Square Foot _ Raised Bed

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Comment by David Hipskind on April 5, 2009 at 8:52am

Hey all...I'm new to KGI and just returning to gardening after many years. I'm thinking about transitioning to SFG next year and wondered if anyone had thoughts on using those 8" landscape timbers to build raised beds (the ones with 2 round sides and 2 flat sides). I would want to use some that were untreated of course. Anyone tried this?

Comment by Joy Williams on April 4, 2009 at 1:32am

Compost has a lot of nitrogen. If you try this again, you might think about another spot, and just adding some compost to your plants, but not planting your plants in stuff that is ONLY compost. Mix in some garden soil, some manure, some compost, and other soil amendments like bone meal and stuff like that.

Comment by Joy Williams on April 4, 2009 at 1:14am

Ya that sounds like too much nitrogen, Paula. It's possible that the potatoes "mopped" up the extra nitrogen in the soil last year. Apparently plants like squash does that. Here's a page about someone who had a similar problem to yours.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Ask-Our-Experts/Organic-Gardening/Organic-Fertilizers-And-Excess-Nitrogen.aspx

Comment by Paula on April 3, 2009 at 1:46pm

It would help if I told you from whom! www.uline.com

Comment by Paula on April 3, 2009 at 1:45pm

For anyone having difficulties getting their hands on vermiculite, I just had 2 x 4 foot cubic bags delivered to my door. They were $23 bucks each and the UPS charge was $15 from PA to north Jersey. I was getting quotes of $6.99 for 8-quart bags. My calculation (well, Google) there's 119 quarts in a 4 cubic foot bag. It's grade 4, which is coarse.

Another general question. There is an old compost heap area in the corner of my garden. Last year I planted potatoes (organic seed potatoes). There were MASSIVE amounts of foliage but hardly any potatoes. Too much nitrogen? If so, what can I use to cut the soil? Thanks in advance. Paula

Comment by Ann G. on April 2, 2009 at 9:11pm

I finally settled on white oak for my beds. Can't afford cedar or cinder block. Doing 4 x 8 x 18 in. deep.

Design plans:
Three 6 in boards with 2 x 2 in the corners.
Laying an in deep layer of granite screenings for the whole garden, beds/paths
stapling hardware cloth on the bottom, leaving a couple inches so the beds are off the ground that tiny bit
using ladder wire for cold frames on the bed, stapled.
stapling clear plastic on one side, rolled up for quick cover over the ladder wire

doing 16 of these babies! 12 in the veggie area, 4 in the colonial/herb garden

Comment by Margaret Patterson on March 29, 2009 at 2:19pm

RE: gaps in the bottoms of raised beds. I wonder if you could fill such gaps with a bit of creeping thyme. If you have pavers as a walkway between your beds, creeping thyme would be lovely, useful, and it could stop up those little gaps. Just a thought.

Comment by Margaret Patterson on March 29, 2009 at 2:15pm

Hello! I’m so pleased to have found this site. My hubby of 26 years and I bought a little house and set down roots in rural Idaho, and I look forward to a garden that isn’t in any movable container I can stick dirt in. Hallelujah—perennials! Ours is a short growing season: we still have snow and will continue to do so until mid May—or later. But my hubby and I have a garden of raised beds planned, including two 3’W X 6’L X 12”D beds. I’ve been fascinated with square foot gardening for years and have toyed with it, planting veggies in 12” x 12” x 12” containers outside our military quarters with varied success, depending on our location at the time. (There was the time our little downstairs neighbors used my carefully trellised and tended melons as soft balls…) I look forward to talking with you all and learning from you. Thank you for such a wonderful forum.

Comment by Melissa on March 29, 2009 at 1:49pm

Mine never moved. They are too heavy when full. Just make sure the ground is level and all the wood on the bottom is touching the ground. I have a few empty boxes that are on unlevel ground and I won't attempt to fill them with soil or it will come out the bottom where the gaps are. If you have gaps, maybe you could plant something clumpy and perrenial around the edge to fill the gaps?

Comment by Tam Cummings on March 29, 2009 at 1:23pm

I'm trying to put in my flower beds next weekend, was supposed to be this weekend but it got put aside. I was wondering if anyone had a problem with the raised square foot garden beds moving? I didn't see anything in the book about it. Will the beds move with alot of rain and snow. I live in WNY and our weather varies. Do I need to worry about the beds moving or the dirt washing out the bottom?

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