thing if your soil is right but it means you need to be intentional. Drip irrigation is the most efficient setup. We run ours at dawn when the plants need water, not when it’s convenient. If you have to hand water or use a sprinkler, do it in the early morning, not during the day where the hot sun can evaporate the water quickly. 

Mulch the top layer to keep the surface from drying too fast. Straw works. So does bark. Avoid dyed wood chips. They don’t break down, and they bring in molds that don't belong. Landscape fabric can be used in raised beds by burning holes in the fabric where you want the plants. This reduces weeds and keeps moisture in the bed.

Think in Systems Raised bed gardening isn’t a layout choice - it’s a system. It changes how you plan, how you feed, how you rotate crops. At Garden Gate, every part of the system serves the whole. Chickens aerate the rows in off-seasons. Beds get cleaned, turned, and reset before we plant again.

In a home garden, the same mindset applies. Think in terms of cycles: composting, rotating, watering, resting. Raised beds give you the structure to manage that easily.

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Don’t rush the setup. Raised beds are a long game. Build once, plant well, and learn from the rhythm of your space.

People come to Garden Gate Lavender for the scent, but they stay to ask about the soil, the slope, the bees, the timing. The quiet stuff. That’s where the work happens - and where the joy is.

If you’re building your first raised bed, build it like it matters. Because it does. It will shape how you grow, and how you see your space. And in time, it’ll give back more than you expect.