This is how you make the raised bed fit for spring!

The crocuses are showing the first shoots and you can feel the air getting milder and the days getting longer? Passionate hobby gardeners then itch their fingers. The raised bed is one of the areas in the garden that you can plant early. Because the natural rotting process not only provides a large supply of nutrients, it also forms underfloor heating for your plants. With a cold frame attachment, the first plants for a rich vegetable harvest can be grown as early as February, when the snowdrops show their delicate heads.

A classic raised bed is Built up and produced layer by layer about natural rotting own fertilizer and provides additional warmth to the plants . As a rule, a filling lasts six years. Then you have to reequip the raised bed. This is ideal work for autumn, so that the material can settle. In spring, you can make the loft bed fit again with little effort .

• Once your raised bed has overwintered after harvesting, remove the cover made of semi-mature compost, leaves, straw or foil. The protective layer has counteracted the leaching of nutrients.
• If you have grown vegetables such as iceberg lettuce, parsnips, kale or purslane over the winter, remove the remaining plants.
• Now rake through the soil to remove root residues, leaves, branches and any flower residues with seeds.
• Loosen the top layer of soil.
• Water thoroughly.
• If it turns out that the raised bed has sagged, fill up with fresh soil.
• On this occasion, you can supply the bed with fertilizer right away when it is already entering its third or later year. In the first two years, the naturally contained nutrients are usually sufficient.

Then you should buy a cold frame. With a Cold frame box you start the gardening season in February and extend the period of use into winter. For the Karibu raised bed 0 and 1, a cold frame attachment is available in a set. Place this on the wooden raised bed and extend the gardening season to almost 365 days per year . Because nothing is better than Freshly harvested vegetables from our own garden in organic quality . Thanks to the warmth from below and the protection provided by the cold frame box, you can start growing at least four weeks earlier than outdoors.

A raised bed is a typical vegetable patch because it allows for back-friendly work and promises a rich harvest. Without a cold frame attachment, the Ice Saints a good guideline to start sowing . After these days in mid-May, night frost is no longer to be expected. Which plants you plant depends not only on your personal preferences. The Time in the life cycle of the raised bed plays a major role.

• In the first year after the new stratification in autumn, heavy feeders the right choice. These include cucumbers, tomatoes, fennel, zucchini and most types of cabbage.
• In the second year is the subsoil perfect for medium feeders . These include carrots, broad beans, onions, and some aromatic herbs.
• In the third year you must either additional fertiliser or for weak feeders . These include crisp salads, sweet peas and herbs.
• In the fourth year you have the choice. Either you fertilize to enjoy beloved heavy or medium feeders, or you leave Growing green manure on the bed and lift it in autumn. Green manure with clover, mustard, rapeseed, vetches, violets or beans can look quite decorative.
• In the fifth year you can heavy feeders again after a green manure or you fertilize as needed.
• In the sixth year the bed is ready for Medium or weak feeders , in the Autumn you empty the wooden raised bed and Relayer it .

Hint! Green manure is also possible every autumn with appropriate plants and improves soil quality. However, the bed cannot then be used for winter vegetables.

Have you if you don't feel like renewing the raised bed after the use phase, then decorate it with meadow flowers such as poppies, knightspurs, chamomile or cornflowers. On the loose, nutrient-poor soil, the annual plants sow themselves again and again and thrive better than on meadows. If necessary, simply reactivate the raised bed with a fresh filling. However, in order for the raised bed to be used for several years, it must also be maintained regularly. Valuable Tips for proper care of the raised bed you can get in our advice section.

A raised bed allows relaxed gardening even with back problems or in a wheelchair, which makes it ideal for balconies and terraces. However, a traditionally layered or completely soil-filled raised bed quickly becomes too heavy for the balcony. The solution: Discover the Karibu raised bed on stilts . Whether magnificent geraniums, colourful petunias or home-grown vegetables and aromatic herbs - this raised bed can be accommodated on every balcony and is equipped with a practical shelf for fertilizer and garden tools. Protected by the wall of the house in a sunny place, order this raised bed in spring directly after the first frost-free nights.