High Yield, Small Space Organic Gardening E-Book

Christy Wilhelmi

• Herausgeber: Creative Homeowner
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 320

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Grow big or go home!  That seems to be the choice for any aspiring gardener who wants an at-home-garden:  you can either use your space for one or two plants – or find a new space.  But in High Yield, Small Space Organic Gardening, there aren't any limits.  Gardening expert and author, Christy Wilhelmi, shares her easy-to-follow low effort, scientific approach and tips for cultivating crops in small or unconventional spaces that she's learned from maintaining productive gardens of less than 300 square-feet.  You'll find techniques for maintaining whole garden ecosystems.  You'll discover guides for planning and planting for your unique space.  You'll uncover the best options for garden beds and learn the secrets of irrigation and pest control no matter where you live.  The step-by-step guides outline everything in specific detail – all the way up to recipes you can use to enjoy the vegetables you grew!  Unlock the science behind high-yield gardening and discover why you don't need to be a big-time landowner to cultivate a beautiful, productive garden. 

Leseprobe

Copyright © 2025 Christy Wilhelmi and Creative Homeowner

High Yield, Small Space Organic Gardening contains content first published in Gardening for Geeks, published by CompanionHouse Books, an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc.

This book may not be reproduced, either in part or in its entirety, in any form, by any means, without written permission from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts for purposes of radio, television, or published review. All rights, including the right of translation, are reserved. Note: Be sure to familiarize yourself with manufacturer’s instructions for tools, equipment, and materials before beginning a project. Although all possible measures have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the material presented, neither the author nor the publisher is liable in case of misinterpretation of directions, misapplication, or typographical error.

Creative Homeowner® is a registered trademark of New Design Originals Corporation.

High Yield, Small Space Organic Gardening

Managing Editor: Gretchen Bacon

Acquisitions Editor: Lauren Younker

Editor: Christa Oestreich

Designer: Mike Deppen

Indexer: Jay Kreider

ISBN 978-1-58011-611-4

eISBN 978-1-63741-599-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024944507

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

Creative Homeowner®, www.creativehomeowner.com, is an imprint of New Design Originals Corporation and distributed in North America by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 800-457-9112, 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552.

DEDICATION

For David King, a true friend and garden master

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book was first published as Gardening for Geeks in 2013. Now, more than a decade later, the information is still relevant and helpful to new and experienced gardeners alike. This book has the same valuable lessons and projects, just organized in a way that’s easier to read and follow the projects.

The updated version of this book would never have happened were it not for Katie Elzer-Peters, who introduced me to Bud Sperry at Fox Chapel Publishing, and everyone at Fox Chapel, who gave new life to Gardening for Geeks. Special thanks to Andrew Cheeseman, for always encouraging the best in me, and to Jonathan Blank, who knows a thing or two about book publishing and willingly spent time sharing it with me—I cannot thank you enough.

I must draw particular attention to the garden geeks who have inspired my gardening exploits throughout the years (in no particular order): John Jeavons, the late Mel Bartholomew, the late Geoff Hamilton, Rosalind Creasy, Michael Pollan, David King, Jere Gettle, Louise Riotte, Barbara Kingsolver, and everyone at Ocean View Farms organic community garden. To those who helped clarify the material for this book, I appreciate the access you afforded me: Victoria Boudman of the Square Foot Gardening Foundation, Eben Fodor of SunWorks, Master Preserver Rose Wilde of Red Bread Bakery, irrigation wunderkind Russell Ackerman, and, again, John Jeavons of Ecology Action.

Last, but never least, I must thank my parents, Frank and Jo Wilhelmi, for being the engineer/carpenter and nurse/wonder-cook geeks who begat this geek.

CONTENTS

Introduction: What’s It All About?

Part 1: Gardening A–Z

Chapter 1: Creating Your Garden Ecosystem

Chapter 2: Garden Beds

Chapter 3: All about Soil

Chapter 4: Planning Your Garden Season

Chapter 5: Small-Space/Urban Gardening

Chapter 6: Planting Nitty-Gritty

Chapter 7: Irrigation

Chapter 8: Keeping Order: Trellises and Cages for Crops

Chapter 9: Pest Control

Chapter 10: Now Pick It! (And Then What?)

Part 2: DIY Projects for a Productive Garden

Bibliography and Resources

Glossary

Index

Photo Credits

About the Author

INTRODUCTION

What’s It All About?

When garden nerds (or Gardenerds) get excited about a subject, they want to know everything. Gardening is an exciting topic—a vast world of soil biology, botany, and horticulture. It cross-pollinates with the insect world, meteorology, and nutrition. The more we learn about gardening, the more we realize there is to learn. It’s a wonderfully addictive passion to have.

Do you want to know everything? This is a great place to start, but keep in mind that gardening knowledge doesn’t arrive in a specific sequence. With the exception of the seasonal calendar or a planting schedule, gardening is not linear. It shifts each year, challenging us to figure out nature’s next step. It tests our instincts as much as our knowledge, and, in the end, nature always wins. Most of the time, we benefit from nature’s triumph, but just like Olympic athletes, gardeners experience both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

This book is meant to be a gateway into all things cool about gardening. It gives you the basics to start designing and building the garden of your dreams. It also will lead you to bigger concepts to explore later, when you’re ready. It delves into the science of how plants work, how soil lives, and how bugs help. Even though the book takes you step by step through the process, I encourage you to jump around. Early on, you’ll notice references to Part 2’s DIY section. If you can’t wait, feel free to jump forward and read. Whatever floats your boat!

Marigolds serve multiple functions in the garden: they offer beauty as well as pest control benefits. Some types have pollen and nectar too.

The information in this book is compiled from several classes I teach, with extra-bonus nerdy details that don’t fit into the confines of the classroom. Students have been asking me to put it all down in one place. Well, here it is. Have at it. I hope you enjoy this journey into the science side of gardening. Put on your gloves, and let’s get started.

Happy gardening!

Part 1:Gardening A–Z

Whether you are at the beginning of your gardening journey or well into the process, the information in Part 1 will help you get ready for the best gardening season of your life. Each chapter offers techniques and tips to improve your gardening space and to create the foundation of a successful, healthy, small-space garden. You may feel the impulse to hurry up and get growing, but take a breath, take a moment, and implement the lessons in this section. Later on, when you are harvesting baskets of produce from your small-space garden, you’ll be glad you took the time to follow these steps.

From soil prep to raised beds, from planning to planting, Part 1 has all the guidance you need. You’ll also find advice to help you figure out irrigation, water catchment, pest control, and what to do with the harvest (yum!). Get ready to grow big in your small space. Together, we can make the most of the garden we’ve got.

CHAPTER 1

Creating Your Garden Ecosystem

There are many things to consider when planning a garden. Location is everything, but not the only thing. Sure, it’s important to make sure that your garden will get enough sun (a minimum of six hours per day), but let’s talk about the other factors. Let’s talk about your garden ecosystem. After all, your garden is a community of living things, and, for it to flourish, they will all have to get along together.

Wherever your garden is located, be it on a balcony, on a patio, or in a backyard, you will want to create an environment that supports your efforts. Your garden’s ecosystem can provide shelter, windbreaks, and even pest-control assistance if you include a few key elements. From simple to more complex, the following components all play a role in that ecosystem.

A water source for pollinators and wildlife is part of your ecosystem.

Habitats

Established trees are an important part of your garden’s ecosystem. Not only do they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen for a healthier planet, but they also provide a place for birds and insects to live. Ants and other insects crawl through the trees’ bark, and birds take advantage of that traffic. Birds build nests and lay their young or visit on their way to higher latitudes. Then they scavenge your garden for food, and, in the process, they provide pest-management services for you, gobbling up bugs and worms.

You can help provide a reason for birds to congregate in your garden by hanging bird feeders and seed cakes. Birdhouses, made from gourds or wood, provide a habitat as well. Many gardeners grow sunflowers, which develop dinner-plate-sized seedheads, to attract birds. While it’s true that these winged creatures will enjoy your sunflowers whether you want them to or not, the benefits of having birds in the garden generally outweigh the negative effects.

Consider a bat house to attract this helpful animal to your garden.

Bats

Bats, if you have them in your neck of the woods, help reduce the pest population by swooping through the sky at dusk like airborne vacuum cleaners, eating bugs in midflight. According to Bat Conservation International, bats consume “night-flying insects, including many of the most damaging agricultural pests . . . A single little brown bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquito-sized insects in a single hour.”

Bats serve other purposes as well. Did you know that they are pollinators? As they drink nectar from flowers, they help pollinate many cacti and fruiting plants. As a bonus, they leave behind droppings called guano, which happens to be among the best fertilizers around. Bat droppings include 11%–16% nitrogen, 8%–12% phosphoric acid, and 2%–3% potash—all components of healthy soil. Guano can also serve as a composting starter and a fungicide.

If you are reluctant to welcome bats into your world, this is a good time to let go of creepy bat stereotypes. With bat populations in serious decline, they need all the help they can get. You can install a bat house on a wall under the eaves of a home, garage, or shed to encourage bats to take up residence. Bat houses are narrow boxes with even narrower compartments inside (about ¾" [2cm] deep) that allow bats a place of safe, dark shelter. In a study published in The Bat House Researcher in spring 2004, it was revealed that bats prefer larger bat houses (at least 20" [51cm] wide x 25" [64cm] high) that are painted and mounted on buildings rather than mounted on posts or trees. You can find several free plans for building your own bat house, along with tips for attracting bats, on the Bat Conservation International website, batcon.org.

Toads

Toads are another great addition, and pest consumer, for your garden. They consume slugs (yay!) and worms (such as nasty cutworms that mow down your kale plants before the seedlings ever reach harvesting size). Granted, toads don’t inhabit every climate zone, but where there is moisture and shelter, they often make a home. Make a toad house out of a terra-cotta pot by chipping off a wedge of the upper rim of the pot. Turn the pot over, nestle it into a grassy corner, and voilà! You have a toad house with a little entryway. Provide a water source, like a fountain or shallow pond, and toads will find your garden very desirable.

Bees

Bees are critically important to our garden ecosystem. They are responsible for pollinating a huge percentage of crops, constituting one out of every three bites of food we eat. Without bees, we wouldn’t have many of the fruits and vegetables we bring to the table. The presence of bees in your garden can boost yields by between 10 and 50 percent, according to independent studies on a variety of crops. Even crops that don’t require bees in order to set fruit appear to benefit. Cheryl Miller of Sustainable Harvest International reported on coffee farmers in Honduras for The Rodale Institute, explaining that “coffee plants are capable of self-pollination, so for a long time researchers did not think insects made much difference to the crop. But studies show that when bees pollinate coffee plants, yields can increase by more than 50 percent.”

A honey bee rests on a beekeeper’s arm.

GARDENING TIP:

BE ONE WITH THE BEE

Bees only become aggressive if their hive is being threatened. Many gardeners enjoy tending their gardens while bees hover nearby. Bees come and go as they please, pollinating your vegetables and fruit trees, increasing yields, and leaving behind a legacy of bountiful harvests.

Farmers hire beekeepers to bring hives to their fields, but urban beekeeping is gaining popularity with home gardeners. As colony collapse disorder (CCD) continues to decimate the world’s bee population (theories about what causes it range from cell phones to mites to pesticides), gardeners are taking the fight into their own hands by setting up beehives as part of their ecosystems. Some place hives on their roofs, while others situate their hives in corners of their backyards, pointing toward walls to direct bees upward on a path away from humans. You can find instructions for how to build a swarm box to attract bees to your garden in Part 2.

To encourage bees and other beneficial insects, grow beneficial flowers. What the heck are those, you ask? Let’s take a closer look.

Nasturtiums act as a trap crop to lure pests to their flowers instead of your veggies.

Beneficial Flowers and Their Friends

Some beneficial flowers attract pollinators, such as bees and wasps, to the garden. Other types of flowers attract insect predators, such as parasitic wasps (about the size of a gnat) and praying mantises. Still another type of flower works like a trap crop, excreting an odor that attracts pests to the plant instead of your valuable crops. Calendula or nasturtiums, for example, are reliable trap crops, because they have a strong scent, and it isn’t uncommon to find them infested with aphids. Great! Leave those aphids right there. Now they aren’t destroying your broccoli plants. With trap crops, you can isolate pests to one area of your garden and avoid using sprays to control their populations.

Calendula and hyacinth feed pollinators.

No More Pests?

Why not just wipe pests out altogether? Good question—and the answer is even better. If you eliminate pests completely, then the beneficial insects will have nothing to eat. Remember, your ecosystem is all about balance. Have the right balance of ingredients (in this case, pests versus beneficial insects), and your garden will achieve a balance all its own. You won’t have to work as hard to keep pests under control, and you’ll be able to enjoy more of your harvest in an unmolested state. We’ll discuss specific plants to include in your ecosystem in Chapter 9 in the Good Bugs versus Bad Bugs section. For now, just know that planting flowers can be beneficial to your garden’s health.

Where should you plant them? Just like trees, beneficial flowers function wonderfully as a hedge or border to your garden. Plant flowers around the perimeter to encourage insects to make a home there. Flowers can also be planted between crops to assist with pest control in planter beds. A combination of both scenarios will help ensure balance.

Garden Orientation

Get out your compass; it’s time to determine the best orientation for your garden. If you live in the northern hemisphere, a south-facing garden is best (in the southern hemisphere, of course, the opposite is true). The sun rises in the east, and because the earth’s axis is tilted, the sun travels across the sky from east to west at a southerly angle. Therefore, if your garden is situated so that it is exposed to that southerly arc of the sun’s path, your garden will get the full-sun exposure—at least six hours per day—that is required to grow vegetables. Many times, situating a garden at the northernmost point of the yard allows for the best southerly exposure. If your yard is shadowed by trees or tall buildings, the best location for a garden may indeed be your front yard. The open streets often allow for unobstructed full-sun gardening.

A sundial watch and a compass ring can be handy, easy-to-carry garden tools.

GARDENING TIP:

COMPASS ALTERNATIVE

If you don’t have a compass, open Google Maps and type in your address. The top of the results page, regardless of satellite or map view, always points north. Zoom in close enough to see your property, and you can assess what direction your garden faces.

In the winter, the sun’s arc is lower in the sky, so shadows from surrounding buildings or trees will be longer. Take this into account when planning out your location if you live in a climate where winter gardening is feasible. If the only space available gets sun in the summer but is in shadow in the winter, consider planting crops that do well in partial sunlight or shade during that time. Swiss chard, kale, strawberries, and many herbs will tolerate partial shade.

Another thing to consider when plotting out your planter beds or rows is their orientation. Again, full-sun exposure is the goal. If you lay out your beds or rows with the longest sides running east to west (yes, this is contrary to what some experts say), your plants will have equal access to that full southern exposure as the sun crosses the sky. For example, let’s say you have a 4' x 8' (1.2 x 2.4m) raised bed. Orient the bed so that the long side, the 8' (2.4m) length, runs from east to west. Why does this really matter? The answer lies in the next part of planning your garden’s orientation.

Plant Placement

Once your garden is laid out, you can start planning what plants go where. This may seem obvious, but it’s a bit of a trick to ensure the best sun exposure for your plants. It’s time to think about the vegetables you want to grow in terms of their height. For best results, place tall and trellised plants toward the north, and shorter or trailing plants to the south. Again, in the southern hemisphere, these directions should be reversed.

• Tall and trellised crops: asparagus, corn, cucumbers, fava or bell beans, grains (such as wheat, quinoa, and oats), melons (see Chapter 8), peas, pole beans, and tomatoes

• Medium crops: most brassicas (such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, kale, collards), celery, eggplant, garlic, leeks, okra, onions, peppers, potatoes, shallots, summer squash (such as zucchini and yellow crookneck), and Swiss chard

• Short and trailing crops: arugula, most herbs, kohlrabi, lettuces, radishes, root crops (such as carrots, parsnips, and beets), spinach, watermelon, and winter squash (such as pumpkins and acorn squash)

By placing shorter crops in front of (or to the south of) taller crops, all plants have access to full sun and won’t compete or overtake one another. Let’s take that same 4' x 8' (1.2 x 2.4m) raised bed and plan out the crops to be planted here.

Note: Reverse this in the southern hemisphere.

Tallest to Shortest

Tall crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers, which can be trellised, are located in the back or at the north end of the raised bed. Medium crops, such as peppers, eggplant, and Swiss chard, are placed in front of the tallest crops, closer to the south. Finally, the shortest crops, like lettuces, spinach, carrots, radishes, and arugula, are placed in the southernmost part at the front of the raised bed. This allows all the vegetables to access full sun.

Strategically placed trellised cucumbers can be a source of shade for plants that need it.

Now, for the cool part—literally. This plant-placement method can also be used to strategize in hot weather to protect plants that can’t handle extreme temperatures in the summer months. For example, lettuces bolt to seed quickly in hot weather, making them bitter and inedible. You can strategically grow cucumbers on a trellis in the middle of the raised bed, in the medium row, and then plant lettuces to the north or behind the cucumbers in the shadows of the plants. Ta-daa! A cucumber sun umbrella. The lettuces will stay cooler during hotter weather and resist the urge to peter out so quickly.

Planting short or trailing crops to the south also has a benefit. When it comes to trailing crops like pumpkins and watermelons, they can take over your entire garden without much effort. Usually, these trailing crops tend to grow toward the sun, so by planting them toward the south end of the raised bed, the vines will gravitate southward, into your pathways, instead of consuming precious space in your raised bed. This will leave room for other crops without sacrificing an entire bed. Vigorous plants will still attempt to sprawl all over the place, but you can easily move the vines out of the way because they only attach to the ground at the roots. Note: Pumpkins can produce roots along the vine, but if you are diligent in redirecting vines before they anchor new roots, it won’t be a problem.

Special Considerations for Wildlife and Extreme Temperatures

If you live in foothills, mountainous areas, or recently developed areas where deer, raccoons, or ground-dwelling animals reside, you may need to take additional steps when setting up your garden. It’s possible you’ll need to construct fencing, underground barriers, or even a walk-in structure in order to protect your garden. If you’re going to put in all the effort to grow some of your own food, you might as well reap the benefit of being able to harvest it all. And let’s not forget household pets. A low barrier may not be enough to keep Scruffy from trampling your raised beds and eating your tomatoes (yep, they do that). Most of these protections will be discussed in Chapter 9, but keep this in mind as you plan out your gardening area.

If your region experiences frost or high temperatures for extended periods of time, you may want to include overhead protection for your crops. Desert communities often use shade structures to protect their plants from scorching during hot summers. Simple metal frames or PVC hoops can be covered with shade cloth to block out 30 to 70 percent of sunlight. When temperatures drop, you can replace the shade cloth with insulated garden fabric. We’ll talk more about this in Chapter 2.

Deer and other woodland creatures can wreak havoc on a garden. Be prepared to protect what you grow.

CHAPTER 2

Garden Beds

Once you have your garden location, orientation, and general area planned, it’s time to get to work on building the garden itself. This chapter will explain the reasoning behind using raised beds as well as the different options for materials. We’ll also cover the specifics of how to build your garden beds and offer tricks for building beds that will last.

Why Raised Beds?

Raised beds are a great way to organize your garden; they offer a clear delineation between growing areas and pathways, but most of the benefits reach beyond aesthetics. In climates where the ground freezes in winter, raised beds are essential. By elevating the planting area above ground, the bed soil will thaw and drain more quickly in spring, allowing for an earlier start to your gardening endeavors.

If you have heavy clay soil (read more about that in Chapter 3), raised beds can alleviate the days of backbreaking labor required to set up a garden as well as condition the soil each year. Raised beds don’t eliminate work altogether, but they make it much easier to add compost and improve soil structure and tilth as time goes on. In some cases, once you’ve built your raised beds, you may never need a shovel again. A hand trowel will often suffice to work the soil and plant crops.

Raised beds at Gardenerd HQ allowed us to “rise above” the sandy, depleted native soil.

Vegetable garden beds don’t have to be boring.

If you choose to set up your garden with raised beds, you will also notice that they save time and valuable resources. Raised beds concentrate the areas that need water, so rather than watering your entire garden area, you’re only watering what’s in the raised beds. Because water is a precious resource, and droughts are predicted to become more frequent and long lasting in places that already experience them, it makes sense to put water only where it is needed. As a result, your pathways remain dry. Dry pathways mean fewer weeds, which equals less work for you. Mulch those pathways with wood chips or other biodegradable materials (newspaper, straw, and burlap sacks work well), and you will even further reduce the need to weed.

Raised beds are the method of choice for most biointensive gardening methods (more about those in Chapter 5) because they concentrate resources and allow a gardener to maintain the beds without walking on and compressing the soil. Raised beds are also handy for folks with lower-back issues or certain disabilities. The elevated surface area makes it easier to garden without bending over as far, and often you can even build beds tall enough to prevent bending altogether. Elevated raised beds (up on legs) can be built for wheelchair accessibility. If you have trees or hedges near your garden area, you can line your raised beds on the bottom to prevent thirsty tree roots from taking over your garden. See? The benefits really do go on and on.

Materials for Raised Beds

When it comes to deciding what materials to use for building a raised bed, you have a lot of options, depending on your budget and needs. If you strive to recycle and reuse found materials, then “urbanite” or broken concrete might be the way to go. If you’re in a tight space, thinner materials that allow for the most gardening area with the least bulk—wood or composite lumber—are better choices. Let’s take a look at the possibilities.

Wood

Wooden raised beds can be assembled quickly and last for years, depending on the type of wood you use. Douglas fir, which is relatively inexpensive, lasts about three to five years before it begins to decompose (though it can, in some circumstances, last for more than ten years in dry conditions). If you are building a simple frame for an experimental garden, or you plan to move in a few years, Douglas fir is good enough to use.

Redwood is a more durable option for wood-framed raised beds. It is an acidic wood, which makes it naturally antimicrobial. Redwood raised beds tend to last about 10 to 15 years longer than Douglas fir beds.

Cedar, which lasts 20 years or more, is a great option for long-term raised beds. It can be more expensive but is worth the investment if you plan to be in the same place for a while. Cedar resists decay and is often available as rough-cut lumber, which means it hasn’t been milled down to the standard (think thinner) dimensions. The thicker wood is more rustic, but those extra millimeters make it even more durable.

A raised bed made from two levels of 2" x 6" (5 x 15cm) Trex decking. With no known gophers in the neighborhood, we used chicken wire simply as a precaution. In the end, it was not necessary.

Composite Lumber

Composite lumber is another option for planter beds. This type of material is a blend of recycled plastic packaging waste and wood pulp. It is extruded into the shape of wood and is usually used to build decks and patios. Many companies offer prefabricated raised beds made from nonleaching and soil-safe composite lumber, but be aware that not all composite lumber products are safe for direct soil contact. Trex® decking, made by Trex Company (trex.com), is one of the few composite lumbers that specifically states that it is safe for direct soil contact. Some composite lumbers begin to disintegrate when they come into contact with soil. Veranda®, a thinner composite product found on the shelves of larger hardware stores, clearly states that it is not safe for direct soil contact.

Composite lumber has its advantages. It is long lasting (Trex is guaranteed for 25 years but is likely to last even longer), it won’t splinter, and you never need to paint or stain it. The material costs about a third more than wood, but, given its durability, it’s worth the expense to know that you won’t have to build another raised bed for a very long time, if ever again. Composites are dense and heavy, so you may blow through a saw blade or two while cutting it, but in all other respects it cuts and behaves like wood.

GARDENING TIP:

A WORD ABOUT REDWOOD

Redwood is often sprayed with a solvent to aid the curing process. It takes a long time to dry redwood naturally, and milling companies have found that by spraying the wood with acetone or methanol, they are able to cure and dry redwood more quickly. While there is a process for removing the solvents after drying is complete, traces of these chemicals have been found in the wood and can leach into the soil. Ask your lumberyard professional to verify whether the wood has been solvent-dried or kiln-dried. You can often special-order kiln-dried redwood for your project.

Urbanite or Concrete Blocks

These are popular options for those who are looking to use recycled products. If you spy your neighbors breaking up their concrete driveway or sidewalk, ask if you can have the broken pieces. These concrete bits are great for building retaining walls that are thick and sturdy. They can also be used as paving material for pathways. If you decide to use urbanite to build a raised bed, however, be aware that it is usually 4"–6" (10–15cm) thick and can be cumbersome to climb over when reaching into a planting area. As mentioned before, wood offers the thinnest option for a raised bed, usually just 2" (5cm) thick. Blocks take up a lot more room, so if growing space is at a premium in your yard, opt for something thinner. That said, if you are looking to make raised beds that appear earthbound, solid, and hefty, urbanite or concrete blocks can create this look.

Cinder Block

Cinder block, like urbanite, is a substantial building material for raised beds. Unlike concrete, though, cinder block is made with fly ash, a waste product of the coal industry. While there is no official study proving this, it is speculated that heavy metals present in fly ash—namely arsenic, cobalt, lead, and mercury—will off-gas and leach into groundwater and soil. Gardening forums have countless discussions on this subject, with healthy arguments both for and against the use of cinder block, but it deserves further investigation if you plan to use this material.

Wooden posts and stones create a vegetable garden with Japanese overtones.

Stones and Other Natural Materials

If you plan to grow mostly in-ground but still want to include some decorative elements of design along with a few extra inches (7–8cm) of garden soil, stones or other natural materials offer a lot of flexibility. No mortar is necessary unless you are building borders that are several layers high.

Cob and Adobe

These earthen materials are used to build houses, retaining walls, and other structures. Both use a mixture of sand, clay, and straw to form whatever shape is desired. To make these structures durable as raised beds, and able to withstand constant moisture and soil contact, lime is added to a finishing plaster as a sealant. Alternatively, adobe bricks are often found in gardens designed using permaculture principles and are an acceptable material for raised beds. Earthbags are another earth-based building material, often made from otherwise discarded, misprinted polypropylene bags. They simplify the building process: rather than making adobe bricks, you fill the earthbags with native soil (with as little as five percent clay) and stack them together. Earthbags can then be covered with a layer of adobe for a smooth finish. Some earthbag aficionados suggest coating the soil side of the new retaining wall with a layer of cement-based stucco plaster to help prevent degradation from excessive moisture.

Guidelines for Shape and Size

When building your garden beds, there are several other things to take into consideration. Will you have small children in the garden with you? Do you want to bring a wheelbarrow right up to a raised bed? Do you have or anticipate having back problems? Are you a card-carrying neat freak? The answers to these questions will help you determine the size and shape of your beds and how much space to leave between them.

Just How Neat Are You?

Let’s start with the last question first. It might not seem like a factor in gardening, but an orderly space can make the difference between spending time in the garden or not. If you prefer to have everything in its place, but you now have an unorganized and random garden, you probably won’t want to be there very often. A soldierly array of crisp raised beds might just be the ticket. Conversely, if you’d rather your vines ramble, and you love the look of a lush, overgrown jungle, take this into consideration before installing formal square beds. Chances are high that a snaking border or keyhole garden (see Part 2) is going to suit you better.

Evenly spaced and orderly is the way to go for some gardeners.

What Do You Want from Your Garden?

Your garden should match your needs. Do you want high production, or do you just want to putter around? If you intend for this garden to produce a bounty of food for your family, you will benefit from structuring the garden with beds in full sun along with easy-to-access pathways with room for a wheelbarrow or large tubs. Build your planter beds wide enough to accommodate large plantings but narrow enough so you can access the produce without stepping into the beds. If, on the other hand, this garden is going to be a place to disappear and putter, then feel free to create cluster gardens, perhaps each with a different theme, and choose locations around your yard to tuck them into. Making choices that satisfy your needs will help you enjoy and use your garden(s) more thoroughly. Let’s look at some pointers for high-production gardens.

High-Production Gardens

Width: An adult can reach the center of a raised bed from either side most easily if the bed is no wider than 4' (1.2m). It can be as long as you want—4' (1.2m), 6' (1.8m), 12' (3.7m), or more—as long as you can access the midline of the bed on the two long sides. Some biointensive methods call for beds that are 5' (1.5m) wide. To prevent soil compression that can occur while working these beds, farmers and gardeners usually keep planks of wood on hand to distribute their weight evenly. By laying a plank down across the area, a person can step or kneel on the plank instead of directly on the soil.

Children can’t reach as far as adults and will have to climb into your garden, disturbing the soil and possibly trampling seedlings if they can’t reach the center. Limit kid-sized beds to 4' (1.2m) wide or less. A 3' (0.9m) wide bed will be sufficient for adults, while giving children room to grow. A 2' (0.6m) wide bed, while it may seem small, can be the perfect size for little hands in a school garden. While we’re on the subject of kids, this is a good time to mention that toddlers are usually pullers or diggers. They love to grab tiny seedlings and get a closer look. They like to dig tunnels for their rubber duckies. If this makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, you might want to create a special garden just for the kids.

Depth: Unless you have rich, loamy, fecund soil to begin with, you will want to build a raised bed that is at least 12" (30.5cm) deep. Adequate root space is critically important to a plant’s health. Some gardening experts say that 6" (15cm) deep is plenty, but the truth is that the deeper the soil is conditioned, the more easily plants will grow. Give your garden a good head start by building a foundation that is deep enough. For those using wood for this task, 2" x 12" (5 x 30.5cm) lumber is best.

Pathways: An average gardener needs only 2' (0.6m) of space between beds to access the garden with ease. It is wide enough to kneel or sit down without backing into the bed behind you. If you plan to use a wheelbarrow or small garden cart, or need wheelchair access, make the pathways between beds at least 3' (0.9m) wide. Better yet, measure your cart or wheelchair and base your pathway dimensions on that. Some experts reduce the amount of space between beds in order to fit more crops. If you are comfortable with navigating the foliage that will inevitably spill out of your incredibly productive beds onto the pathways, feel free to reduce the pathways to 19" (48cm) or less. Just be aware that melons and squash will make for an interesting obstacle course.

Plan your garden accordingly if you will have little helpers.

Low-Key Gardens

If you plan to have a more low-key, meandering garden instead, keep these principles in mind.

Stepping stones are your friends: No matter how you set up your garden, you will be able to manage it more easily if you place stepping stones in strategic places to help navigate around your growing areas. A well-placed piece of flagstone or tile can help direct wandering guests and help prevent soil compaction in conditioned beds. If you plan to have growing areas that are wider than 4' (1.2m), situate more stepping stones in the middle of the growing area to allow for ease of access.

Mimic nature: Nature presents itself in winding streams and spiraling vines. You can incorporate these elements of nature into the shape of your garden beds. A curving pathway through irregularly shaped beds can be more inviting to curious guests than a beeline entryway. You can also incorporate curves into the garden to capture water (more on that in Chapter 7). If you plan to create undulating, free-form shapes, it is much easier to use adobe or earthbags, rather than wood, to build your raised beds. Bricks and stones offer similar flexibility. Just make sure your materials are not so thick and bulky that you lose access to the planting areas. Check out the Keyhole Garden design idea in Part 2.

Where Will You Sit?