Gardening

 

 

 

In an effort to be more earth friendly, our goal was to garden as much as possible (in our already full yard) and make it look good, too. Last spring we added a wooden cover for our pool equipment. Initially we added it for aesthetic purposes but realized how much sun the equipment gets (we’re in TX!) and how hard that is on the system – so turned out to be very functional. After a few years of so so crops in the ground (it’s red clay), we decided that raised beds were the way to go and wanted them to match the pool shed.

Before you get started the first step is to collect lawn trimmings and branches – this is what will fill the bottom half of your raised beds…we collected for an entire season to fill all of these beds. This will compost over time and save you alot of money on soil/compost.
Decide what dimensions your raised beds will be. Ours vary in width and length but they are all 2.5 feet tall. We used 2×4’s for all of the frame and supports

 

 

 

Here you can see we added a lot of support to the bottom and diagonal supports in the cornerrs of the raised beds – these are quite heavy once you get them filled. Be sure to fill them where they will be for a while…because you will have to empty them to move them much…

 

The side slatts are 5/8 inch thick and 5 1/2 inch wide red cedar fence pickets. This saved money and are light weight. We then lined the sides with medium weight plastic, comes in a roll at your local hardware store. We stapled the plastic to the sides to protect the wood. We also wrapped each bottom support with plastic. Then we added chicken wire to the bottom of each bed to hold in the sticks/soil but provide good drainage. All this was installed with a heavy duty staple gun. The slats were treated with a stain and polyurethane sealant in one, (Minwax) in the color Walnut.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the latest beds we have added in the backyard – they are 4 feet wide and 8 feet long. We are getting ready for our fall crop and the swiss chard and kale are doing awesome! Also tried asparagus, which has to grow for a full year and then harvested in year two…so excited for next year!

Here you can see how much the raised beds added to our driveway.  I plant a combination of veggies, herbs and flowers so they are pretty to look at, too.  They also match with the pool shed to make a consistent look to the frontyard, backyard and driveway.