Monday, April 07, 2014

leveling my new raised beds

Copy of IMG_7186 My raised beds are on a bit of a slope. To level them, my husband secured a 2x4 horizontally to the bottom of each bed at the downhill side. He used three 2x4 stakes on each and left these sticking out a few inches at the bottom. One some beds where the slope was steeper, we left the stakes at the soil surface and filled in below with a layer of brick. For most, the stakes were dug in leaving the horizontal 2x4 resting at soil surface. One or two were on a flatter ground and he dug the whole horizontal board in a bit. We used brick to fill in at the sides. Now all of the beds are pretty much level. Next step - add dirt!

Copy of IMG_7190 Copy of IMG_7195 Copy of IMG_7198 Copy of IMG_7185 Copy of IMG_7181 Copy of IMG_7211 Copy of IMG_7203

7 comments:

Nigel Gnome said...

He's a useful man! :)

biobabbler said...

Wow. SO ENVIOUS of having some superstar carpenter in the family. No one here has such skills, tho we do have a level in the shed, nice & dusty. However, this post DOES reinforce my intuition which has been telling me to check that beds are level in order to save water. It's so terribly dry out here (Calif. drought-land), I don't want ANY unintended runoff, so I think busting out the level could really help us conserve water.

Those beds are GORGEOUS. So exciting! =)

Margaret said...

Lucky, lucky you - those beds are lovely!

I'm dying to get out there and get some new beds going but it's been too darn cold still. Our weather is supposed to improve over the next few days so fingers crossed - I'm hoping to be hauling lumber by next week!

Jan said...

Where do you get the dirt? Is it like potting soil? I want to make a raised bed but I'm not sure where to get the soil. Love your blog!

Raise Your Garden said...

Hi!!

I really like your raised beds!!

I'm a suburbanite raised bed gardener and my husband also build my beds for me.

Our lot slopes downward just like yours but I wanted them to look even on top so some of the beds are much deeper than others.

Beautiful! We filled them with topsoil that cost over $550, but, we think it's worth it because we'll have a garden hopefully forever.

If you ever get a chance, my web site is www.raiseyourgarden.com

I just love raised beds!!!

Debbie Miller said...

you moved?! i used to follow your blog but haven't been here in a while. i'm so happy for you! yay

H2grOw said...

Wow, looks like alot of hard work!! I wish I had the space for raised beds. I bought a container garden from one of H2grOw's Grow Kits. It's great!!!