RAISED GARDEN Bed Design INSPIRATION | Square Foot Gardening

The How Do Gardener ^ | August 17, 2022 | The How Do Gardener

[orsonwb]

Thinking about starting a Raised Bed Garden? These beautiful and inspiring design ideas can be adapted to almost any space.

[orsonwb]

Just a video slideshow of raised garden bed ideas. No talking. Some cool ideas.

[cdcdawg]

Good stuff. Makes me think I didn’t put nearly enough imagination into designing my garden.

[super7man]

Beautiful garden space.

Amortizing the cost of the garden, these will be the most expensive vegetable you ever eat.

Sort of like when we had chickens = eating expensive eggs. ;o)

[Blueflag]

Be sure to test drive different soil mixes. I found that the classic “Mel’s mix” dried out WAAY to fast in the hot Ga sun”. More ‘manure’ less peat made the difference.

Also go DEEP with your soil, You’ll be surprised at how it settles, and deeper soil for me allows the greater density of planting to succeed. IMHO.

Maintain a good pest fence, capable of keeping out bunnies all the way down to chipmunks. Bury the fence in the soil or tightly staple the bottom edges cus those critters can be diggers.

My bride doesn’t want my total square footage to expand, so SQ Ft gardening has been key to my gardening output.

[Blueflag]

The first year *IS* pricey. Just eat those costs LOL.

Then subsequent years are economical.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks! I’ll link this to our Weekly Garden Thread.

I have 16 raised beds, all 4’ x 8’ Nothing fancy, but I’m always looking for ideas to jazz things up!

[Pollard]

I like Mel’s first book/method better than his second version. The first version was to loosen 6 inches of soil and then mix 6 inches worth of compost into it to have enough for the 6 inch raised bed. You end up with 12 inches of well amended soil.

His second method was just 6 inches of compost on top of undisturbed soil. I can see that drying out quick.

The first method likely works better with heavy soil than with sandy soil for holding moisture but I think most of the US has heavy soil.

[madison10]

What little garden I have is in kiddie pools, garden bags and tiny space in an older garden. I purchased a raised bed corrugated thing, but will have to use it next year, Lord willing and the *creek don’t rise.

Made the mistake of moving zucchini to bags because: rabbits. They got mildew, two of three survived and I am thrilled to have ONE zucchini at the moment. LOL

*Powers that be do not outlaw them or something

[Blueflag]

Agree. The vermiculite add-in to me is over-rated for moisture retention as well.

[Pollard]

Cheap raised beds for those with bad backs/knees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2UdWPDBmRM

[madison10]

Wow! That is alot! Raised beds are quite the investment.

[deport]

Sort of like when we had chickens = eating expensive eggs. ;o)

*********

As a kid growing up we had chickens, eggs and lots of fertilizer
for the garden. These were enclosed and most of the eggs were
sold to a processing plant. Eggs and chicken meat wasn’t one of
my favorite foods growing up. In my waning years its not a problem.

[GOPJ]

Great suggestions.

[goodnesswins]

Thx for posting...just now planning a front courtyard garden.

[Pollard]

Untreated wood lasts a couple of years here. I saw a video of a guy who experimented with molded concrete sides using different mixes trying to make them as light as possible. Ended up with a foam-crete type of thing.

The more I think about raised beds with sides, the more it seems like too much work. Since I have heavy soil, raised beds aren't a bad idea to help with drainage but I think this style is easiest.
(misc pic found on web)

Maybe with a little wider pathways. If I make 3 inch spacers for the wheels on my baby tractor, it would be 30 inches between the tires and would be easy to make and maintain these. Looks like 100 foot but mine would have to be 50 foot.

Pro bed shaper

Homemade shaper

[Howie66]

I built my wife eight 4’x8’x16” raised garden beds six years ago. We have been enjoying the benefits of that project ever since. :-)

[ShadowAce]

Eggs and chicken meat wasn’t one of my favorite foods growing up.

I always liked the eggs. However, we refrained from eating chickens for a couple of weeks after we processed them. Yes, we processed and plucked them ourselves. The smell of boiling feathers made us sick of chicken for a while every year.

[tapatio]

Untreated wood lasts a couple of years here.

We received a bunch of free Ipe wood and used it for raised beds. They are still in great shape after a number of years.

[Cloverfarm]

My dad is 93 and still won’t eat chicken after helping his mom butcher when he was a kid.

Unless it is nearly unrecognizable as in KFC or chicken tenders.

As for us ... we take ours to a regular butcher. The birds leave the farm in crates in the back of the truck and come home cut up in plastic bags. It’s a great plan.

[Pollard]

Ipe Wood Decking, also called Brazilian walnut (Pronounced E-Pay), is a beautiful exotic wood from Central and South America. It is hands down the best choice you can make for your new deck.

Sounds expensive

My soil is heavy enough to hold shape for a full season without sides.