My grandpa hooked me on gardening early; some of my oldest memories are planting peas and digging potatoes in his huge garden. When I lived in Seattle, I turned my entire yard into a food factory—building raised garden beds from scratch and planting tomatoes, lettuce, brussels sprouts, asparagus, and zucchini (so, so much zucchini), along with other summer and winter squashes.

The soil in my yard here in Florida is mostly sand though, and prone to seawater inundation, so I turned to the Keter Splendor Raised Garden Bed to continue my gardening adventures after a cross-country move. The difference between the Keter Splendor and the garden beds I made myself is night and day, both in terms of how much effort it took to put them together and how easy they are to maintain.

I enjoyed building bespoke garden beds at my old house, but my plans here in Florida are to build out my garden with more Keter Splendor containers (I’m up to two.) and really enjoy the multiple growing seasons—and just one of these raised garden beds can bring your garden dreams to life, too. 

Easy to Assemble

I’ve been a container gardener for over a decade, but I used to build my own containers that sat directly on the ground and used a mix of the natural soil and amendments. Building that kind of container from scratch is a rewarding experience, but it’s also a ton of effort, which is one of the reasons I chose (and ultimately fell in love) with the Keter Splendor.

This raised garden bed container is extremely easy to assemble, with no tools or great physical exertion required. It took me less than half an hour per bed to unbox it, attach the legs, and then insert the self-watering false bottom.

The beds aren’t too heavy when freshly assembled, and I was able to build them in my living room and then carry them to my back patio. They’re extremely heavy once filled with your soil though, and the legs aren’t really designed to support pushing them around, so it’s important to put them exactly where you want them before filling them up.

When I was sure that I had the Keter garden beds in the best place, I filled them up with the Miracle-Gro Expand n’ Gro planting mix, which I was able to mix with water right in the beds. That did result in some of the water washing through into the self-watering reservoir, but I just popped the drain plugs, caught the excess in a watering can, and re-used it to water later.

Limited Space With Endless Options

These beds are about 45 inches long and 20 inches deep, so the space available for flowers, vegetables, and more is a lot more limited compared to traditional gardening, where you might have your whole backyard at your disposal. That places some small limits on plants that really spread out, like zucchini, but plants that grow more up than out are a perfect fit.

I’ve had the best luck with tomatoes, several kinds of peppers, and okra. And, I also planted watermelons once, letting the vines spread out on the patio. I’ve been able to place the plants more closely together than I would have in my traditional garden, and enjoy a huge supply of tomatoes and other veggies from just two beds.

I’ve had these planters for about six years, and I’ve enjoyed cycling through different veggies. I do miss the huge variety I had in my much larger garden beds in Seattle (especially the massive harvests of summer and winter squash), but I’ll eventually add more beds to expand the variety I can grow each year. 

In that way, the Keter Splendor lets you choose your own adventure. You can start small with a single bed, and expand your garden (if you want) over time, especially if you gain more interest and experience.

Save Your Knees and Back

I loved my homemade raised beds that sat directly on the ground, but my knees and back didn’t. I have a bad back from my days as a mechanic (and my knees aren’t a lot better). So, when it was time to set up a garden at my new house, I knew that I wanted to minimize kneeling and bending over. The Keter Splendor is the perfect solution to that problem.

This garden bed stands almost 30 inches tall, with the soil sitting a little lower than that, which is the perfect height for easy, lower-lift gardening. I’ve found that I can work the soil at the start of the gardening season, plant seeds and starts, tend to my plants, and harvest vegetables, all without needing to bend over too much.

The height of these beds is also good if you need to garden while seated, which I had to do a few years ago when my back went out. It’s just as relaxing and rewarding to sit down next to one of these garden beds as it ever was to kneel down and work the soil in my old garden. 

Enjoy Self-Watering Bliss

You don’t need to use the self-watering feature included with the Keter Splendor, but it’s really a fantastic way to make sure your plants don’t get too thirsty if you can’t water every day during the heat of the summer. Each bed has a false bottom that the soil sits on, which collects water when it rains (or when you add water manually). So when the soil is dry and your plants need a drink, it’s right there.

The problem with self-watering raised beds that have blind reservoirs is that the bed can fill up with water, inundating your plants. A lot of veggies don’t like having wet feet, which can lead to root rot, but the Keter Splendor has two ways to prevent that: an indicator that shows how much water is in the reservoir, and a drain plug that lets you release excess water.

I love the water indicator that’s built into the Keter Splendor, which is functional and adorable. It’s a little sprout leaf attached to the top of a float, and it rises up along with the water level. If you can see the red part of the meter, that means there’s too much water in the reservoir.

We get plenty of torrential downpours here in Florida, even outside of hurricane season, and I saw the water level indicator skyrocket during the first big storm after I set these planters up. Thankfully, it was really easy to pull the drain plugs and dump the excess water. I even caught a lot of it to save for later, like I did during the initial setup. 

It’s really important to keep an eye on the indicator during your rainy season, since the reservoir can fill up faster than your plants drink, even without a torrential downpour. If you’re going to be gone for a while during the rainy season, you may want to open the drain plugs preemptively.

That said, as long as you keep on top of the water level in the reservoir, I’ve found that the self-watering feature saves me a lot of time and energy that I’d normally spend watering. 

Why It’s Worth It

This raised garden bed is more expensive than the beds I built myself in Seattle, but that’s just considering the price of the components. The Keter Splendor is so much easier to assemble, and has held up so well despite being exposed to the harsh Florida sun and storms, and even a hurricane. I think the $150 price tag is more than worth it.

When you consider the planting area that’s large enough for beginners and master gardeners, and self-watering feature, I think the Keter Splendor is even more of a good deal. It usually goes on sale a couple times per year (sometimes even during major sale events like Amazon’s Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday), so you can grab it for less if you’re willing to wait a bit to expand your garden with a self-watering bed. (I’m watching the sales to add more to my garden situation.)

That said, I did pay full price for the raised garden beds I already have, and if you’re anxious to get started, they’re a good buy even without a big sale.