City gardening raised bed

[Mountaineer]

I ran out of space in my smaller raised beds and decided to take a tree out and put in a bigger bed for tomatoes this year.

Used three 8’ sheets of metal roofing and 7 treated 2x4’s.

Lined it with weedblock and started shoveling. It takes a lot of compost to fill it at 8x3x2.











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[Gulfcoastin]

Looks good! You've just motivated me to do the same!

[J.C.]

Looking good!!

[Runnin4D]

Looks good, although it appears to be in a pretty tight spot between the house and tall fence. Are the plants going to get adequate sunlight? I see a tree that could block sunlight as well....all depending on which direction is which

[1claire]

You are now ready to plant some tomatoes.

[Lonestar_HOYT]

Glad you posted about these type of beds, been wanting to make some too.
Do you put anything in the bottom before you fill it with dirt? Or is the whole box full of the planting dirt/soil? What about drainage?

Thanks for any help.

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by Lonestar_HOYT

Glad you posted about these type of beds, been wanting to make some too.

Do you put anything in the bottom before you fill it with dirt? Or is the whole box full of the planting dirt/soil? What about drainage?



Thanks for any help.

I threw in some brush, leaves, and firewood to take up some space below the soil.


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[DPElite]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

I threw in some brush, leaves, and firewood to take up some space below the soil.


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I’m digging your work there bud just may have to redo mine

[texan4ut]

These are two I did last year. Going to do two more this year if the weather ever gets right.

[Tsnow]

Great idea!

[mmoses]

Here's the one I did plan on filling it with cinder blocks and then dirt

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[hog_down]

Very nice, sir, looks great.

[FLASH_OUTDOORS]

Just a question, not judging anyone’s work or ideas. Why not make it 12” deep and leave bottom open and let plants grow in soil and roots can extend to the earth if wanted. That way you have the best of both worlds. Less soil to fill bed but still have the ability to add the soil you want. If you fill a 2’ deep planter with cinder blocks then add soil, doesn’t the plant only have access to soil that’s in planter? If the root system makes it to cinder blocks they have to stop?? Why not let them go to soil below?


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[JTCowpoke]

Originally Posted by FLASH_OUTDOORS

Just a question, not judging anyone’s work or ideas. Why not make it 12” deep and leave bottom open and let plants grow in soil and roots can extend to the earth if wanted. That way you have the best of both worlds. Less soil to fill bed but still have the ability to add the soil you want. If you fill a 2’ deep planter with cinder blocks then add soil, doesn’t the plant only have access to soil that’s in planter? If the root system makes it to cinder blocks they have to stop?? Why not let them go to soil below?


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If you have Bermuda grass it will grow up from the bottom and take over your planter.

[FLASH_OUTDOORS]

Originally Posted by JTCowpoke

If you have Bermuda grass it will grow up from the bottom and take over your planter.

Ok....till the spot and pull grass out. It’s gonna die anyway with a planter sitting on it.


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[texan4ut]

Originally Posted by FLASH_OUTDOORS

Just a question, not judging anyone’s work or ideas. Why not make it 12” deep and leave bottom open and let plants grow in soil and roots can extend to the earth if wanted. That way you have the best of both worlds. Less soil to fill bed but still have the ability to add the soil you want. If you fill a 2’ deep planter with cinder blocks then add soil, doesn’t the plant only have access to soil that’s in planter? If the root system makes it to cinder blocks they have to stop?? Why not let them go to soil below?


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I have done them that way, put down weed cloth to cut down on weeds, however you are only 2' off the ground. Purpose of raised beds is to be higher off the ground so you don't have to bend down and stoop over as much. The top of my beds are 3' off the ground and about 20 inches deep. My knees thank me.

[brushtrooper]

I use the cattle protein tubs for planters and I use plastic soda bottles to take up space in the bottom and put soil in on top. Cheap way to take up space and improve drainage. Might work on these big planters. Ditto on a good post, this is something I have kicked around doing, just not followed through

[Dale Moser]

I think the 6'X8' sandbox I built for my son when he was little is going to be converted to a little garden this year. It's only 8 or 10" high, so I'll have to put some chicken wire around it to keep the rabbits out, but I think it'll work fine otherwise.

[SoTXAg06]

These pics are a couple of years old from when I first built the boxes. I used cheap fence pickets for the outer walls. The base has been redone on the V shaped planter. The way it was in the picture was very flimsy.





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[hooligan]

Looks good!

We’re selling our house right now so gonna miss a spring garden this year

[Kingfisher789]

Originally Posted by 1claire

You are now ready to plant some tomatoes.

Not really I’m seeing a Cajun microwave...

[Jamesdad07]

Nice! I did an almost identical one last year, but tried to cram too many plants in it.

One reason I did mine this tall is that my soil here SUCKS so I wanted as much good soil as I could get. The other is that I didn’t want to be crawling on my hands and knees to harvest/weed it.


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[sharkhunter]

Originally Posted by SoTXAg06

These pics are a couple of years old from when I first built the boxes. I used cheap fence pickets for the outer walls. The base has been redone on the V shaped planter. The way it was in the picture was very flimsy.





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I really like the V shape and am considering going this route

[sharkhunter]

Originally Posted by SoTXAg06

These pics are a couple of years old from when I first built the boxes. I used cheap fence pickets for the outer walls. The base has been redone on the V shaped planter. The way it was in the picture was very flimsy.





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I really like the V shape and am considering going this route

[mjames76]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

I ran out of space in my smaller raised beds and decided to take a tree out and put in a bigger bed for tomatoes this year.

Used three 8’ sheets of metal roofing and 7 treated 2x4’s.

Lined it with weedblock and started shoveling. It takes a lot of compost to fill it at 8x3x2.


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Where did you get the compost from?

[Mountaineer]

The trash dump in Plano aka Custer Transfer Station. They make/sell mulch, compost, etc. ~$40 for a scoop.


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[mjames76]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

The trash dump in Plano aka Custer Transfer Station. They make/sell mulch, compost, etc. ~$40 for a scoop.


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I was wondering if it was ours. I am the operations supervisor for the processing facility located in Melissa. Custer is our grinding and retail location.

[Dillakilla]

Anyone have one like this a while?
Wondering how long the metal will last cuz I like this alot

[EliteDriver]

tagged

[Jamesdad07]

Originally Posted by Dillakilla

Anyone have one like this a while?
Wondering how long the metal will last cuz I like this alot

I got the idea from my customer who had theirs for a few years. They had really good soil, so I had my guys load up the soil when we demoed their bed. The metal was in great shape. The wood will rot before there is a problem with the metal


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[furtrapper]

Made 2 planters 20 inches tall out of cull cedar lumber from work and filled the bottom half with dead tree limbs and old lumber, then went to the local sale barn and got a trailer load of barn hard manure for $20 and filled them up. Limbs and lumber in the bottom hold the moisture for the plants and slowly for away adding to the soil. Mine are 5 years old and as good as the day I built them.

[CrookedArrow]

How much depth is required to grow tomato's, peppers, squash etc? Curious as I am thinking of doing one.

[muzzlebrake]

Originally Posted by Jamesdad07

Nice! I did an almost identical one last year, but tried to cram too many plants in it.

One reason I did mine this tall is that my soil here SUCKS so I wanted as much good soil as I could get. The other is that I didn’t want to be crawling on my hands and knees to harvest/weed it.


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Nice Hotel being made right there. Fix it so you can get to it to remove sparrow nests. Hope the Martins find it first