I've used wood chips in small areas, but I'd choose them in a minute over gravel in a large area. Much cooler and much, much nicer to walk on.

My raised bed is on the ground. In the past I have had a 2'x4' bed full of garlic. I had read about planting on the edges of the bed and I had worried about my bed being so small. I cannot remember the weather patterns, but I do remember that almost all the garlic did come up. I bought tulips this year and tried not to get to close to the edges of the raised bed for the same reason Mr.Brown suggested. Even though my garlic did survive in the past. :> I have another raised bed, about 4' off the ground so it's pretty high. Nothing survived in it after my winter. Do you think styrofoam on the underside would help? Heating cables? Just a thought.

Ilene, I am going to start with the ants, because they a huge problem in and of themselves. I am assuming the ants we are discussing are fire ants? I try to garden as organically as possible, but controlling fire ants has been one of the areas for which the organic community has had lots of 'possible' solutions......and none of them worked well for me in the past. I've tried everything from beneficial nematodes to orange oil sprays (Citrex Fire Ant killer), corn meal, grits, garlic-pepper sprays, cedar oil, cedar mulch, mint tea, dried mint leaves, etc. I have FINALLY found an organic product that works for me in terms of removing fire ants from the raised beds in the veggie garden. The active ingredient is called Serenade and it is effective not only on fire ants but also is very effective when sprayed on tomato plants to reduce foliar fungal and bacterial diseases. The Serenade I use on the tomato plants comes in a spray bottle. The Seremade I use on fire ants comes in a granular formation. I buy the one made by Safer and I think it is called Safer Fire Ant Killer. I have used it this year in my raised beds and it has worked for me. In the yard area, away from any place that we grow veggies, tree nuts or fruits, I use Over 'N Out. It is amazing. I only have to use it once every 3 or 4 years. I don't like using chemicals, but will use them if needed and IF they provide the desired results. Over 'N Out does work but you cannot use it near anything edible, and it has a long half-life in the soil, so you can't use it in any area where you will eventually grow something edible. Now, as to the strawberry issues. I think the best plan is to start over with a new bed so that you can begin with NO grass in it. The problem with bermuda grass is that if you leave any stolon that is at least 1/4" long, it will grow and spread and RAPIDLY at that. That is why no amount of digging will get it all....there is always that tiny stray piece here and there that will regrow. If it were me, I would spray the area where the new bed will be with Round-Up or a similar glyphosate and give it time to work. I would lay down either cardboard or several layers of newspaper to help smother any grass that tried to regrow and lay down the good-quality heavy-duty weedblock fabric on top of that. I would build the bed on top of that. You DO need to have the fabric extend outside the edging of the bed or grass will creep up INSIDE between the fabric and bed edging. If it were me, I would extend the fabric out a foot or two from the bed, cover it with mulch, and maintain it as a pathway around the raised bed. At the edge of the fabric, I would use that metal green landscape edging to keep grass from creeping into the mulched path AND to help keep the mower from hitting the edge of the fabric or the mulch. It is a lot of extra work, but as you already know, it is easier to prevent bermuda grass than it is to remove it once it infiltrates an area. As far as holding the strawberries over in the fridge or freezer, I don't know how long they can be held in cold storage, but I think it is possible to hold them for months, although perhaps not desirable. I made the decision years ago (after growing strawberries) that growing strawberries in our climate required more time and effort than I was willing to give them in light of the fact that I have a huge veggie garden, fruit trees, nut trees and lots of acreage to maintain. You may want to consider whether strawberries are worth the time and money you will have to invest in them in comparison to the size of the harvest you get. On the other hand, if growing your own gives you great joy, then go for it! Dawn

Hi John - I follow your blog. I have some strawberry pyramids with three levels in a 4 x 4 bed. I manage to fit 24 strawberry plants in each of these. Otherwise, spacing is about 12 inches apart for the most part with strawberries. They fill in and use all of the space. We got about 19 pounds of strawberries from 48 plants last year throughout the season. We have Tri-Strar strawberries that produce all season long. Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog