How do I make a raised vegetable bed along my fence? I have bad knees

Sanna
by Sanna
Can I use containers on top of the bed or do I need to make boxes for dirt? How deep do the containers have to be?
  5 answers
  • Hillela G. Hillela G. on May 29, 2017

    Raised garden beds are awesome ways to garden without having to damage your knees, or back! Six inches is a minimum for depth . Plants need at least a 6- to 12-inch rooting zone, so 12 inches is ideal. Before you establish the bed, break up and loosen the soil with a garden fork so that it's not compacted. Go about 6 to 8 inches deep

    • Sanna Sanna on May 30, 2017

      Thank you for your help. I have a better idea how to proceed now.

  • Nancy Turner Nancy Turner on May 29, 2017

    If you need to go higher you could make some kind of sturdy covered boxes to have under your raised bed and just make sure that you would be able to reach all areas of the soil for maintenance when you decide on the height and width of the raised bed. Have fun!

    • See 1 previous
    • Nancy Turner Nancy Turner on May 30, 2017

      No problem. This is something I always think about that because at five foot three my arms only reach so far, so unless you can get at both sides of the raised garden I would be in trouble! It would also cause less bending and reaching which can be hard on a persons back and hips if you have a problem with that.

  • Marcie Marcie on May 29, 2017

    You basically have carte blanche with how you want to make these raised beds - as long as you have the depth and quality of dirt for the plants. Pots would be the easiest - place them a little into the ground for stability, then plant! Pots do dry out a bit faster than a true raised garden bed, so they might need more watering.

    I've used some 4 x 4's for 2 sides of my raised garden beds . THis has added about 6 more inches of dirt, so I did need to dig down and amend some of the dirt already there. This is a pretty low raised garden. You can go higher, obviously.

    I have kept my areas pretty small - I am using square areas with borders around them all, so that it makes keeping up with my garden much easier on my mind and my body! ( I also have knee pads, and a little plastic seat I use on tougher days).

    • Sanna Sanna on May 30, 2017

      4 x 4's would definitely work and I could crisscross them to go higher.

  • Cindy Cindy on May 29, 2017

    My sons built a raised garden bed for me. This is my first season planting in it. I couldn't love it more. They used green treated landscaping timbers all the way around. The entire garden is about 12 feet by 6 feet. and 5 timbers high which gives me 18-20" deep). I have 8 tomato plants, 2 strawberry plants and a trellis for my cucumbers . I have down sized my garden but it's really all I need. The soil mixture is 1/3 dirt, 1/3 sand and 1/3 manure. Hope this helps. Good luck.

    • Sanna Sanna on May 30, 2017

      Good info. Thanks. I didn't know that sand would be in the mixture.

  • Sanna Sanna on May 30, 2017

    How wonderful to get responses that were so specific and helpful. Around my area no one has raised gardens, so no local help available.