Advice Needed - Raised Garden Beds

[Learner Gardener]

Hi

I am new to gardening and am looking to create a raised garden bed off of the ground. I am planting a variety of sunflowers, vegetables and herbs.

I was looking at the layers that you have to use to create the bed. I just was to know if the layers that I am thinking to use from the bottom up are good:
1. Burlap liner
2. Coconut coir
3. Drainage stones
4. Compost
5. Raised garden bedbsoild
6. Mulch with mosiiquite pellets

Are those layers good?

 

[Anniekay]

I don't think you need coco coir. I would put a sheet of landscape fabric on the bottom to help keep the soil and stones from obstructing the drainage holes, then just a good all purpose garden soil on top and you're done.

 

[Learner Gardener]

Thank you so much. I was wondering if I need them with the drainage stones because I don't want to cause root rot.

 

[Mystic Moon Tree]

Saying "vegitables & herbs" is too broad. That is a vast list of plants that all have different growing needs & may not be able to grow together in your single raised bed. There are several types of raised bed. One way is to level the ground, lay down rabbit fencing, place the frame for the bed. You only would add drainage rock if the plants you are planting like to be fairly dry, otherwise you wouldn't put rock. You might do a slow release hugel low down in the bed for the longevity of it. Then you put in whatever compost fill dirt up to just under a foot. Unless, you are doing root crops, then you want a light fertile medium throughout, you would then add your nice compost, fertilizer, potting mix, amendments, etc. based on the plants' needs. Some plants need sand, others bennefit from coir, peat, vermeculite, perlite, lime, meal, maneur, leaf mulch, etc. while others don't. After you plant the plants you might add an apropriate mulch, wood chip or ground cover. Burlap could take the place of the rabbit fencing if you don't have burrowers, or you can use weed cloth, or cardboard, plastic. That can be used to adjust how much moisture the planter will retain low down, and/or as a top cover for various reasons.

 

[Learner Gardener]

Thank you for the advice.

There are going to be raised garden beds so the won't touch the ground.

I am planning to cycle through different plants so that's why I tried to give a generalised planter set up, so I do appreciate the substitutions you suggested because I can make different environments in different planters.

Thanks so much for your help again.

 

[Mystic Moon Tree]

Raised is much easier. No problem.

 

[GFTL]

I Have several different types of raised beds, all with some type of irrigation. My best performing beds are wicking beds. They have a water reservoir so you never have to worry about over or under watering. I think it would be a perect fit for an off the ground bed. Being off the ground the bed will be subject to periods of lack of waer unless you're there to make sure they're watered. Not to mention it would br easy to over water. This video is how I started and will work with any type of container.

 

[Learner Gardener]

These are awesome but they are a bit too big for the space I am working with.

However I will definitely keep your business in mind when I eventually gain more space.

 

[GFTL]

These are awesome but they are a bit too big for the space I am working with.

However I will definitely keep your business in mind when I eventually gain more space.

This design can be used for any type of container. Just line the bottom with a sheet of plastic to hold water.

 

[smitty55]

I'm certainly not telling you what to do but personally unless there are strong physical limitations I see no logical reasoning behind having beds off the ground, in fact I think they cause more issues than benefits, not the least of is having legs to support all that weight, specially after heavy rains. I have 5 4x8' raised beds made of cedar because I have tons of rock here and digging down far is near impossible. My beds are 16" tall so I have close to 20" of soil which allows me to grow anything I want. I also have no issues with soil drainage, drying out or freezing solid in our cold winters up here in zone 5A. Plus being on the ground is quite beneficial for soil borne microbes and worms to migrate into my beds. They were also much easier to construct not having to deal with a bottom, I made each side and end on the picnic table and then screwed them together in place.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I find wooden sides to a bed can cause drying out, lining or building with something non permeable is better.

 

[smitty55]

I find wooden sides to a bed can cause drying out, lining or building with something non permeable is better.

I've been using wooden raised beds for over 20 years now. My first ones were 2" Hemlock that lasted over a dozen years before they rotted out and these present ones are 1" cedar that I expect to last even longer. I have had zero issues with my beds drying out any faster than my ground beds, having a good level of soil organic matter takes care of that. We get reasonable amounts of rain and between my three large rain barrels and the hose I have no problem keeping my beds from drying out. I actually don't mind if the wood dries out a bit on the inside and breaths instead of having constant moisture against the wood trapped between a membrane and the wood even if it is cedar.