When starting a new garden there are a million things you may be thinking about. While they may be important, or at least important to you, there are 3 key elements that are absolutely the most important things to consider when starting a new garden. I’m beginning the challenge to starting a brand new vegetable … Read more
Raised beds are a great option for gardeners but how deep do they really need to be? The depth of a raised garden bed is an important factor to consider because it can greatly impact the health and productivity of your plants. The true answer to How deep do raised gardens need to be really … Read more
Pretty soon we’ll be relocating to our new home. Our family is very excited about this but it also means starting the garden all over again. Everything including raised beds, sheds, and arbors will have to be rebuilt. While this is a tremendous amount of work I think it’s a great opportunity to start again … Read more
Raised beds are one of the absolute BEST ways to grow a garden but there can be challenges to growing in raised beds. Often gardeners have questions about the best methods to grow in a raised bed. In this post I’ve taken some common raised bed garden questions and put together some answers based on … Read more
Last year I built two new wooden raised beds for my vegetable garden. After building them I needed a way to fill them up with soil. Since I already had a pile of wood chips in the front yard from a tree trimmer I thought why not use them? As the wood chips break down … Read more
Recently I put together a little project from some wood I had stored in the garage. It was an idea I had to help me with a presentation I’ll be giving at a local garden show. Essentially I needed a way to demonstrate how a few plants could be planted in combination with each other. … Read more
The summer heat is coming and with the heat comes a whole new set of rules for gardening. The warm season vegetables grow great while the cool season plants bolt quickly. What if you want to keep your cool season plantings growing longer into the summer? Is there a way to do that? The answer … Read more
Last weekend we went to a family wedding in West TN. While out there we stopped by and visited my wife’s Uncle Joe in Jackson who loves to garden. He has a variety of plants ranging from broccoli, radishes, and spring greens to tomatoes and peppers. Since I don’t grow broccoli in my garden (I … Read more
It’s always fun to go back and look at the year. It helps to examine what went well or what didn’t. Usually I end the year with a post on how my garden projects went but this year I thought I would mention what the top posts on Growing The Home Garden were for 2013. … Read more
Here at Growing The Home Garden I’m a huge proponent of raised bed gardening. Raised beds can be made of all sorts of materials and have all kinds of advantages for growing a garden. Raised beds are great solution for many tricky situations in the garden. Here are a few ways that raised beds can … Read more
I’ve talked a lot about raised beds over the years here and there’s no doubt that I’m a fan but are raised beds perfect for everybody? Does everyone need a raised bed? Should you used raised beds in your garden? Anyone could utilize raised beds to have a great garden, but you don’t have to … Read more
I mostly use raised beds for my vegetables but the truth is almost any plant can do great in a raised bed. Herbs, flowers, and ornamentals can all thrive in raised beds. What makes a raised bed an awesome growing method is the soil that it uses. You can mix the perfect soil mixture for … Read more
I’ve written several times before about raised beds. I’m a fan, a huge fan of raised beds. With a raised bed you can control the soil, control the moisture, and garden virtually anywhere. It makes sense that raised beds are a great option for every homeowner (here’s why: 8 Benefits to Gardening in Raised Beds). … Read more
It’s not just a box. Really it isn’t. It’s so much more than that. You built it in your backyard, sideyard, or even front yard. You filled it with soil. You tended that box and nurtured every single tiny seed you planted in it. That box is your garden. That box with the untreated wood … Read more
Since I posted the other day on my Metal Sided Raised Bed I’ve received several questions about raised beds in general as well as questions about the metal raised bed itself. For today’s post I’ll answer those questions as many other people may be wondering the same thing – or may not have but may … Read more
Recently I put together my newest raised bed. I was inspired by some pictures I’ve seen lately where metal roofing materials were used for the sides. It was a very cool look that I wanted to see if I could replicate for my garden. Plus metal materials tend to last longer than lumber for raised … Read more
Over the weekend I spent about 30 minutes piecing together a cold frame to do some hardwood cuttings. The process for building a cold frame is very similar to building a raised bed. I used some old pressure treated lumber that used to belong to a deck, an old storm door without the glass, and … Read more
Have you ever wondered exactly how tall a raised bed should be? Here’s the answer: 11 and 5/16ths. Yep that’s right, 11 and 5/16ths. Of course not! The real answer is that the height of a raised bed is dependent on a number of factors which makes each situation different. Today’s Friday Fives post is … Read more
For several years now I’ve written about the value of planting in raised beds. One of the most viewed posts on Growing The Home Garden is my post Designing a Raised Bed Vegetable Garden: 11 Things to Think About. It has 11 design tips that will help your vegetable garden layout achieve its maximum potential. … Read more
This week I put together another project in the vegetable garden. It was a little one that was another step toward designing my vegetable garden as a parterre style garden layout. The idea for this project was to create something that was both edible and ornamental! I decided that working in the vegetable garden was … Read more
My lately planted vegetable garden is doing its best to get back on track! It’s been a busy spring time and everything got delayed until the official “whenever I could manage a few minutes” time. But one of the great things about gardening in Tennessee is the long growing season. Even if you don’t get … Read more
A garden layout should be well designed with the convenience of the gardener and function of the garden in mind.
Last year I put together the circular raised bed in my vegetable garden. It’s in the center of the garden layout which is in the parterre style garden layout I planned last year. Of course my plans are changing a little this year too. It never fails, the only thing I don’t change in my … Read more
Once you have your seedlings growing strong and you’ve properly hardened them off (more on that next week) it is time to plant your seedlings in the garden. But where should you plant them? It may seem like a given that you’ll just go out and stick them in a hole and watch them grow, … Read more
It’s finally time to get the chore to end all chores done: cleaning up the vegetable garden. After a year of intermittent neglect, frustration, summer heat, and family tragedy it is definitely time to put this year’s garden under wraps. Mostly under wraps that is. We actually have a crop of greens on the way … Read more
It’s taken me all summer to get to it but I’m finally taking the first steps toward changing the vegetable garden to the parterre layout. I had some of the blocks sitting around for months now and others I borrowed from our patio sidewalk expansion which I just haven’t had time to get to this … Read more
I’ve been trying for several weeks now to get my garden trellises built for the vegetable garden. This weekend I finally managed to put two together, one for my cucumbers and one for my ‘Tigger’ melons. Building these two trellises can easily be done in just a few hours. I had to decide how high … Read more
Since I bought my new toy (a Sony Handycam HDR-CX130) I’ve been playing around with filming my garden in different areas. I have to admit – talking to a camera by oneself while wandering around your garden is a weird sensation. I’m convinced that my neighbors already think I’m crazy and I doubt video recording … Read more
A few weeks ago I told you about the Greenland Gardener raised bed system. It consisted of several composite boards that could be put together using specially made corners also made from composite lumber. With composite materials you don’t have to worry about the materials breaking down which is a huge advantage over typical lumber. … Read more
The layering technique is my favorite way of filling new or replenishing already established raised beds. Layering (also called Lasagna Gardening) doesn’t require tilling the soil which can disturb the lives of beneficial microbes and soil dwelling organisms. It also doesn’t destroy the soil structure (assuming you have something better than clay or sand!) Often … Read more
A Growing The Home Garden reader sent me this question asking how I would build a raised bed on a deck. It’s a very interesting question. I’ve never built a raised bed on a deck before but if I were planning one here’s what I would do. But first the question: Dave, I want to … Read more
I’ve always been a big fan of raised bed gardening. There are significant advantages to gardening in raised beds which is why when Greenland Gardener offered to send me one of their raised bed kits to test out I said “yes please!” My vegetable garden is almost completely made of raised beds built from non-pressure … Read more
Over the weekend I tackled more prep work in the vegetable garden. I’ve already planted several things in the raised beds including onions, potatoes, lettuce, and spinach but planting wasn’t the main weekend task. One of the things I really didn’t like about my vegetable garden is now officially a thing of the past – … Read more
After being cooped up all winter my daughters and I hightailed it to the backyard and spent the day outdoors digging in the dirt. We accomplished many of the chores I mentioned on Friday (wait they weren’t chores because I enjoyed doing them!). One of those tasks was a rearrangement of the vegetable garden. I … Read more
Today I spent some time outdoors getting a raised bed put together for our back slope. It gives the slope a somewhat terraced visual effect but the wooden bed isn’t needed to hold the slope in place. It’s done fine on its own for several years! Here’s the view from one side with the garden … Read more
A plant holding bed is a luxury that anyone who propagates plants might find very useful. (I know I will!) A plant holding bed can function as a coldframe or just as an out of the way spot set aside for plants to rest in while they grow. For me I just have too many … Read more
This weekend I worked on two garden projects. One took a a good deal of time to complete while the other only took about an hour and a half. The big project was a plant holding bin to hold my propagated plants that aren’t ready for in the ground planting yet. Fortunately I was the … Read more
To say that I am ashamed of certain spots in my garden is an understatement. Several gardens have become filled with weeds run amok and whether or not the weather is cooperative I have to get some work done. Today I spent some time outdoors in the 95 degree heat tackling a couple of the … Read more
Yesterday evening we had storms. Heavy winds and rain knocked down sunflowers and pretty much every perennial planting over 2 feet tall that wasn’t staked up. If it could catch the wind – it did. Unfortunately our Bradford pears remained in tact – I’ve been looking for an excuse to take them down, one of … Read more
Things are growing very nicely in the vegetable garden. The tomatoes (which are our favorite crop no matter what else we try) are growing like crazy, the zucchini has almost produced it’s first zucchini, and the cabbage are …well…you’ll see… Here are two of my raised beds full of tomatoes. The bed on the left … Read more
When building raised beds I usually screw deck screws through each of the boards to attach the corners of my raised beds but using brackets to hold raised beds together does work better. With the screw in method I find after a while that the corners begin to rot, the screws begin to loosen, and … Read more
This week my daughter and I put together a couple more raised beds in the garden. They aren’t exactly what I planned to do in the vegetable garden layout that I made a couple months ago but the addition of the extra beds has definitely improved over the layout I had last year, at least … Read more
Spring is officially here and it seems like the daffodils were waiting for the memo. They are in full bloom now and their yellow flowers are a bright and happy sign that the cold dreary days of an extra long and extra cold winter are behind us. Sure we’ll have some cold days ahead, but … Read more
A spiral vegetable garden planted with lettuce and greens is a very interesting way to grow vegetables or herbs. It has obvious design appeal with its circular form yet is fundamentally a raised bed. I can see where a spiral garden might make an interesting centerpiece for a parterre garden layout. We saw this spiral … Read more
I was out today looking at the sorry state of the gardens and though it might be an interesting exercise to look back at how the gardens appeared last spring and compare them. Over the next few posts I’ll go back for a few photos of the spring time version and contrast it with that … Read more
Building a new raised bed for a vegetable garden isn’t difficult and doesn’t have to be expensive. This week I put together a new raised bed that measures 3’x10′ with materials I had laying around the garage. It’s wider than I originally intended in my garden layout but I discovered after remeasuring the area that … Read more
I’m a huge fan of vegetable gardening – or any gardening for that matter – in raised beds. There are many reasons raised beds are great for gardens like being able to garden nearly anywhere (even on rocky ground), controlling the soil, or planting more plants in a smaller space but what actually makes a … Read more
Each year I expand my vegetable garden just a little. I use raised beds which just can’t be beat for productivity in the backyard vegetable garden and so this year I’m planning on adding four more raised beds. These four raised beds may just be the last of the raised beds in the vegetable garden … Read more
As I mentioned in a previous post about fall vegetable gardening we’re in the window of opportunity for getting those fall veggies going. All those cool season vegetables you planted for spring are eligible for a second go round in the garden. In our garden the radishes are rising, the sugar snap peas are sown, … Read more
Friday afternoon and evening I was in the yard and garden vigorously hauling compost from truck to the raised beds. Fortunately one yard of compost was all that was necessary to complete the filling of the beds. Saturday’s task will be mulch: mulch for the garden paths and for various other locations around the … Read more
Since I decided to remodel the raised bed vegetable garden this year a lot of work has been done. The beds have all been built for this year and all the grading I wanted to attempt is finished, for now. The fence will be something of an ongoing project but we’ve erected a temporary wire … Read more
Things are going well with the vegetable garden remodel even though the pictures may not fully illustrate it (see the layout to get an idea as to what it will look like). Right now it looks kind of like a war zone complete with with bunkers, foxholes, and fencing but soon it will come together. … Read more
In my last post I mentioned 11 Things to Think About When Designing Your Raised Bed Vegetable Garden. Here are a few more ideas suggested by commenters! Think about a fence (From Tina). Whether for aesthetics or for function fences are good for the garden. Different fences can solve different issues. A simple wire fence … Read more
Raised beds are a great way to garden! Here are 11 raised bed garden tips to help you design a great vegetable garden layout.
And now here comes my favorite part of the patio project so far. No project feels quite as complete as when you finally plant something. OK I suppose that only holds true for gardening projects but it really is the exciting part! Welcome to the Japanese Maple Garden! It’s a small raised bed made from … Read more
One of our favorite vegetables to grow each year is the yellow summer squash. These are some of the best looking squash plants we’ve managed to grow. It could be due to the increased rain this year or maybe the raised beds, but whatever the reason the plants are looking full and strong. They should … Read more
It’s been a little while since I’ve updated you on my raised bed vegetable garden. I’m pleased with the way things are looking right now. The tomato plants are taking off as are the squash and cucumber plants. You can see for yourself the benefits of gardening in raised beds! The tomatoes and other vegetables … Read more
This post may be a little late in coming but I thought I would talk about how I built my raised beds for my vegetable garden. If you you are interested in learning about the advantages of gardening in raised beds be sure check out my post: The Benefits of Gardening in Raised Beds. This … Read more
I’ve been planning my raised bed garden for a while now and now I’ve come to another phase. Figuring out how to plant the garden. I’m planning on using a technique called companion planting. Carol at May Dreams Gardens mentioned this a couple weeks ago although she called it Three Sisters gardening. It’s concept is … Read more
Why should you consider raised bed gardening for your vegetables? It’s a good question. The alternative is to put the garden in the ground which people have done for centuries with success. Why change a good thing? For the small home garden raised beds are a much better option. Below you will find some very … Read more
It may seem like I’m jumping ahead a bit but here is a picture of our first raised bed. I’ll be putting together a step by step post on it later. There is still one more bed to build and both of them need to be prepared for planting. As you can see the small … Read more
Here is a small diagram of my intended raised bed vegetable garden layout. It will have 4 larger beds. Two of them will be 6 feet long and the other two will be 8 feet long. Each of these will connect to each other through the middle bed that is 4′ x 4′ square. Having … Read more
Here is a a list of posts that discuss using raised beds for gardening. Designing a Raised Bed Vegetable Garden: 11 Things to Think About Companion Planting Vegetable Garden Layout The Benefits of Gardening in Raised Beds My Vegetable Garden Layout My Vegetable Garden Layout Part 2 New Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Layout Building My … Read more
I did some collecting yesterday in the cold drizzling rain. Some friends of my parents wanted to get rid of a pile of wood that used to be their deck. They remodeled their house a while back and hard-scaped around the pool so they didn’t need the deck. The lumber was sitting near their garden … Read more
It will be fun to think of what next year’s growing season will bring. The yard here is pretty much a blank slate still. I’ve done a few things, like making a garden bed or two, making a bird bath garden, and added trees but there is a lot left to do to fit my … Read more
