How high does a raised garden bed have to be?

I plan to build a raised garden bed in my back yard to grow vegetables (tomatoes, squash, etc.). I am planning to raise the bed only about 5.5" from the ground. Is that enough to make a difference or does the bed have to be higher? It seems like there are lots of variations on bed height from about 5.5" to about 30". I don't know if this makes a difference, but I am in Zone 7. Thanks for the help.

How high does a raised garden bed have to be?
If you are plainning to plant with deep root system (carrots...) you will need at least 8". For regular rooting crop like tomato, squash.... 6" should be enough. Make sur that your bed is wide enough to allow root spreading and to allow the heat to disipate. Water retention will also be lower in a smaller bed. In a warm zone this can mean more watering. Use a mixture base with a good compost rather than peat moss.





Marc
Reply:I don't think it really makes much of a difference except maybe as far as watering it. The higher you raise it, the more it may tend to dry out easier.





I've thought about making one for myself. May plan was to make it about chair seat height (measure the seat height of your chair or toilet) and use stone for the ledge of the raised bed. My reason for setting it at that height would be so that I can easily sit down and pick the vegetables in my garden while I sit. Then I was thinking about making the raised bed just wide enough so that I could easily reach to the middle of the bed. That way I wouldn't have to stretch to pick my vegetables.





I wanted to use stone for the ledge because I was thinking about planting herbs and plants into the ledge to give the ledge more character. Some landscaping books will show you how you can do that.





I don't want large raised beds because I want to work them by hand (garden claw) or with a miniature tiller such as a mantis tiller.





Most of the raised garden beds I've seen though are raised about 10-12".
Reply:I think 5.5 is great, I have seen them anywhere from 4 on up and am in zone 4.
Reply:I like them a little higher than that, but as long as the ground underneath is of decent quality soil, you should be OK. If the ground is clay, rocky, or hardpan, you'll need to either work on the ground under the bed or raise it up to at least 12 inches. If you don't, the bad soil will act as a barrier. The roots of your plants will hit the bad soil and just grow horizontally, making your life miserable by having to constantly feed and water the beds.

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