Raised beds alongside an apartment building

dipat2005

I live in an apartment building on the ground floor in a corner spot. I have gardens on two sides, East and North. Last year I grew greens on the North. I was planning to grow Beets and carrots on seed tapes on the North but I may put something in the carrot spot. I planned to grow green beans on tripods; onions in between the tripods with Kale, Spinach and Swiss Chard on the East too. Any ideas on what to grow on the North?

The Property Manager gave me an ok on the raised bed. At first I wanted to add a 12 inch raised bed and then decided to make it 4 inches. I know the soil I want because here in Lane County in Oregon there is Nature's Best and it has 5 fertilizers and I have grown garden's with it in the past.

Here's the interesting part: North side is 11 inches wide by 8-10 feet (guessing). I now have a measuring tape and can measure it. The East side is 15inches by the porch and 14 1/2 inches on the other end. The gardeners now know I want to plant a garden in those two spots and will pull the weeds that were planted on the east side and will not spray anymore in either garden bed.

I was planning to grow peas this spring but was unable to do that because of the bright sunshine it is so bright on that side of the building and my eyes were so blurry.

I was curious about the wood- I have used pine in the past and treated it with Linseed Oil, Turpentine and something else. Last time I build a garden box I didn't use anything on the wood. is there any other type of wood or plastic you would suggest?

Monek Marie

@dipat2005 How long did you untreated wood last? You have to be careful with what you treat wood with as it will leach in to the soil. I tend to use untreated wood if possible.

If you have access to free bricks or cement blocks you might want to consider either of those. This year I rebuilt raised beds and uses pallet, heat treated ones. They were free so that influenced my choice. Next would have been bricks or cement blocks.

Love you plans. Keep us informed on how its going.

dipat2005

@Denise Grant it lasted about 3 years. That is why last time I didn't use anything. I didn't think about pallets. Excellent idea. Since it is only 15 inches that would rule bricks and cement blocks out. I am trying to use the thinnest wood available. I don't want to use plywood because of all the adhesives. I am not sure that the pallet boards would be wide enough. I need to pound 2 inches into the ground. It is excellent soil but having been sprayed with chemicals I cannot use it. Thanks for the ideas.

Monek Marie

@dipat2005 I get pallets for free here so I use them for everything. Just make sure the pallet has HP on it, That means it has no chemicals coating it. I also am a bit picky what came on the pallets. If it was a chemical I pass on the pallet.

dipat2005

@Denise Grant thank you for the HP marking. My son picks up pallets and several years ago made me a bed frame where I can store stuff underneath.

Jens the Beekeeper

@dipat2005 I just moved your thread over in the building projects section. I think it fits better than baking 😉

I agree with pallets as a good source if you can get them cheap or free. Very rot resisted would be locust trees or red cedar.

Link here:

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/846781/raised-beds-alongside-an-apartment-building

dipat2005

@jens thank you for moving my post. I would think it would not be good under the topic of baking. I am getting excited about gardening. last year I did it for the first time in several years. One son says I have to get over my eye problem and the other son is ready to get it done. They both work strange schedules so we will see.