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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Yes, raised beds are wonderful. Personally, I appreciate the psychology of them: a limited space with a clear border to be fussed over. (As a child, I had only contempt for kids who couldn’t or wouldn’t color within the lines.) If you’re setting up raised beds, be sure to take into account any nearby trees. In their neverending search for water, they’ll eagerly extend a mass of tiny roots into your beds. It’s quite dry where I live, and the mesquite trees yards away on the other side of a thick courtyard wall have sent legions of roots under the wall’s deep footing and up into my raised beds. Yikes! To stop nearby trees’ roots from invading, consider placing an actual sturdy, non-decomposing physical barrier in the soil beneath your beds and even up the sides. Or so I’ve learned on the internet . . . Wish I’d known beforehand.


83 posted on 09/24/2020 7:44:36 AM PDT by Blurb2350
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To: Blurb2350; Diana in Wisconsin
Blurb2350 :" To stop nearby trees’ roots from invading, consider placing an actual sturdy, non-decomposing physical barrier
in the soil beneath your beds and even up the sides. Or so I’ve learned on the internet . . . Wish I’d known beforehand."

I have always encouraged garden experimentation for myself, and all those experiments have not necessarily turned out well.
My experience is that I learn more from my failures, than I have from my successes.
A 3 mm. plastic or 6 mm. plastic sheeting at the bottom of a raised bed & up the sides, provides a semi-permeable membrane
to prevent moisture leakage into the surrounding soil, thus not encouraging invasive mesquite roots.
Sheeting will retain moisture, but don't ignore a few drain holes in case of raised bed flooding / downpour.

87 posted on 09/24/2020 10:15:01 AM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: Blurb2350

I had a row of a dozen Black Walnut trees lining one side of the driveway at my other farm. They’ll kill just about anything near them with a toxin in their roots. I used raised beds across the driveway, hoping to stem that tide - and it did for me - not sure what the new owners are going to do in the future, but they’re taking really good care of the place.

The wood is going to be worth a fortune in the future, though even if they cut them now (they’re about 25 years old, now) the toxin stays in the soil for years afterward.


90 posted on 09/24/2020 11:23:08 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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