Raised Gardens for the Wet Coast

Feedback from yesterday's post has prompted me to dig out my Stubb's Island photos. I'm sure I have photos of their raised beds, but I couldn't put my finger on them. They are similar to the design in the video below, but the arches are wood and, if I recall, the plastic is just attached to thin pieces of wood (or bamboo?) and the sides are rolled up and down as required. I think the beds are about 3 feet deep. (If anyone has a photo, please let me know.) I asked Chris, one of the gardeners, if the box was all soil, thinking it might be gravel or something else halfway down, and he said it IS all soil. That's a lot of soil, but, oh, the drainage! Here is an inspiration for a similar design, slightly more high-tech, but the same idea. (I'm not suggesting anyone buy this, but it's good inspiration.



A quick troll through YouTube and Google with the search words "raised garden beds" yields a lot of resources, so it's worth a look if you are in building mode. I took these photos out at the Tofino Botanical Gardens a week or so ago. Again, a relatively simple design if you have some small lengths of rebar, brackets, tubing and plastic.







As I said, there are a lot of resources on-line, but here are a few, from TryRecycling, Sunset Magazine, and Popular Mechanics.

One more illustration for inspiration. I've been carrying around this article from Harrowsmith Magazine since 1995. I've never actually built this bed, but if you had room for just one I like how this incorporates a trellis. I have the plans if anyone would like to borrow them.



Do you have raised beds? I'd love to post pictures of your design. FIre over a photo or email me and I'll come over and take a picture. Happy building!