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 the way to go. Vegetables can be very ornamental by themselves but I also incorporated some more traditional flowers and plants to enhance the garden’s ornamental value.
For materials on this project I used the retaining wall blocks. There are quite a variety of block styles to choose from. I went with a mid priced block (about $2.50 per block) that has some natural looking contouring. The sides of the block are beveled to allow for rounded corners or even circular raised beds.
For plants I chose three colors of sweet peppers (orange, red, and yellow), two daylilies (which are edible), some gerbera daisies (to plant on the edges), and a red flowering penstemon called ‘Ruby Candles’. Adding flowers and herbs to a garden bed in order to attract beneficial insects is called companion planting. Flowers attract pollinators which as we all know are very beneficial to gardeners! I do need to note that this bed already had a few plants that I grew from seed including peppers and basil.
I set the concrete blocks directly on the soil since these were only going to be a one layer border for the raised beds. I leveled the blocks with soil but if the blocks were to be used as a retaining wall they would have needed gravel for leveling underneath the stones.
I filled the raised bed area with soil and compost I had on hand in the garden. Once it was planted I mulched with a hay bale. Mulch is extremely important to retaining moisture in the soil. We’re going through a dry spell right now and anything I can do to keep water where the roots are is a necessity!
The plants are freshly planted and need some time to settle in before looking their best. I’ll update you in a week or two to show you how it is coming along! In case you missed my last project check back and see the vertical garden arbor using gutters I built!
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I have several raised beds made from Castle Rocks. I love them as they are so easy to make. Your Gutter Arbor is so neat. How neat to do projects for Lowes! What fun…
Thank you for sharing this! It is an idea that's been knocking around in my head most of the season, so I guess I just need to get my happ self on down to Lowes and make it happen!