Raised bed layout advice
Karen Roan
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
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Karen Roan
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Help with layout of 8x8 raised beds?
Comments (9)In this case you would make the rows run east/west and then you could have enough room for everything you want.To make the most of your space, you could trellis the tomato plants using string veggie trellis like this http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-String-Trellis-928/202819857 along one outside edge of the garden and plan on 4 or 5 tomato plants on that 1ftx8ft row. If you use a heavy producing hybrid variety of tomato like Super Sweet 100 and larger variety if you like, you will have plenty of tomatoes. I would also tuck a marigold plant between each of the tomato plants to help with pest problems. My tomatoes always grow better with marigolds around. Plant a 2ft x 8ft row of eggplant, again about 4 or 5 plants, right in front of the tomatoes. Since you'll be able to reach the tomatoes from the outside, you won't need space between the tomatoes and eggplant. Make a 2ft x8ft foot path next to give you good room to move through the garden, then plant a row of pepper plants 1ftx8ft. Depending on the variety, you may be able to get 1 per square foot of this row, so up to 8 plants total. This brings you up to 1ft tomatoes, 2 ft eggplants, 2ft walkway, 1ft peppers with 2ft remaining for squash. Pick a compact variety of squash and plant them as close as possible to the outer southern edge of the garden with the intention of them hanging halfway over the outer edge. Make sure you've amended the soil with a good amount of compost to keep things growing strong. That's what I would do to maximize the space, but I'm no expert. There are also different schools of thought about gardening so do a bit of research and see what fits you best. I loosely follow the square foot gardening method with modifications I've adapted through trial and error. This picture shows my old garden from 2yrs ago using a trellis netting. I used that set up to plant tomatoes the whole 16ft length and in the picture I used it for beans, pumpkin and watermelon. That bed it 2ftx16ft....See MoreRaised Bed Layout
Comments (4)I do believe that Ribsy means well in this situation. At first I was taken aback by how rudely he followed up his advice, but if you read it thinking he has good intentions, he really is just pointing out that there is a lot of wasted space in this example. There have been a lot of other times from what I've seen where he DOES seem purposefully rude so I can't say for sure. Just giving him the benefit of the doubt. :) I would say, however, that I disagree about planting potatoes with onions. There is no reason why the two shouldn't be planted together. Here is a really helpful guide I found for companion planting listed below. http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html If your tomatoes are bush tomatoes then there is no need for them to be against the fence, however if it is the case that they are bush types then they may be crowded in their alloted space. If they are vining then either they need more space, or you could put them against the fence and guide them to grow up. From what I am seeing of your garden layout, you have a whole extra column and row of squares that you can utilize, if your boxes are 4' wide and 6' long. I think it would be helpful if you drew the lines of the squares in, because there IS a lot of wasted space, you could have a much more bountiful harvest then the one pictured. Hope this helps!...See MoreJust Built Raised Beds... need advice.
Comments (29)Sydney - to put it bluntly (my apologies for doing so) but those are VERY small beds and they won't grow nearly the amount of things you have planned. Plus it is a very crowded and non-functional layout for many reasons that I and others have hinted at. That is why i said do NOT let the existing space dictate to you. The odds are it wasn't very successful there anyway. I understand the desire to have things confined to a neat little space all together but with that as a goal you create many gardening problems for both you and the plants and in the long run limits your success. So I strongly suggest you give re-vamping the entire area as much possible. Putting the boxes end to end along the fence and way from the patio and spaced a bit out from the fence will improve things a great deal. Just put several layers of cardboard down on any grass areas and set the beds on top of them if necessary. Asparagus never remains in a nice neat little space anyway and it doesn't do well competing with other plants. Plus its water and nutrient needs are quite different from many other vegetables. So if you really want it find another, much larger place for it all on its own. Plant the crowns 12" apart and at least 8" deep and recognize that they will get 5-6 feet tall and will fall all over the place unless contained in some fashion. Dave...See MoreNeed advice for raised veggie beds on legs
Comments (3)In addition there are a number of plans for building them available on the internet and most are free. Even YouTube videos on how-to do it. Most of the ones I have seen call for a V shaped bottom made of wood to aid in drainage and are then lined with perforated landscape fabric. You'l have some watering and drainage issues with them that call for a very different approach to watering than you may be used to and you will have to replace the lining every few years as well as fill them with a good soil-less potting mix. It too will have to be refreshed at least in part annually. It can be an expensive way to garden when compared to just building regular raised beds over the leach field. Dave...See MoreSusan Highland USDA Zone 9b
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