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My daughter saw those raised bed gardens made from cinder blocks while she was browsing Pinterest, and she decided she wanted to make one. This was completely new to me, but I was all in.
I had to cart the blocks home from Home Depot in two trips. Those things are heavy and weigh down the car. Thankfully, an employee loaded them for me. This is one of the times a truck would have been useful... A wheelbarrow will help you move them around, once you have them home.
If I had it to do over again, I would probably just have the blocks delivered. As I said, these are really heavy.
Also, I'm not sure if these are actually cinder blocks or just concrete blocks! They are commonly called cinder blocks, but whatever the technical term is, they make great gardens.
These are easy to make.
Here's How:
- Place the cinder blocks on the ground to form a rectangle (size optional). You can pound them down with a rubber mallet to make them even and more stable, but we didn't. If you're making a really long rectangle, having a level and a tape measure will help you keep it uniform, but those are optional.
- Lay down some weed fabric or newspaper, and add your soil to both the main bed and all of the holes in the blocks. If you like to sit while you garden, leave a couple of the holes in the blocks empty. Also, I'm not sure how important the weed fabric or newspaper is, since this is the first year we've done this... Then start planting.
I just love how there is one big space plus lots of little spaces to plant. Each of the blocks has two smaller places to plant, so you can plant so many different things. Herbs, flowers, plants, whatever you want! (That's like having a bunch of small pots; but these won't blow away.) My daughter put corn in the large section and marigolds in the small spaces. (Did you know marigolds repel some garden insects?)
Now if we could just keep the rabbits away...
We're appreciating the nicer weather and are enjoying coffee on the deck again--a simple pleasure. Sunny loves it too (well, the deck, not the coffee) and will snooze in my arms until I go in.
Are you doing any gardening this year?
Hi there, dear Pam! Great to "see" you! :) I know you must be enjoying your gal being back home for a while. Sweet Sunny must be also! I've been a bit absent from the blogging world too. I'm with you - when challenges roll in, creativity rolls out. If you get a chance, let us know how your garden does. That's a neat idea - I love Pinterest! Well, my bloggy friend, I hope that you have a good summer with your family!
ReplyDeleteHi Mrs. Smith! Yes, we are all so glad to have her home. I hope you have a good summer too!
DeleteMy husband does a lot of raised bed gardening. It's incredible!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome. My sister does too, but this is our first try. If the rabbits stay away, this little garden may have a chance!
DeleteSince we live in a condo, I can't use this idea, but it's a good one.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Kat
Honestly, I would gladly trade my garden for your view of the ocean, Kat!
DeleteIt's nice to have you blogging again!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea that I'm sure many can put to use.
Have a great rest of the week!!
Thank you! I hope you have a great weekend too.
DeleteNice idea!
ReplyDeleteI'm gardening with a single patio pepper plant :)
I hope you get some beautiful peppers, Dawn. :)
DeleteGood luck with the rabbits. We usually have lots of rabbits here so I was concerned about putting a garden out this year. But so far, no evidence of any rabbits.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I just bought some rabbit repellent this morning. We have SO MANY RABBITS. I used to think they were cute...
DeleteGreat post ~ I personally don't have any raised garden beds, but hope to someday try something similar! Thank you so much for linking up to this weeks Garden Party over here at Fishtail Cottage's! oxox
ReplyDeleteThanks! Also, thanks for hosting the linkup.
DeleteWhat a great idea! No rabbits here, just snails and I think being rough they might keep them off :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you! You are so lucky not to have these troublesome rabbits. One year we planted lettuce, and the rabbits literally ate every piece!
DeleteWe do everything in pots on the deck. I have 5 tomatoes, beans, and a ton of herbs. So far so good! The herbs are going crazy and it's nice to just have everything right outside on the deck. I think I am going to try to bring stuff in this year in the fall and see how long I can keep it going.
ReplyDeleteI have wanted to have a little herb garden for a while now. It would be great to have fresh herbs so available and right on the deck.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea some of the wooden raised beds on my allotment need replacing as the bottom edges have started to rot away, will definitely look into cinder blocks or similar as replacements.
ReplyDeleteI'd say the weed suppression fabric is quite important where you've placed your raised bed (it looks like it's on your lawn) to stop the grass growing through your compost to produce weeds. If you dug the turf out and cleared any reading roots before adding the compost then it wouldn't be needed x
Thanks so much, Dawn. Cinder blocks are so easy. Thanks, also, for the info about the weed suppression fabric. That makes perfect sense.
DeleteWhat a great idea Pam, I have never thought of this before. I need to do some gardening over the next few weeks too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for linking up to The Weekend Link Up #TheWeekendLinkUp
Thanks, Claire. It was really easy to do and worked out so well.
DeletePinned this post Pam. Visiting from Unlimited Link Party 31 where I shared three posts. Warm regards, Nancy Andres at Colors 4 Health.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for pinning it, Nancy. I really appreciate it!
DeleteI love my raised beds, and always encourage people to start a garden. Laying down the card board was smart. It will help keep the weeds away. Fun project for summer:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding your post to the FWF party fun.
hugs
RR
Thank you! You are right, after a while, I really did see the benefit of the weed cover. It was definitely fun, and we loved having so many spots to plant different things.
DeleteMy porch has become a garden. I think it is time to move to the raised bed. This is an easy way to do this. Thanks for sharing! I will keep this in mind next year!
ReplyDeleteWe are still clearing out the overgrown trees in our yard but this is a good idea for next year. Thanks so much for sharing with us this week. #HomeMattersParty
ReplyDelete