Raised beds and gardens

[farmer2009]

I see several of you have raised beds and gardens. Would you care to share about them? How you built them? How they over winter and do in the summer?

I've given some thought to some strawberries and thought it would be nice to place them into a raised bed. Any suggestions?

 

[dave1949]

We have two raised beds. They are 5'x10' and three 2x6's tall. I keep them filled up to about 4" from the the top with compost, peat moss, and a limited amount of dirt. I like the limited bending over with a higher bed.

Easy to work-up, weed and water, plenty of good soil depth for strong root growth. I get the maximum output in return for what I spend on amendments since the use of space is so concentrated compared to spaced rows in a garden.

Due to being elevated with sun exposure on the sides and the amount of organic material, they do dry out faster than garden dirt and need watering more frequently but again due to spacing, I'm not watering empty rows between plants.

I think you would like raised bed gardening. I've never tried strawberries in mine. I'm not sure they a good use for a crop with a short harvest season and lots of year-round tending. I would look for some ever-bearing varieties at least.

 

[Looking4new]

I have 9 beds all of them are 4x8' and 18" high. Weeding is easier, and I can control the soil quality better.I put chicken wire around mine and over the top to keep birds and cats out.

 

[Thomas]

Our 6 beds PT 2x12..4' wide 10' long,easy to weed mowing around

 

[Mendonsy]

I built four 2'x20'x16" beds for my wife last year. She wants me to build more this year. These will have to be a bit wider and not as long.

She likes them because there is less bending over. Another advantage is that they keep the rabbits out if they are more than 12" tall. They do require more watering though. They are also not easy to dig up with a tiller, but it is possible to do it.

 

[farmer2009]

I was thinking of a 5'x10'x2' bed. My original thought was three rows of concrete blocks. But seeing as you all are using wood I may look at that route. Any benefit to adding insulation? If I go with strawberries then they need winter protection. My thinking was a self contained bed would make maintenance easier and raising it would be even better.

What kind of prep work was required? Drainage? Sod removal?
Does anyone have pictures? Bare beds are fine.
What kind of crops do you use your beds for?

 

[dave1949]

My beds are made with kiln dried 2x6 lumber except for the treated 4x4 corners and center supports which are outside the 2x6's. I have a cable running across the top of the bed from the center 4x4 to the other side. There never seems to be much tension on that cable but I was afraid the tall sides would bulge without it. The beds sit on the ground, no posts are buried.

We grow leaf lettuce, radishes, salad onions, carrots, green beans and staked tomatoes mostly. I had eggplant one year that did well. Early sugar peas for stir fry do well. The soil in a taller raised bed warms earlier than in a regular garden.

 

[RalphVa]

I had to downsize from my 50x75 garden. Friends helped me build 7 raised beds. Already had one.

They're two 2x6's on edge, 4x8, treated lumber from Lowes (they don't use the arsenic any more). I put 1x2 stakes in each corner and pushed them (securely attached to the 2x6s) into the ground with my FEL. Filled with about a yard of soil.

Mulch them in fall and just scratch away a little of it where I need to plant in spring. Easy to weed. Do dry out faster. Have a water distribution with soaker hoses but also hand water. Put an electric fence around the lot, with space between it and between beds to run a push mower. Had to add a "dead" wire on the ground to catch the rabbits.

Am collecting urine to dilute 1:20 this year, as nitrogen seemed to leach out more easily. Will put some circles of corn outside the beds this year. Didn't germinate that well (probably because the soil gets colder in the beds) last year in the beds. Starting corn in peat pellets. May try moving back to the beds next year, but starting in peat pellets.

Ralph

 

[sseelhoff]

We have 8 raised beds. 4 beds are 8' x 12' and 20" high. The other 4 are 4' x 12'. We filled them with a mix of garden soil mix from the nursery, compost and peat. Refresh with compost each season and work it in with a cultivator attachment on the Toro powerhead. (Interchangeable with weed eater head, limb saw, etc...) Corners are 4' sectioms of 4x4 sunk two feet.

Beds are not supposed to be as wide as the 8' footers, but it works for us. Next project is running drip irrigation to the beds.

 

[Mendonsy]

Here's a pic of mine when I built them last spring. The lumber is treated 2x10's. The corner brackets are made from formed channel and 1-1/2" EMT conduit.
These were built on top of an existing garden so I didn't have to do any soil prep. The fill is garden soil from a local nursery. It's OK but needs some help.