Advantages: I had no garden area, a limited budget, and a limited amount of compost from last year, so here's what made me develop this system.
Very Efficient use of your premium soil - concentrated soil mix right around the immediate plant ONLY! I made a soil mix of 15% peat moss, 15% composted manure [ both from my local Menards store ], added 20% topsoil, and lastly 50% home made compost, amended with some dolomite lime and epsom salt for sulfur, magnesium, and calcium [ plus the lime helped counteract some of the peat moss acidity ]
Don't need a garden space - I just placed these micro-beds along a fence area that receives full sun. You can weed whack right up to the container without damaging it, and mow right along side the square bin sides.
Free beds - Jugs are free if you don't mind 'dumpster diving' around your local restaurants.
Less watering - When you water the plant, the sun won't evaporate it away since you have the newspaper around the plant stem. Plus the plastic bed keeps moisture around the roots, and it eventually drains into the soil below.
No weeding - The newspaper prevents any weeds from cropping up.
Put them anywhere for perfect plant spacing - Just walk off the distance you want, and the space in between isn't wasted garden area, it's just regular lawn!
Free trellis - If you have some chain link fencing like I do, place any 'climbing' plants along it and let them crawl up it to their heart's content.
I'm new to this. Anyone with ideas for improvement or suggestions please reply.
)