One such item, in a previous article of a friend’s garden, was a pair of cupped hands lying flat in the garden that contained a small amount of dirt planted with dragon’s blood sedum — how neat is that? This same cement creation could contain a small amount of bird seed or simply left for water to collect in when you’ve watered the garden. The birds will love you for it.
When laying out a raised bed (or two or three) keep things in perspective and consider surrounding landscaping and beds — in other words don’t just throw one out there. Make it a part of the whole landscape and design.
Keep beds level even if it means using more timbers on one end or cutting it into a slope in the lawn. Try to retain equal measurements between beds and use a level when laying them out and a square to keep corners even.
Raised beds planted on a slope should be cut into the slope to keep them level rather than following the slope of the landscape. It just makes sense for incorporating even watering practices and the prevention of run-off of the soil inside the parameters of the enclosure.