SCgirl, I used untreated 2x12 lumber and heavy duty deck screws, and the bed dimensions are 4x8 feet. For each bed I took three eight foot pieces, and cut one in half to make the ends. Avoid the pressure treated lumber ( the CCA stands for copper, chromium, and arsenic). Cedar is best, just make sure you're sitting down when they tell you the price...you can still get a few seasons out of plain untreated lumber and save some money. The floor you see is landscape fabric, which will let moisture through but keep down the grass. I'll cover the pathways with cedar mulch. Inside the beds, I'll cut out the landscape fabric so I'll have a good soil interface for earthworms and beneficial microbes. Before the soil goes in I'll add a layer of cardboard just to make sure no grass/weeds have a chance to peek through. Here is a link that might be useful: Raised bed material analysis

What kind of soil do you have? Most of what I saw on my short visit to Cape Cod was sand and raised beds on sand tend to drain too quickly. Start with a good reliable soil test (a basic soil test from UMASS is $15.00) for soil pH and major nutrient levels. These simple soil tests may also be of some help. 1) Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter can be bad as well. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. Once you know more about the soil you have then you can make a more intelligent decision about whether raised beds might be needed. kimmq is kimmsr

Blueberries won't do well with one dripper. They have a shallow, wide-spreading root system. And they need a thick layer of mulch. Consider a soaker line; Or a rat-tail off the supply line which encircles each shrub at the drip line. Even then, you will have to move the rat-tail each year to deal with the expanding rootzone. Yes, Ts will work. Get one of the freebie booklets at your local box store. And no, you don't have loamy soil. You have something more like potting mix. So, yes, sprayers make sense. Just as with drippers, you should not exceed the supply -- the combined water pressure and the diameter of the supplyline. (That freebie booklet will help you figure it out.)

Questions: Is it mulch on top of the soil or is that your soil mix that we can see? If it is the soil (as I assumed) then it's not a great mix in my opinion. In what way are you applying water? If it is by hand, then I think even more so that one of your main issues is not enough moisture. The parsley gives a clue to this because we invariably water less on edges and corners. So we have to water those more. Also, edges and corners dry out more anyway, due to exposure. This I wholeheartedly agree with: 'If your soil began as a composed medium brought in from an outside source, you really don't know its composition.' And this: 'I prefer native soil as the major foundation. This is where my experience is focused. Sitting here, a few hundred miles away, I can't feel or see your soil. Only you know the additions, and the amounts. Even if you told me, it would be tough for me to diagnose the problem.' I've just read: 'The problem I have with using native soil is that I don't have any.' And I think that this is half of your problem. (The other half is lack of water.) 'Unless, there's something I didn't see in the video (like a concrete pad,) the native soil that sits under your beds where they are should work just fine. You might be surprised at how much it will expand once it's tilled and amended with compost and organic matter.' Agreed. (But please use good, home made compost. Not perlite, not some bought bag of rot (unless its good rot) and not Mel's Mix - whatever that is. I have no faith and no confidence in almost anything out there that they claim is good.)