I've been thinking of making raised beds for my garden. How deep do they have to be? Do you put black plastic under them or just dig out the grass under them? I wonder where we can get some garden soil to put in them without buying all those bags of soil from WalMart or Home Depot. My knees don't like digging a lot and we only want a small garden so I don't want to rent a tiller. I might try to borrow one though. If I could do that maybe I wouldn't need a raised bed. Except dr says it would be easier to take care of it. dooley
Dooley, raised beds are a great way to garden. They should be 2 feet deep to accomodate plants that have deep roots like tomatoes. Good soil, as well as compost, can be purchased by the cubic yard from landscape suppliers. You will want to visit their yard to see what is offered, and if it meets your requirements. Digging out the grass isn't necessary. Just put down a layer of cardboard, which will decompose over a season or two, but will suppress the grass/weeds so you can put your soil on top of it and then plant. Whether you decide to go with in-ground or raised bed, you will have a great garden!
I've never tried a raised bed, but seems it would be easier on the back and knees. And wouldn't there be less weed-pulling?
Dooley, I am not sure mine are proper raised beds or not. What I did when I started is that I just dig out square blocks of earth with the grass still on it according to the size I wanted the bed to be. After that I dig in further to about a depth of at least a foot. Next I put the block of earth with the grass still on back into the hole with the grass facing down. The idea is to let the vegetation decompose at that level and also to attract worms to help fertilized the ground. Using a hoe or any suitable tool, just loosen the earth from the roots of the grass. Next add in about 50% of the earth that was dug out. Loosen the earth as you add them into the hole and levelled it. If you have a good supply of compost, then add in about 2inches of compost. With the remaing 50% of earth, put in another 60% or so of the 50% and losening the earth as you go along covering the compost. If you do not have compost, grass clipping will do too. Finally mix the remaining earth with compost in the ration of 1 part earth to atleast 2 part compost but more compost the better. You'll be surprised the amount of earth you'll have after losening and adding compost to it. Hope this help.
Dooley, I lay out a bed that is essentialy built out of 2' X 8" s'. My beds are not as a rule wider than four feet. This bottomless box starts out with. Turning the sod underneath your raised beds and laying down an effective light blocking barrier of cardboard to reduce grass rhizomes moving into the now vacant space is a first step. Fill your now mostly empty box with the cheepest (read free) manure you can obtain. Cover all with newspaper and grass clippings and let breakdown till cool. Straw can be substituted for grass clippings. In four weeks or so your new bed will no longer be actively hot. Plant out either by planting through mulch of pushing mulch aside. No root crops the first year please. Its time to set up compost bins and begin filling them with your yard waste and anybody elses who'll let you steal theirs on trash day.
I use walking aides. For me a raised bed much taller than 12 inches does not give me enough added reach to justify the exponential increase in cost of construction. Resizing hand tools and a garden seat with wide enough aisles of travel get my garden in reach.
Raised beds are very efficient. It is also easier to control the soil from runoff and to add/change amendments and add compost. I would highly recommend either tilling or forking the soil that will rest beneath the beds to allow additional oxygen and drainage and to encourage deeper root penetration. That was a real lesson-learned as I had a couple tomato plants suffer because of shallow roots. 8-12 inch depth minimum for the beds. Deeper in hotter climates. Hope that helps a bit.
I put in two 12in and 2 24in high beds three years ago and find the 24in beds tend to be wasted. All the veggies I grow (including tomatoes and potatoes) do just as well in the 12 in boxes. Just remember when you fill with dirt to add plenty of compost to keep the soil light. I love my raised boxes and would not want to go back to the "farmers" garden of my childhood! I hope you enjoy yours as much.
If space is an issue and you dont want to bend over, you can raise your beds as high as you need, remember typically the higher you go the narrower the bed. The other posts cover it well. for the soil, you can buy it from the local landscaper, BUT check your local council first they may offer top soil for free. Mine does.
