New house came with a raised bed - what should I do with it?

[ImmortalityMyDarlings]

Just bought a new house and it came with a garden. Includes this raised bed. Haven’t had one before. Today I cleared the top of it of leaves/general detritus. There are some weeds and few rocks left. The soil is not dried out (at least for half a foot or so). And the sun you can see seems to be the maximum sunshine height in the garden. So things at the back might get some sun! Am in the south so it’s mild out.

What would you put in it? Should I just put some bulbs in? Anything else to prep it? Thanks for any ideas!

Herb garden? If it's close to the house it's lovely to be able to nip out and cut fresh herbs as you need them. Bit too early to plant up yet but could plan now and plant later.

I was thinking of herbs too! Anything you don't want the slugs to have direct access to. Maybe strawberries, once the frosts have finished.

And the sun you can see seems to be the maximum sunshine height in the garden. Remember the sun will get much higher later in the year.

The advantage of raised beds is that it's easy to replace soil and to replace plants. So I wouldn't use it for perennial plants or bulbs. I'd be going for either vegetables or a bright display of annual flowers.

Herbs if you like cooking from scratch. But keep mint in a pot as it will take over the whole bed.