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seymour_man · March 8, 2018

Hi All,
In my urban garden adventure I have went from couple of rubbermaid totes of heirloom tomatoes to buying a tiller and digging up a 20ft x 40ft garden space. I am on sandy soil and I have approved its structure with organic matter so its pretty decent...not great but decent.

I feel that out of my 800 square feet of heaven I waste a lot of space. I garden like it's a farm with 30 inch tiller paths around the edge and between the rows. I estimate I have less than half in plant utilization space.

Over the winter I have seriously thought about building raised beds. I think in my garden spot I can actually increase my "plant space" and after the initial investment to build the beds decrease my spending as I will not be "feeding" 800 square feet but only the actual area I use.

I plan to build 8ft x 4ft beds out of eastern red cedar. This cedar is not cheap but is very durable. I am not putting anything wire or fabric on the bottom as I want the plants to grow into my top soil as needed. I will fill the beds with organic matter and compost as needed.

Here is my question....How tall do I need to make the beds? I understand if I was making these beds as giant containers with bottoms then 1 ft or even 2 ft would be minimum.

But with my beds being open on the bottom how high do I need to go? Is 6" or 8" tall ok? As I said cedar is not cheap. I could design it to use the shorter height now and then add another 6"-8" row next year?

Any comments or advice is greatly appreciated.

March 8, 2018	#1
seymour_man Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: Indiana Posts: 48	Raised bed question....sort of? Hi All, In my urban garden adventure I have went from couple of rubbermaid totes of heirloom tomatoes to buying a tiller and digging up a 20ft x 40ft garden space. I am on sandy soil and I have approved its structure with organic matter so its pretty decent...not great but decent. I feel that out of my 800 square feet of heaven I waste a lot of space. I garden like it's a farm with 30 inch tiller paths around the edge and between the rows. I estimate I have less than half in plant utilization space. Over the winter I have seriously thought about building raised beds. I think in my garden spot I can actually increase my "plant space" and after the initial investment to build the beds decrease my spending as I will not be "feeding" 800 square feet but only the actual area I use. I plan to build 8ft x 4ft beds out of eastern red cedar. This cedar is not cheap but is very durable. I am not putting anything wire or fabric on the bottom as I want the plants to grow into my top soil as needed. I will fill the beds with organic matter and compost as needed. Here is my question....How tall do I need to make the beds? I understand if I was making these beds as giant containers with bottoms then 1 ft or even 2 ft would be minimum. But with my beds being open on the bottom how high do I need to go? Is 6" or 8" tall ok? As I said cedar is not cheap. I could design it to use the shorter height now and then add another 6"-8" row next year? Any comments or advice is greatly appreciated.