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Landscape Design

Difficult Space-Raised Beds?

9 years ago

We removed overgrown bushes next to an old garage. The roots are very sturdy and can't be removed because of damage to the patio (the trunks are going to be cut closer to the ground). Now that we have to work around these roots, we're thinking we'll have to do a raised bed(s) of some sort to cover up the roots. Any creative ideas for this space? A series of raised beds? Tall grasses? Topiaries?

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Comments (6)

PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
Because the planting bed is too narrow anyway, I'd remove the 3 patio blocks at the garage center and move the new plants away from the wall a little. You can trim the stumps to within 1" of grade. Plant what you wish, but 1 gallon containers will probably work best in relatively small planting holes. You should be able to get them pretty close to the desired location, or cut through old shrub roots where needed. If you don't remove the 3 blocks, you're limited to smaller, vertical plants.
Ambrogal
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you Yardvaark. I hadn't thought of removing some of the blocks. Was only thinking of working around them. We're going to consider this option....getting those blocks out without ruining the newly planted grass could be an issue, but the end result might be worth the hassle of planting new grass. I appreciate your thoughts!
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Fruitnut, I completely believe you (and I believe we have gone back and forth in other threads as well) for large scale production. However, the first poster, clearly says, that they have raised beds, which screams to me, it's a grower for home consumption, not to produce thousands of ears for market. In this case, I do honestly believe, My recommendation is far superior. If someone has 21 square feet (or even 100 square feet) to work with, I would bet my house on the fact that spacing two to a square feet will out perform (in numbers of ears) 2-2.5 square feet per plant recommendation you give, purely due to the fact, that in my 21 square feet, I will plant 42 stalks, and you will plant 8-10. If we are talking large scale production, where sun will not be able to hit all sides of the "bed" - then I am positive you are 100% correct. It all depends on the person asking the question, are they looking to plant a small space for home consumption, or plant on large scale - that will determine which method will have the best yield. Basically what I'm saying is, I don't think I'm disagreeing with fruitnut, just my solution is to a different question than fruitnut's solution is. I believe both recommendations are good - just one is for small scale, the other is for large scale.
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No sales pitch. I'm not affiliated in any way. Just a cool tool that can help a newbie lay out his container and info on numbers of plantings and care. On the link in the above thread go to the upper left, three little tomatoes that says,'New!Kitchen Garden Planner' Then when the box pops up that says, 'Plan Your Own Garden' press 'Get Started' and you're good to go. Try the link below Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Garden Planner
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Comments (15)
I agree that you need to build them spaced the distance that works best for you. Having had raised beds spaced close together - you know the challenges that spacing causes. We love our spacing - because we spaced them for our needs. our beds are 4'x16' - 12" high (we have 6 of them) and we spaced them 4' apart. I like to kneel on the grass to work in the beds and 4' gives me plenty of room to do that. As important - 4' spacing is enough room for our zero-turn lawn mower to cut the grass. Many gardeners don't like grass between the beds - but I love it. It is clean - pleasant to look at - and easy to maintain. I prefer grass over gravel or concrete/pavers - but that is just our preference. I do not have a problem with the grass growing up in the raised bed but I also weed-eat around them regularly. We placed the 4x4 support posts inside the bed for clean lines on the outside of the bed. We also placed a 2x6 seat board on top of the 4x4's and edge of the bed - we love that feature! I can see I need to take some photos of our raised beds during the summer that show better how they look now with grass instead of dirt & snow - but these photos should give you an idea of what we have done. They may be of help to you in deciding the best option for your needs. This post was edited by Hudson...WY on Thu, Feb 6, 14 at 2:31
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Comments (9)
Is 5 or 6 hours direct sunlight a day not enough for tomatoes? Maybe this is more of what was causing my problems last year rather than the soil. That would depend on the type of problems you had. Normally 6 hours of high quality sun light (9am - 3pm) would be ok, not ideal, but ok. But given the times you listed you are missing out on the most intense, full spectrum part of the day. Even on the equinox in mid-June, unless you are living near the equator (we really need to know your location or at least your gardening zone), you will only be getting 4 hours of normal intensity, full-spectrum sunlight. The rest of the time it will be much weaker. Maybe if I have leftover soil I will get some potted plants going as well. Container plants are best grown in a soil-less potting mix, not garden soil. Plan on this year being one of experimentation and learning. Take good notes so that next year you'll have a much better picture of what and how much can be grown in your space. And also use the time to explore options for increasing the sun exposure, especially the morning sun or other possible locations for the garden. Good luck. Dave
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PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
A hedge of bigleaf hydrangea could be nice there and about the right size... surrounded with a groundcover or low flowering perennial.
Ambrogal
Original Author
9 years ago
Yardvaark: Hey that is really cool and I can picture what it might look like! I wish I knew how to do these things. You must have Photoshop or something similar. Thank you so much for your suggestions. We are considering all of them! :) I'll post a photo of the finished product.
PRO
Yardvaark
9 years ago
Draw on any photo (or just draw) using MS Paint. It helps if you have a touchscreen and stylus.
Ambrogal
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you Yardvaark. I hadn't thought of removing some of the blocks. Was only thinking of working around them. We're going to consider this option....getting those blocks out without ruining the newly planted grass could be an issue, but the end result might be worth the hassle of planting new grass. I appreciate your thoughts!

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