Raised Beds

Kirby

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 7, 2000
My husband and I are going to try a raised bed for vegetables this year. We done the tilling thing time and time again and have been successful but the Bermuda grass is really hard to control.

Does anyone have any tips for me? What about weeds, are they a problem in a raised bed?
 
My husband and I are going to try a raised bed for vegetables this year. We done the tilling thing time and time again and have been successful but the Bermuda grass is really hard to control.

Does anyone have any tips for me? What about weeds, are they a problem in a raised bed?

I've not done raised beds, but there was a great discussion on the Budget Board ...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2122506
 
Weeds still happen in a raised bed. When mowing, the grass cuttings can get everywhere. It is easier to weed them out though because the ground is less compacted in a raised bed.

Maybe with the higher side ones, it would be even less weeds.

Did you pick a system yet?
 


Yes, I did. I've been meaning to get back on here to give a report.

We sprayed Round up to get rid of the weeds on the area that we wanted to put the raised bed plus extra around it. Then once we saw that the weeds were dead, my husband tilled it. He built a box that is 8' X 4' and 12" high. We filled it with compost and topped it with fertilized garden soil. I planted three tomato plants, two crooked neck yellow squash, one zucchini squash and a cucumber on one half with green beans on the other half.

Last week we noticed that one of the dogs had been taking a dirt bath in it so I got some decorative wire fencing to put around it to keep them out. We're also going to put landscape bark around it on the outside to help keep the weeds down.
 
Sounds like you've got a really nice raised bed going.

I've got 2 that are 4' x 8' and only 2" high. I've got peppers, tomatoes, chives in one and the 2nd one has eggplant, cilantro, basil, blueberry bushes and green beans.

I gave up on squash and cucumbers a couple of years ago. They always seem to die on me.

What's great is I only spend about 1/2 hour a week weeding which is much better than the time I spent when the garden was directly into the ground.

Next up will be planting my flower bed. It huge and every year I add more perennials so I don't have to put in so many annuals to have it look nice.

Good luck with your garden. I hope you get lots of yummy vegs.
 
I had 6 4x4x1 raised beds back in the country before we moved. They worked great! Easy to weed. I went and got old carpet from an installer and put it face down between the beds so I didn't have to weed between the rows. DH built re-bar trellises on the north side of two of them for the tomatos and cukes to climb on. They worked great too, and were easy to cover against the frost.
 


Hmmm, old carpet strips. I may do that next year. I plan on adding another one then.

My neighbor, who has a big, beautiful vegetable garden, didn't like the looks of my plants and came over and planted yellow squash, zuchinni and cucumber seeds in my garden. He also gave me a tomato plant that he grew from a seed to add to it. It will be over flowing when it all grows to maturity.
 

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