| User | Post |
|
9:19 am
March 10, 2009
|
Shells
| | Vancouver Island, British Columbia | |
| Superstar | posts 1184 |
|
|
I am going to try a garden this year but I need help ladies.
What, in your opinion, is the perfect way to set up a garden bed? Raised or not?? If its raised, what do you use to make it raised? What about soil, what do you find is the best growing mixture? What about dimensions? Is it easier to garden in a long narrow garden space or a square garden space??
I have all sorts of room to put a garden in so space isn't a concern. Mostly I need to know how to construct the garden areas.
|
|
|
10:00 am
March 10, 2009
|
CindyP
| | Hart, MI | |
| Moderator
| posts 4715 |
|
|
Mine preference is a raised garden bed……they can go anywhere without doing anything to the soil, just cardboard and newspaper on the bottom to kill out the grass, fill with soil and plant!!
Because of this, I'm doing the square foot gardening………..
|
Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possible. ~ Cherie Carter-Scott
|
|
|
11:15 am
March 10, 2009
|
Mo olelo
| | Northwest Georgia | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 152 |
|
|
If I had a choice and space wasn't a concern… I'd just dig up a patch of ground. We did that when we lived on our acreage in Alberta. I liked having nice long rows of veggies and hills and hills of potatoes and my row of sweet peas. I liked the way it looked and especially liked being able to move about between the rows. And we always had a great garden.
|
|
|
2:56 pm
March 11, 2009
|
monica
| | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 433 |
|
|
We have a fairly square garden, not raised (even thinking about having the garden lower and making hills to facilitate drainage, without adding tap water). We have found that the rows are better for plants like lettuce and carrots, but there is never enough seed to make the whole row. Those types all go into one or two rows and then there are some that remain and then they have a bit more room to spread out as the plants mature.
Before you start investing a ton of money into soil amendments–buy a soil test kit or take a sample to your garden center and they can help you. They can help you determine the type of soil you have and be able to tell you how much and the proper kinds to get. Keep in mind too what you want to grow–some like acidic soil, while others require alkaline soil. Happy gardening!!
|
|
|
6:23 pm
March 11, 2009
|
anni
| | toronto, canada | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 111 |
|
|
Shells my brother in law built raised beds for my sister out of old railroad ties.
HTH
anni
|
|
|
7:52 pm
March 11, 2009
|
Mo olelo
| | Northwest Georgia | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 152 |
|
|
Anni, since your sister's garden is already built… she may have found a way to work with her garden or perhaps your brother-in-law lined the ties with a barrier of some sort but if someone is just starting out… railroad ties are not recommended for use in building gardens in which vegetables or fruit trees will be grown. The creosote in old railroad ties can leach into the soil over time and contaminate any food grown in that soil.
From the little bit of quick research I did… in many areas, old railroad ties can't even be sent to the local landfill, but have to be disposed of as a hazardous substance.
|
|
|
5:02 pm
March 12, 2009
|
labanan
| | |
| Banty | posts 8 |
|
|
Ah…just what I wanted to talk about. Absolutely true about the railway ties so what does one use? I live in boggy foggy Nova Scotia – thinks get way damp here. I want a raised bed for lots of reasons but what to use as siding. Maybe just get the hardware from Lee Valley and keep putting in new 2 x4's every year…
must clean up office for son's guitar lesson. later…
|
|
|
|
|
5:20 pm
March 12, 2009
|
CindyP
| | Hart, MI | |
| Moderator
| posts 4715 |
|
|
I found 18 bushel boxes that farmers take their produce to processors with and cut them down to 2 boards high (11") TOTALLY FREE!! ……… but you could use 1" x 6" boards attached to 4x's cut diagonly to fit in corners…… or if you have a supply of field stone and some boys that would do the hauling, make the sides out of stone
 
|
Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possible. ~ Cherie Carter-Scott
|
|
|
4:10 pm
March 13, 2009
|
Mo olelo
| | Northwest Georgia | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 152 |
|
|
Hello labanan, welcome to a fellow Canadian. Hubby grew up in Nova Scotia, but we are living in the States now.
Anyway, for our square foot garden beds, we used 2X6s that we bought from our local Habit ReStore. They sell used and surplus building supplies at a fraction of the cost of buying it at a hardware store. I'm not sure where in Nova Scotia you are, but I checked the Habit for Humanity website and it says that there is a ReStore in Dartmouth.
Hubby cut the 2×6s to size and screwed them together at the corners as that would hold together better than using nails. I painted the outside (not inside) so that the boards would look nice and last longer. If I remember, it cost us about $10 for two 4'X4' garden boxes not including the cost of the soil to fill them.
|
|
|
5:15 pm
March 13, 2009
|
GeorgiaZ
| | |
| Guest
| |
|
|
We used 2x12's that are treated to last. Like something you would use building a deck. Its what my dad started with over 25 years ago and his are still in use.
|
|
|
5:36 pm
March 13, 2009
|
labanan
| | |
| Banty | posts 8 |
|
|
Thanks Cindy and Mo!
I'm not far from Dartmouth so that would be perfect. And I'm going to ask at the market tomorrow and see if I can any of those produce boxes.
Thanks again!
Jan aka la banan
|
|
|
|
|
1:08 pm
March 29, 2009
|
betbrech
| | |
| Hatchling | posts 1 |
|
|
I have had railroad ties aroung my garden for 30 years with no adverse effect to me or my family. The ties do help form a barrier for the bermda grass in our lawn. But then I put the ties around my garden long before anyone thought of "hazardous substances". It is amazing we all lived so well and long with all these "hazards" around us! 
|
|
|
8:00 am
July 1, 2009
|
Runningtrails – Sheryl
| | Barrie, Ontario | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 302 |
|
|
I have built some garden things, cold frame, with untreated wood and have found that it will last, even in damp ground, for 3-4 years before being so rotten it has to be replaced. I am going to build a retaining wall for some gardening and am using old cedar posts and rails from fencing. If you can get them, the cedar will last a lot longer than ordinary wood.
|
|
|
|
Contact
Login 
Register 
Search 
Home
Print this Post 
