Saturday, March 23, 2013

DIY Raised Garden Bed





I love to watch plants grow!  For some reason it just thrills me to see a tiny seedling grow into a mature plant.  My husband often tells me that I personify things.  I can sympathize with them when they have too much water, and feel for them when it's too dry.  You can even catch me talking to them here and there.  I guess I'm a little weird that way.  ;0)

Since we now have a dog, I began thinking about the importance of where I plant my garden.  

Hershey loves to eat just about anything, so I knew I was going to have to keep most of it out of his reach.  As you can see from this picture, Hershey isn't so happy that the plants are out of his reach.  :0)


We decided a raised garden bed would be the best.  This garden bed is entirely made out of fence posts and 2X4s.  


The finished dimensions of the plater ended up being approximately 24" X 24" X 55".




The most inexpensive wood we could find were fence slats.   We used those for most of the body.  The gaps between the slats allowed for water drainage.  In order to not loose all the dirt through the gaps, we placed newspaper on the bottom of the planters before we added the dirt.  


We wanted the planters to last for years, so we coated them with semi-transparent sealant made for decks.  We decided to have the sealant tinted in order for the planters to match the brick on the back of the house.  I love the way they turned out!



One of the planters has been dedicated solely to strawberries.  Mmmm, mmmm!  Strawberries love to spread, so I figured I'd give them the whole area.  Right now I have just a few strawberry plants, so I decided to fill the other half of the strawberry planter with Romaine Lettuce.  


My second raised bed is for my vegetables and herbs.  The tall skinny plants are onions, and that little leafy one you see there in the center, is broccoli.  I was able to fit three broccoli plants and over 15 onion plants.  I also planted two garlic cloves, parsley and oregano.  

How about you?  Do you have your garden planned out?  Do you plant a large garden, pots, or use just a corner of the yard?  Are you trying anything new this year?


Linked up here

17 comments:

  1. I love your raised beds. Hubby and my oldest son put together our raised beds today. We started cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers inside for now. My tot chose to grow grass for the inside kitties to enjoy too. Have a wonderful day!

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    1. Yay for starting the garden! How fun. That's a cute idea to grow grass for the kitties. What a smart little one.

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  2. Wow! Very cool raised planters! I'm going to try my hand at veggie gardens this year, but I'm just doing regular ground-level garden beds. My pup doesn't worry me so much about sneaking out of the gardens - it's the deer who are making me nervous. They've already snacked on all of my tulips. Argh!

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  3. These are fantastic! I really love that they are free-standing, and can be used anywhere. Great design.

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  4. Featuring this tonight - LOVE it!
    Thanks for sharing!
    Stacey of Embracing Change

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  5. I love this and the stain color you used. I would love for you to come by and share this on Fluster Creative Muster Party. It starts tomorrow at 6pm EST. Hope to see you there!

    Hugs, Smiles and Blessings,

    Robin

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  6. Your garden planters are amazing. Thanks for sharing this DIY tutorial. ;o)

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  7. I have dogs too and love your DIY planters. Definitely pinning these on my gardening board.

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  8. That turned out great! I love that the dog can't get into it! And it looks great with the deck sealer!

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  9. Great raised planter and tutorial! Pinning these to the DIY boards! Love it!!

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  10. GREAT tutorial!! I need to make a few.


    Thanks for linking up, I featured your post in my wrap up http://tidymom.net/2013/8-creative-ideas-for-home/

    Happy Easter!

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  11. What was your total cost for this project? I'm trying to convince my hubby to make these for me but he complains that wood is too expensive.

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    1. Jess, my total cost was about $90 for both. That included the wood, stain, and dirt (soil). So about $45 each. The beauty is they last a life time! (We do recommend re-staining in about 5 years if needed) The other great thing is I don't have weeds. I am loving them, and am so glad we invested in them. (I am actually the cheap one in our marriage, and it took a little convincing for me to spend that amount----I was hoping to be able to make them for about $20 a piece. :0)

      Trust this helps. Let me know if you end up making some and how you like them. :0)

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  12. Wow, those are so pretty!! We have big raised garden, but would love small one like that for my herbs! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I agree, something like this would be perfect for herbs. Thanks for stopping by!

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  13. I adore the way in which you write thanks for publishing. best vacuums for pets hair 2019

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  14. I have an iphone so I can blog out and about, I’ll keep checking back here for your new posts, good stuff ��

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