Hi Lispeth- Congratulations on your new house! Here are my thoughts on your questions: 1. How long after I dig them up and then transplant to the temporary bed(s) do I have to wait before digging up again and moving to their permanent beds? Can I do that this fall? I always thought you needed to wait at least a year. If you can wait a year, I would wait a year. The plants will already be going through transplant trauma with the first dig - let them get settled a bit and regrow roots. Unless you are talking about a very short period of time where the first bed is simply a "holding spot" (1 week or so) before you're moving it over. 2. Can I just make a frame/box from some wood boards (we have loads of scrap wood) and line it with landscape fabric then dump some dirt/compost mixture in and plant in that? You can. Instead of landscape fabric, you could also just use old newspaper. 3.My old rule of thumb for transplanting was my Grandmother's-as long as the plant is not in bud or bloom you can move it. If it's more than 6" tall, cut it back so that it's energy can go to the roots to get established. Also, it's better to do it on a cloudy/cool day or in the early morning/evening than afternoon. Is this still accepted? that's how I do it. Good luck! Rini Thanks again for the great advice!

I would go with the 30" tall window. Visually, it is lining up pretty well with the bottom of your upper cabinets to the left of the window. (I know those are probably not exactly 49.5" above the floor, but since it's unlikely that you will look on it dead-on, it will be OK, I think.) Bye bye, 1978 cabinets... good luck with the transition!

The hardware store and I built a garden from a galvanized livestock water trough. Mine was 2x2x3. The hardware store installed a bottom drain with a valve. I ran a clear air hose from the drain to a downstairs gutter, used some zip ties to secure the drain line. I placed the trough on cement bricks. I placed a 4-5" layer of 2-3" rocks in the bottom, I wanted an area to collect and hold excess water. I placed 3 layers of water permeable weed cloth on top of the rocks, I did not want the area between the rocks to fill with potting soil. Filled with bagged container potting soil, I grew a mix of flowers, herbs, and vegetables. I read on the Internet of a woman in Arizona who grew her garden in livestock troughs because her existing soil would not support non native plants. She was concerned about heat, and was successful. My trough faced south. I think if your container is of sufficient size, you do not have to worry about heat from the cement. I do not know what size you will need.

OK, I think I am following you now. :). My first thought of a "raised bed" when I read your post was piling more soil on to a planting area, elevating it anywhere from 6" or more...like I have done in my garden in most areas. But now that I see this lovely planter, I get it. It will look amazing when the plants are planted in there! Handsome planter already, even more so when the feet are installed. Playing the devil's advocate here, however... the issue of drainage would concern me the most, that no matter how much bark you add to the potting media, you are dealing with a large area and it might have a density problem...especially during the rainy fall. I would be afraid of it getting water-logged? You mentioned drainage holes will be drilled but it is the mass of media that may be (or not) a potential issue. We are so careful to ensure that a single hosta is not potted in too large a container, but just large enough to accommodate the roots, so it can drain quickly, and have time to dry out. I wonder how long it would take the media to dry sufficiently to avoid rot in such a large container. Reducing the depth by one board might solve that potential problem. If this was my project, I would experiment with a large amount of media, mixed to my liking. I would fill the largest container I had...say for example, a blue recycling box that had additional (many) drainage holes drilled into the bottom. Then I would soak it as if a torrential downpour came from the heavens...and wait to see how long it would take to drain properly. Then do a heft test just to be sure. If it feels too water-logged, I would add more nuggets for example. A bit of sand to the mix wouldn't hurt. I would play around with it until I was satisfied it drained sufficiently. Wood tends to hold moisture. By insulating the interior a few things might happen: it will take a longer time for the wood to degrade (years) on the inside which is a good thing; secondly, the media all around the planter might dry more quickly. And as you mentioned, insulation may keep the temperature of the contents a bit more stable throughout the planter. Just thinking out loud for what it's worth.