Self Watering Raised Bed Gardens

In an effort to reduce water usage out of doors, but still be able to garden, one option is a self watering container.  They are an excellent choice because the water is contained under the plant and therefore does not evaporate and is available to the plant 24/7, which makes over or under watering impossible.  As long as the water reserve has water in it, the plant takes what it needs when it needs us and pretty much cuts the human out of the equation all together.  Which brings me to my next point.  Self watering containers free up your time.  Instead of being a slave to watering the garden, you just make sure the containers are kept full and that is all you have to do.  While you can use a drip or soaker system on a timer, these methods take more effort to install and the squirrels love to reek havoc on drip system parts.  Luckily, they cannot do much damage to a self watering container.

So if these self watering containers are so fabulous, why isn’t everyone using them?  Well, price is a big obstacle.  They are fairly expense when compared to other types of containers of a similar size.  Plus, what if you want to make a raised bed veggie garden for instance?  The amount of containers you would have to buy would be extensive.  So what is the solution?

A self watering raised be garden of course.  I found this video over at mylittlehomestead.com, where they show how they made a self watering raised bed garden using a 55 gallon drum cut in half.  Genius!  Why didn’t I think of that?  Here is the video.
 

I think this is a fabulous way to have your cake and eat it too. All the benefits of a raised bed garden combined with the benefits of a self watering container. What could be better? If you try this in your garden, let us know! Send us pictures or video and we will post it here on the blog. Also if you discover how to make any improvements to this design, let us know. I will be trying this in my own garden. I think it would be great.