Building a permanent Raised bed structure

[Mozie]

I'm moving to my new house at the end of March and am trying to decid

what to do about the vegetable garden that I don't have space for. Al I will have is a sort-of passageway that is paved with bricks. But it' quite wide and I'm thinking of building a raised bed along one side tha is the whole length, out of bricks. The area gets plenty of light too.

I have a couple of questions/concerns though, but here's basically wha I'm thinking of doing:

1. I don't intend to pull up the bricks (underneath the bed itself) bu will ensure there is sufficient drainage. The passage is on a sligh tilt/angle so shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, there is also onl building rubble under the bricks, so there seems no point.

1. I'm wondering if I need to seal the bottom and inner sides.

2. I intend to put a layer of stones in the bottom, also to ai drainage.

1. There will be 3 or 4 sections separated also with a brick wall t add strength to the structure and also to be able to rotate the crops.

2. I'm not sure what the minimum depth should be, especially if intend to grow carrots and onions as-well.

Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated. Thanks Mozi

-- Mozie

[newgardener]

Try pouring some water on the patio and see if it drains. If so, you're probably fine.

I don't see that there'd be any advantage in sealing it.

Sounds good to me.

You might like to look up keywords 'square foot gardening' for some ideas on layout. I suggest you put a trellis behind the whole thing, on which you can grow runner beans (which are both decorative and edible), 'winter' squash, melons (!) (use old pantyhose slings for support as the melons near ripeness to keep them from falling to the ground when ripe), and cucumbers in the summer, or peas in the spring/fall/winter depending on your climate.

If you grow only round varieties of carrot, onions, and radishes, you can get by with 6 inches of depth. With a foot of depth you can grow almost any kind of carrot and some kinds of turnip. But if you make it

18 inches deep and put a foot-wide rim along the top, you have not only a planter-box but a bench--dual use of the space. Plus cruciferous veggies have a tap-root (brocolli, mustard) that would probably enjoy the extra depth. The taller height is also less likely to be 'missed' and tripped over by careless walkers.

Is there enough room that 18 inches of width is possible? That would allow you to grow some more space-hungry crops like tomatoes or some of the larger brocolli and cauliflower varieties. You can still grow these in only a foot of width though, they just might turn out smaller and yield slightly less. As an alternative you could grow these big guys in 18 inch pots scattered around the patio--that way you can move them if you wish, but also because tomatoes (and potatoes) tend to grow fungus species that can ruin the soil for other kinds of plants (especially strawberries).

[George.com]

the only issue I can think of is possibly losing soil through water leach. If that is a possibility try adding some type of matting at the bottom. You may get away with simple weed matting however other alternatives I can think of, which may be cheaper, include old carpet or felt underlay or even an old wool, bed underlay. The advantage of the latter 3 is that they will be porous and will let water trickle through if you over water but still retain a good amount of moisture. You will have to factor them into how high you build.

rob

[Mozie]

These suggestions are REALLY going to help, THANKS. Just one question can someone tell me more about the fungus species mentioned above. haven't heard of this and need to be aware of problems it might cause Thank

-- Mozie