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Raised garden bed

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Deal Fanatic
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Oct 19, 2008
7407 posts
2998 upvotes
Whitby
My damn Yorkie will eat every raspberry he can reach and most vegetables.
Deal Addict
Dec 18, 2005
1433 posts
408 upvotes
Toronto
Pete_Coach wrote: A number of years ago we joined in on the square foot gardening movement. It worked very well and the garden produced vegetables and flowers like crazy.
That was the days before internet (yep, that long go and we went to the library for information LOL) but now there is lots of information around. here is a good source.
http://www.mysquarefootgarden.net/
I started out with the square foot gardening concept, but have been using something much simpler and more practical:

http://veggrowing.com/food4wealth-review/
Deal Addict
Jan 3, 2007
1172 posts
637 upvotes
Toronto
jul123 wrote: Hi Everyone,

I am planning to build raised vegetable garden bed (first one :) ) .

I have seen few videos online. I guess it is pretty straight forward suggestion to use untreated cedar wood.
I have plenty of questions where to get (some videos suggested) metal mesh to place at the bottom to protect from animals, plastic to make it as green house or if I should have any metal protection at the top to protect veggies from mice (last year they were eating my tomatoes instead of me :( )

Anyway I would appreciate any suggestions from where to get materials in GTA to any other practical matters (i.e protecting from animals etc).
thanks a bunch.
Home Depot or Rona have pretty much everything you need. Use landscaping fabric at the bottom to kill the weeds.

The only animals that I can think of that need a metal mesh underneath are rabbits. If you don't have rabbits, then don't worry about it.

Use any kind of real wood that is 2" thick. Make sure the bed is at least 12" high.

Build the bed now, and start growing. Worry about the greenhouse after :) You can use a row cover in the meantime to protect your plants, if you're planing on growing soon in the cold.
Sr. Member
Jun 21, 2007
997 posts
235 upvotes
Milton, ON
All you need at the bottom is some newspapers to kill the grass.
Deal Addict
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Nov 15, 2005
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I built about 4 raised garden beds in my backyard and I used cedar wood, it's more than pressure treated but since it's a long term, the cost didn't matter too much. I stacked 3 2x6 on top of each other for a depth of about 16"-16.5". On the corners I cut 4x4 posts that were just slightly longer than the height of the box and used the 4x4 posts to anchor it into the soil.

I stapled weed barrier clothe on the bottom to block critters and still allow for drainage. I just filled this with soil and at the end of fall, I cut up my vegetable food waste and put it in to the soil so it composts for the next season. Every year, I have nice black soil and my plants always grow nicely.
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May 28, 2012
12485 posts
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Saskatoon
I've been growing a lot of my vegetables vertically - cucumbers and beans are particularly effective on a trellis. For the cukes, I have two cedar panels made from fence boards...I lean the two together, tied at the top, to make an A-frame.

I never use weed fabric, especially in a vegetable garden which gets rototilled every year...you can mulch with dried grass clippings to keep the weeds at bay...or do what I do...weed regularly through the gardening season so it doesn't get out of hand. Do not let weeds go to seed.
Deal Expert
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Oct 19, 2003
20241 posts
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Toronto (Bloor West …
I never saw the point of a raised bed here, my vegetables do just fine straight in the ground. I do dig a couple of feet deep and replace with fresh compost/soil when making the garden area bigger... unless your ground is pure hard packed clay I don't see what the issue would be just planting in the ground in the straight forward way.

Do people just build the raised beds because they thinks that's what people do, so they just do it too?
Sr. Member
Jun 21, 2007
997 posts
235 upvotes
Milton, ON
I built raised beds because it's very hard to dig up clay and replace it with garden soil. It's easier to build beds.
Deal Addict
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Nov 15, 2005
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I built raised beds because one side of garden has a slope and was full of a lot of weeds.
Deal Fanatic
Dec 19, 2009
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BinaryJay wrote: Do people just build the raised beds because they thinks that's what people do, so they just do it too?
Quite a few have the raised garden to save the strain on their backs from bending over in a regular garden. It is great for the seniors and gets them out doing things and keeping active.
Deal Addict
Feb 5, 2009
2808 posts
940 upvotes
Newmarket
BinaryJay wrote: I never saw the point of a raised bed here, my vegetables do just fine straight in the ground. I do dig a couple of feet deep and replace with fresh compost/soil when making the garden area bigger... unless your ground is pure hard packed clay I don't see what the issue would be just planting in the ground in the straight forward way.

Do people just build the raised beds because they thinks that's what people do, so they just do it too?
1) To improve the drainage.
2) You will get more warmth from the sun in raised bed.
3) To lessen impact on the back and legs.
4) Due to sloppy yards
5) As part of architectural design and visual impact, with such a variety of materials available they can actually look quite nice.

You see a point now, or you still think it's because of lack of intelligence?
Deal Guru
Dec 31, 2005
13306 posts
750 upvotes
We are putting in raised beds in the front yard:

The front is sloped so this will allow us to level
Our soil is crap
The look is better for where we are putting it
Less likely the kids will stomp on plants

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