This is my last installment on the new raised beds for the fall.
I’ve added another metal raised bed. I actually had help assembling this one, and it made a big difference having someone help snug down bolts, carry it, and place it where it was going. So, if you try one of these, get a second pair of hands to help.
Once again, I had all the soil from the previous bed available for filling. But I opted to start with a Lasagna style of layer filling. If you’ve never used this method, you layer small branches, compostable cardboard, other compostable materials, and soil in layers. Composting eventually breaks down the components into a rich blend with water retention abilities. A lovely part of the process was that it provided an excellent way for me to utilize all the pruning scraps that might otherwise have gone to waste. Over the winter, the filling will settle, but I’ll continue adding leaf mulch, compost, and wood ash to the mixture. Comes spring, the new bed should be ready to plant in.
I am still toying with how to landscape the area around the bed, but I am leaning toward using pavers of various colors and sizes over landscape cloth. I am not eager to spend a lot of effort and time fighting weeds. This entire approach is meant to reduce the amount of stoop labor, not increase it.
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I got lucky. My neighbor had extra flagstones. It would be really pretty if the dogs didn’t dig 🤣
Max is a “diggity” dog everyone in a while, and he gets yelled at for doing it. When I start digging something up he looks very indignantly at me – what’s good for the goose, should be good for the gander!
Oh Max. You’re just a dog! 😀 🐾 Dogs like Bear — who usually live on their own with their animals — dig dens for themselves. I gave Bear half my yard. She has a hole between two lilac bushes that is deep enough for her to stand up in — that’s a little more than 20 inches. She has other “furniture” too. A nice recliner that she redesigns from time to time. A hole on the north side of a fence where the snow melts last. I would give Bear the moon, so half my yard is nothing. Teddy doesn’t dig at all.