Will a raised and walled bed control suckering?
7 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (33)
- 7 years ago
Related Discussions
Bury one row of block for raised bed?
Comments (4)Re. burying an entire course: consider what you're going to see. Would it bother you to see 2" of the buried course and an entire course above that? Will the 2" bottom course be concealed by grass (safely distant from the blocks themselves, of course -- as per stevega's caution about grass in the cracks) or mulch? Or will the partial and complete courses merge together? And consider too how high you'd like the bed to be. And how wide it will be. Draw a sideways view to scale; add the mailbox; add the plants at the top -- what do you think of the proportions? Will you be planting anything that will hang down over the side of the bed? How far will it hang down? Maybe you'll end up burying an entire course, then adding two courses on top of it. You could also take a look around to see what has been done in the area in the way of raised beds around mailboxes (I would do this mostly to make sure the Postal Service doesn't object to the sort of thing you're planning -- maybe ask the letter carrier or call the local post office). My mailbox is across the street -- that's the side the letter carrier delivers to. If it were my own property, I might be able to build a bed to the sides and the back of the mailbox, but not immediately under the box: that would be demolished by either the letter carrier's vehicle or the snowplows (in fact, my next door neighbor's mailbox was uprooted by a snowplow a few months ago)....See MoreSaga of raised beds....
Comments (17)Diane Nj, grief seems to have a life of it's own. It was a new experience for me. (I definitely do not want to become an old hand at it!) All my internal dialog with reassurances and gitty up little ( big :-( ) cowgirl did nothing. It just happened one day. Really. I have this mantra when overwhelmed (which it easy to do with these yards), "just start". I was 23 a brand new journeyman just out of the apprenticeship and was offered a job with my favorite company to work for. First day, my boss hands me 13 sets of prints for 13 different jobs that I have to manage AND do the installation of the controls systems! I called my Dad that night, he listened to me,(he was in the same trade) and then said, "Just start". Oh reeeeaaly!? Yep! So I did. And I do. :-) I don't have many weeds. No rain to speak of here. Right now I am working on a part of a hill that has crabgrass, the devil itself. Just me and my digging bar. I hate it. BUT I do not really enjoy the gym. And I hate poisons even more. So I am out here sweating like a pig working next to my roses that aren't blooming right now! But I won't hate that part of the hill and I can plant more ROSES!!! YAY! HoovB, tell ya what, my butt is going right in the middle with a little table and an umbrella! I do have plans for an archway. I had to remove a really cool weeping bottle brush that was falling over. I saved it and will use it to make an arch on the left entrance. I can't create anymore shade because of the giant Eucalyptus tree already doing a bit of that after 2pm. At first I was going to have arches everywhere! With roses spilling off them! Then I thought about it. It was a fun little tangent. I do want a fountain too! Just don't have a vision for that yet, where exactly and what shape. The middle would be good. I am slow going when it comes to that stuff. (But I can pipe a water heater! lol) Plus, I have a teenager and a big dog. Behind the raised beds is a giant trampoline. (I'm giving it 2 more years) Training both of them to stay out of the roses is where I am at now. My son looks at something and it breaks. Greenhaven, Thank you! :-) Well I am cooled down now, back to the diggin' bar. Yick. Allison...See MoreIrrigation System for Raised Beds
Comments (46)Chandra, everything looks so nice. Some problems you may have is due mainly to excess pressure. If you are reading 140 PSI on your gauge you have hooked in to the line ahead of your regulator. Where I live the regulator is supposed to be just down stream of your meter. Here the main line pressure is 150 PSI. I have mine regulated down to about 40 to 45 pounds, (my son across the highway runs 150 pounds on his outside faucet to get greater flow to water the garden and fill the pool). In my opinion that is a mistake because it is too easy to burst hoses. I would like to adjust my pressure up to about 65 pounds but don't want the added risk of blowing a line in the house. The gauge not coming back to zero may because some gauges have a release button on them to let pressure bleed back to zero, although I have never seen one on a water pressure gauge. I would advise you go get a water pressure gauge if you don't have one. They cost between $5.00 and $10.00 at Lowe's of Home Depot. I used an Air pressure gauge for years but I like the water pressure gauge better. The threads are not the same on a water hose and a pipe. The water hose has a 3/4" 11.5 threads per inch water hose thread on it. All 3/4" plumbing will have a 3/4" 14 threads per inch pipe thread. I have many hose threads attached to pipe threads, but I doubt you can make it work because of the high pressure you are running. You can try to put an extra washer in the fitting and see if it will seal. (all hose fittings seal against a washer, all pipe threads seal because the threads are cut on a taper). Some very high pressure applications use a special thread, but nothing like that is used in a home. If you don't get the threads to seal, you can buy adapters. The plastic adapter cost about $1.50 each, the brass adapters cost about $3.50 each. If it would help you I could go out to the shop and take a picture of each. I have to keep them here because I have to drive 50 miles to get the plastic ones, the brass adapters can be bought about anywhere. If I can help in any way just let me know, just be careful about running too much pressure, you may damage some of your equipment. Larry...See MoreMaximum pounds of toms per square foot in Raised Bed
Comments (26)Now this is the best comment among them. "But one of your basic assumptions, if I understand correctly, is that commercial farmers grow determinates sprawled to achieve greater production. But keep in mind that there are several other factors too that determine why they grow they way they do." It is not a cheap attempt at reconciliation its simply dead on. I hope I don't break any hearts when I say commercial growers are better at growing food than we are. I also believe McDonalds is a first rate cuisine given its mandate being edible, fast and cheap. I just go there for the clean bathrooms when I travel. So why do we gardeners buck the trend and take on an entity that we in no way could compete against? Because they don't serve us to the same degree. Many people in the US just don't care how food tastes or are not willing to spend the time or the money. In my field I also do stupid things because that is what the market demands. Commercial growers are not stupid but their customers in my opinion are, relatively speaking. People in our market will choose unblemished fruit based on price over good tasting food. They don't want to know how its made or where it came from. That is the market. When I was in Hungry the waiter brought me a fish to display the daily special. A whole fish with the head and all and not a machine cut fillet? In the US it may as well be a fresh pig's head. I prefer the feet because they make some of the finest soup stocks but does not hide its fundamental nature as well as a can. Commercial growers use determinate paste tomatoes for canning because it is cheaper to use wide open spaces and harvest all at once. Growing up on vines is not efficient because land is cheap. In a green house each square foot is expensive so they grow on vines up. Thick skinned varieties are preferable because they ship. Supermarket strawberries taste bad for straw berries but ship very well. One of my favorite wines, red Zinfindel, has some of the oldest vines in the country because its thick skinned grapes were ideal during prohibition. There was still a market because making you own wine was still legal. In this case the thick skin makes great jammy red wine. So basically the bush beans you plant often have mechanical harvesting needs bred into it. The goal is to fruit all at once and be a uniform height, resist disease and have no blemish. Now I want some of that. I do want to resist disease but not always because I believe I may control it for a better tasting variety. That is some of what is behind the heirloom trend. I like bush beans because I can put those on southern exposures. I grow pole beans on northern exposures. The reason why the home gardener beats the commercial grower in areas of taste, nutrition and hygiene is because the home gardener has some of the smartest consumers. However I do respect how well the pros satisfy ignorance and can certainly learn from them. Since I am in the space restricted camp I pay attention to green house growing....See More- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
Related Stories
GARDENING GUIDES8 Materials for Raised Garden Beds
Get the dirt on classic and new options for raised vegetable and plant beds, to get the most from your year-round garden
Full StoryWINDOW TREATMENTSRoller Shades Raise the Curtain on Style
The humble window treatment is stealing the scene with fresh patterns, color and pizzazz
Full StoryGARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGVertical Gardens Raise the Limits for Landscapes
Turn a small garden space into a towering success with an upward-bound collection of edible delights
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDES10 Creative Ideas for Cactus and Succulent Gardens
Arrange cactuses and succulents amid salvaged treasures, against a vibrant painted wall or in terraced beds
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNThe Abundant Garden Makes Room for Plants
Gardens focused on plants provide joy and solace with their billowing layered beds, overflowing containers and walls of green
Full StoryFURNITURESmart Shopper: How to Buy a Mattress
Confusing options, hair-raising prices, haggling ... Our guide can keep you from losing sleep over mattress shopping
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNGarden Walls: Dry-Stacked Stone Walls Keep Their Place in the Garden
See an ancient building technique that’s held stone walls together without mortar for centuries
Full StoryGREAT HOME PROJECTSHow to Add a Murphy Bed
Make a single room serve multiple purposes with a convenient foldaway bed
Full StoryBEDROOMS11 Reasons to Love White Bedding
For easy bedding that makes neutrals sing and accessories pop, look to the white side
Full StoryLAUNDRY ROOMSA Laundry Room With Bunk Beds and a Shower for Muddy Dogs
Custom cabinets with dog beds and a new step-up dog shower turn a laundry room into a hardworking hot spot
Full Story
Embothrium