A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 Organic Container Garden Help?

Hello all!
My family is renting a townhouse in AZ that has a small backyard (with lots of problems that we're working through). I've been wanting to start a garden, but need to make a container for it since I also have a dog that likes to walk in gardens
Anyone have specs for the wood and such needed to make one (maybe 4x5) that has worked well for you?
Seems rather simple - but I'm sure there's got to be some tips of what to do or not do...
Thanks in advance.

Hi BK,
i'm guessing yo mean to make a raised bed and fill it with organic medium. I say this because the post is in the organic gardening section. I'm also asssuming you want a vege garden but not sure there. Is that the case? If you just want to make a garden at ground level, and you need to keep the dog out, why not just put up a fence of dog netting around it and make a gate. I'm not sure exactly what you wanna do. Though i'd like to help if i can:)

Oh yeah - sorry - didn't think to get more in depth.
Yeah - I would like a raised bed with organic material in it for veggies.

Thanks for the help

Hi again bk, well i started thinking about all the different types of raised beds i've seen and my fav is using railway sleepers.
However, being a rental property you may not want to go to the expense of something so permanent. So i did a google and came up with a gazillion websites.
Googled "raised timber garden bed" and one that jumped out is the link below. I think the best way is to use what you have available or can readily access. If you live near a railway line maybe sleepers are real cheap. Offcuts from a sawmill are good too. Anyway, checkout the site below.
Incidentally, my raised beds at home were constructed out of spoilt hay bales for the first few years i lived here. Too easy and as the bales rot you use them for mulch and replace them. Now i've got sawmill offcuts but it's not super tidy. One day i'll have solid timber which will last for years but not yet:) Maybe the hay bales is worth consideration.


http://users.ncable.net.au/~urbanfoodgarden/Web/Design/VEGETABLE%20PATCH%20DESIGN/VEGETABLE_PATCH_DESIGN_2.htm#BUILDING%20VEGETABLE%20BEDS

well, i am using felled trees that we are clearing from our property. they are also available if you watch, folks are always trimming large limbs or trees and then have to find a way to get rid of the wood.

WOW - great link! I'm thinking that would be a great way to start one. Wonder if I can raise it about 6 inches off the ground with some small 4x4s and make a bottom with plywood - just mainly to keep the dog out of the garden. Our soil here is clay mostly - I figure if I make the sides tall - like another 6 inches - then fill with really good soil from the garden center.

Offhand - do you have any suggestion on how deep a veggie garden should be if it's completely off the ground?
Thanks for the help thou - I'm so excited to start.

bk2azmom,
I think it really depends on you and your needs really....
Is it a basic need to up it for the dog purposes?
*so he can't get into it and do his "duty" in there?*

You said your rent too, is there an opposition to containers to garden in????

Just curious???

I have have 5 raised beds made out of rough cut lumber, it was alot cheaper than buying other types of wood, it was made of wood that'll last quite some time....
It's non treated so I can use it for my veggie garden, *no treated lumber should be used for a vegetable, herb or any type of garden you intend to eat the results from...

But ours are about 2 1/2ft high, and we put a flat piece of lumber on it to give us a seat to sit on while planting, ***I have my mom I garden with and it was too hard for her to get down to the ground anymore, let alone back up !!!!
So, we did it that way..

but with renting, would you want to go to extremes?

Have you ever considered container gardening????

We do some tomatoes and strawberries, and a couple of other things in them too... and they work out nicely in them, and are very portable, can move them where ever the sun is, no dog can get into them, *although my mom's dog gets in between them and knocks the 5 gallon pots over every now and again with her chain...
I'm moving the pots next year so the dog can't go sniffin' around them....

Hope some of this info helps!!!

Weezie

Good points too I've thought about doing containers - but been really shy about the cost of most larger pots - I've been also looking into some terra cotta pots(big ones!) but haven't really found any that weren't massively expensive out here.
Since you say you currently have them - are yours terra cotta or something else? Do you have problems with root-rot or anything?
I'm such a MASSIVE rookie when it comes to all this gardening stuff. I want to grow stuff so bad but don't have massive amounts of $$$$ or space to really go "hog-wild".
To answer the question about renting and spending the time....ya know..if I can make something out of that backyard for us to enjoy while we're there and that may even be enjoyed by future renters there - I'd be happy. I know I'd love to take my hard work with me when we leave - but if we can't for whatever reason - at least someone can enjoy it without the problems that we walked into here once we moved in.
Sound silly??? I hope not

Absolutely NOT, sounds like a very nice idea....

Do you have any Dollar Stores out there?
Or even Wally~World *Wal~Mart* has some bigger pots for about $5.oo *here* and the only hang up is there wasn't any drain holes *DUH** and I had to take my husbands drill and drill them in....
But they were some nice sized pots, Drk Grn, Terra Cotta, and cream and white colors too...

Same for the Dollar Stores...
They were rectangled shape...

I have a niece that lives out there, maybe she can point me into a direction that has a store that would have items like that..

The only problem I came up with was FILLING IT WITH DIRT, the pots were so big... I had to improvise alot so I wasn't filling the entire pot up... found packing peanuts I'd saved and put a square or circle of landscape fabric on top, *SO all the dirt didn't slid in between the packing peanuts and I can re~use the dirt again, with out getting all the peanuts mixed in...I used old dog bones we got for the dog to chew on from the butchers at the groceries stores, and thru them in the bottom, hey great for calcium and good for extra weight to weigh the pots down if you have something that's top heavy....
MIND YOU, I did say OLD DOG BONES, nothing fresh, these have been around for a few years we keep recycling.. You don't want any meat in your garden that can cause unwanted "pests" in the garden...
OR you can use rocks...Great for drainage...

I know Papito also gardens in containers as he has a small area of land to garden in, I"m sure he can give a hint or two for that kind of gardening...

I am very happy with my raised beds, they warm up faster in the spring, and I"ve got landscape fabric on the top of mine, so hardly NO weeds at all. They're right at hip level so, when a plant like a tomato grows, it's right at picking height.

Down sides are, they need a bit more water in the hot and windy days, because it drains faster!!!!!!! Compost helps though.
And rototilling can be a bit different in it,
this year I worked the soil by hand and it took alot longer, will try a different method next year too probably..

Weezie

Thanks for the info - I'll have to check those stores out for bargins!

I still may do the raised bed thing too - but one step at a time.
In the meantime - I do need to get going on this - I've got 6 small terra cotta pots (like 3-4 inches high) with seedlings of tomato plants Grew those from seeds I took out of tomatos from a friend's garden in CA - and they're really getting big and strong now. Been about 4 weeks I think since I planted them. Think the container may be the solution for those littel guys

Thanks again for all the support and help. I'll keep you posted....maybe even some pics

Cool! Thanks! Will do

what i did for suitable containers to grow food in was to hook up with a local restaurant and get the food grade plastic buckets that they through away anyway. i got some smaller "butter buckets" and larger pickle buckets and such. worked great, i just cut a hole in the bottom for drainage.