With Spring just around the corner (despite having 2 feet of snow on the ground), I thought it would be fun to talk about backyard gardens. Last summer one of the home DIY projects that we took on was the construction of a vegetable garden. We had been wanted to do something like this for a few years and the pandemic lock-down seemed to provide the perfect window of opportunity for the project.
To keep things simple I’ll divide this into a series of blog posts with each highlighting our journey through the various garden development, planting, and harvesting steps. This one is focused on “design and construction” of our backyard garden.
Options
The possibilities for our garden were pretty much endless given that we have a bunch of space to work with. We live in a rural setting which both affords us a lot of space for such a project, but which also comes with it’s own set of unique challenges (e.g. wildlife, access to water source). Until now, we had been using simple deck pots with varied success to grow fresh herbs (chives, basil) and some vegetables (tomatoes, peppers). Unfortunately, these didn’t prove to be good options in terms of yield, diversity, or quality. So we definitely knew that it was time for something larger and either in-ground or on-ground.
In our particular circumstances we also needed to consider how best to keep animals and other pests out of the garden. For this, we knew that we’d need to go with some kind of enclosed or fenced area. We looked a possibilities for a greenhouse (too expensive), a large fenced garden (to difficult to maintain (i.e. lots of bending)), or some form of raised beds (just right). In the end, we decided to go with a fully enclosed raised garden bed that will be large enough to support a variety of plants, as well as keep the animals out.
Design
Two of our key considerations in the design of the garden were location and maintenance. For the location, we paid a lot of attention to areas of our yard that received sun at varying times during the day. For our beds, the main consideration was that the area should get a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight each day, which seems to be in line with what most experts will tell you.
We went with an area behind the guest bunkie we built in 2018. Apart from access to direct sunlight, this provided both the space and convenient access to store supplies and tools. It also meant that we could use a rain barrel to catch all the water we would need for the garden – which is critical.
For maintenance reasons, we went with a design that was elevated 3 feet off the ground (to minimize bending), and no more than three feet at its widest point across (to ensure easy reaching). We also decided to use a U-shaped plan in order to allow for access to all of the beds with limited moving around. And we situated the beds in close proximity to the water source.
Construction
Any blog about construction in my house is incomplete without a description of the “dynamic” that has grown over time between my wife and I. You see, I fancy myself as a pretty handy guy and feel confident in building pretty much anything. However, I tend to be very particular with respect to how things get built and often meticulously diagram the way things must come together. My wife has excellent style and should seriously be a host of one of those HGTV decorating shows. However, she’s also all about getting things done as quick and dirty as possible. As a result, we often (or maybe always) clash during a project. Because of this dynamic, despite having very clear “requirements” going in, this usually leads to a lot of in progress changes, a flourish of “questions”, and multiple “just trust me” exclamations.
We went with a simple 4×4 post construction spaced 3 feet apart on the front and back, and 4 feet on the sides. I left these at full height to allow for the future addition of chicken wire or fencing to keep the animals out. These were joined together by 3 foot high walls constructed of 2×4 with appropriate bracing throughout. Additional bracing was added to the interior of the walls and everything was covered in a weed control garden membrane. Finally, we used regular fence board to finish the exterior of the garden and give it that “completed” look. All of the wood used for the main structure was pressure treated, but the plan is to add red cedar for the wall ledge and other accents.
To fill our new containers we used a mixture of regular soil with composted cow manure (essential) and peat moss. We covered the soil with a layer of natural cedar mulch which helps to ward off insects, retain moisture, and condition the soil over time.
The result has been well worth it and it’s something that we’re both very happy with. Can’t wait for Spring planting to begin!
