M Brace Raised Bed Gardening

M Brace Raised Bed Gardening

Corners Gardening for Raised Garden Bed 

If you’ve ever wanted to try raised beds, either to extend your gardening season or because you have limited garden space, now you can do so without having to spend hours building a bed. The M Brace makes it easy for anyone to create a stunning raised bed for gardening. You can use this device to create a raised bed in your actual garden, or you can use it on a patio or other hard surfaces in lieu of container gardening.

The M Brace is especially nifty for people with very limited space because you can buy the braces and then decide how big you want your garden to be. Many people are intimidated by the idea of raised beds because of all the planning and building involved. You have to decide where to put the bed then you have to measure and decide how large you want it to be before you start building. Then comes the actual building, which for some people is enough to keep them from ever having the raised bed they dream of.

The Bloom Instabrace raised bed corners of Bond Manufacturing promise to turn to design and constructing a raised bed into a simple, easy, and tool-free job. In fact, it’s not that easy.

What the Heck is the Instabrace?

There are two common reasons why people do not buy or set up raised beds:

• Premade ones may not be of the right size or style.
• It can be difficult to render robust, well-fitting corners for DIY raised beds.
• The Instabrace solves these two problems.

It consists of four powder-coated steel corners between which you can simply slip any 2-inch thick wooden board of your choosing. The corner pieces tie it together and you can customize the look and scale of the raised bed to suit your yard and your esthetic tastes.

Choosing Boards For the Elevated Bedside

The corner braces are about 10 inches tall and 9 inches wide. The vendor advises that the overall height of the sides should not exceed 12 inches and that the packaging should display three choices for stacking boards:

• 1 x 12-inch wide board
• 2 x 6-inch wide boards
• 3 x 4-inch wide boards

I opted to use two 6-inch redwood boards on either side (a cheaper choice than using 12-inch boards) bought at our nearby big box hardware store. Given the height of the Instabrace, I was worried that using 4-inch boards would make the top layer brittle since the corner braces would hold just 2 inches.

I had the boards trimmed to length in the shop to make it smoother. You will have to pay a minimum price for a break, but it’s cheaper than cutting it yourself and depending on the length, you may also get the cut planks in your vehicle (instead of having to strap them to the roof to get them home).

Now, whether you simply want warmer soil for certain plants or you want to take container gardening to the next level, the M Brace makes it so simple for you to do that. All you’ll need are the boards for the sides of the bed. Get them all the same length if you want a square bed or get them in two sizes if you prefer a rectangle. That’s all there is to it. No blueprints, complicated instructions, hammers, nails, or screws are required. Purchase the lumber precut and you won’t even need a saw.

All you do is decide where you want your garden bed, put your braces in place, and slide the wood into them. You don’t have to measure and be exactly precise as you slide the wood into the mounts because they automatically move into the right position because of the length of the wood. Once you’ve put the wood in place and have the height it needs to be, you’re finished building your raised bed.

There’s never been an easier way to achieve this. You don’t have to be mechanically inclined. You don’t even need to have used a hammer or screwdriver in your life. The only thing you need to be able to do is to lift the wood into the braces, and because the longest side you’ll want to build is 12 feet, almost anyone is able to do this.

Read More: Things To Consider Before Buying Or Building A Raised Bed

If you’re container gardening now in large pots or buckets as many people do with limited space, imagine having your own little garden plots instead of just a few containers. It’s easy to achieve that with the M Brace. They come in sets of 4 and are easily ordered online. They’re attractive, too.

You can choose from several different die-cut designs like carrots, swirls, or a sun design so that your raised bed looks exactly how you want it to. And the M Brace is made from recycled materials, which makes your already green garden even greener.

Read More: 13 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD USE RAISED BEDS

Planting Vegetable Gardens In Raised Garden Beds

Planting a vegetable garden can be done easily in raised beds, and can greatly reduce the risk of injuring your back while you’re tending the garden. It is also a great way to utilize a small space and maximize the area available to you. It’s wise to first determine if you want a permanent gardening bed or a temporary one, and then you can move on to selecting the materials to make the raised beds. 

Rot-resistant wood, stone, and brick are all suitable materials for building a gardening bed. Growing a vegetable garden in raised beds is a beautiful and convenient way to reap all the benefits of homegrown produce.

Permanent Beds Garden

A permanent bed is a good choice for those of us who might want the garden design to remain the same forevermore. It’s the best way to go for individuals who want to build it and then forget about it, with the single exception, of course, of planting. Cedar is a rot-resistant wood that would be suitable for a project like this. If you’re leaning away from wood you might want to consider rocks, bricks, or cement blocks. The goal is to create a bed from materials that would provide long-lasting support for the garden year after year.

If aesthetics are important, decorative rocks or bricks might be more attractive to look at than plain cinderblocks, but remember that once the garden starts growing your eyes will probably be more focused on the plants than on the materials you used for the garden housing.

Temporary Beds Garden

The benefit of building a temporary bed is that you can adjust the design and layout of your garden each year. Having more than one way to set up a garden might add a fun and exciting element to your horticulture endeavors. It would be suitable for individuals who have families with ever-changing needs.

Space in the backyard might be limited for gardening if you have small children or pets that use the area. As the children grow and their play areas are used less and less, you could move the raised beds to different locations in the backyard.

The materials for a temporary bed may also include rot-resistant wood, bricks, rocks, and cinderblocks. The heavier the materials, however, the more cumbersome takedown and setup will be. Oftentimes you will have to joist wood like cedar together, so it might be challenging to move framed pieces to another location.

Dimensions of Raised Beds

When you’re thinking about making raised beds to grow a vegetable garden, it’s important to get the proper dimensions so the garden is successful, and so you can maximize the ease of gardening on an elevated surface.

Dimensions to keep in mind are adequate depth, a width that is reachable, and a length that is to your liking. It might be a good idea to make your beds based on the following dimensions:

Create beds that are at least 12 inches deep

To ensure roots penetrate deeply enough into the soil, it’s important to make the beds at least one foot deep.

Beds need to be reachable in width

In order to make the garden accessible for you to work in, you may not want to build the beds more than 3 to 4 feet wide, unless you have long arms and an even longer reach.  Keep in mind that you can work on one side, walk around to the opposite side and work along with that side as well.  It’s not necessary to reach the entire width from one side of the bed.

The length can be determined by your desires

Depth and width are the two dimensions that really need to be planned carefully.  Length can be based on what your area allows and your own personal taste.

What to Plant in Raised Beds

You can enjoy all the variety of products in a raised garden that a traditional garden might offer.  You might want to put gourds in one bed, root vegetables in another, and tomatoes off on their own.  Herbs can also be planted in raised beds along with flowering plants, and berries.  Each variety of plant needs to be placed in the soil in the appropriate season.

Feed and Water Plants in Raised Beds Regularly

Raised beds have a tendency to dry out faster than regular garden beds, so be vigilant in watering.   The soil will not be able to feed the plants in your garden as easily as it could in a traditional garden, so regular fertilization is also a key ingredient in a successful raised garden bed.