I have a question for the experts. I have a 7, 4 X 4 SFG raised beds I used last year. I live in Minnesota with a somewhat short growing season. They worked pretty well for the most part. I want to do a few things differently this year, including using trellis.

One thing about my boxes is that they are almost flush against the chain link fence on our property. The fence runs E-W with the fence being on the north side. Last summer I grew peas in a portion of one bed using the fence as the trellis. They grew but it didn't seem to work as well as people's pictures show on this site.

That being said, I would like to use mesh netting and possibly the method listed in the SFG book for holding it. I don't believe I could put the trellis in the same place as the fence, as I wouldn't be able to reach much in between the netting and the fence. Would it be OK if I run the trellis on the east or west side of the box, only doing it on the outer boxes, ensuring that other things don't get shaded out? The picture I've attached shows my intentions. There is about two feet spacing in between the beds, in the picture they are closer.

I also plan on using cattle fencing to do a covered wagon style trellis over one of the gardens. The idea is to have beans growing up on either side and lettuces underneath that need cool temps later in the year.

One other question I had was, the garden's I currently have in place are all in the ground (sod removed) with Mel's Mix in them. I used 2x6 red cedar. I would like to create a bunch of 'portable' style gardens, that I could place in areas of my yard that are being unused. Perhaps they would be 4x2 or 4x1 feet in size. If I create the wooden frames, it is OK and safe to use something like plywood on the bottoms with a few holes in them for drainage? If I put landscape fabric on top of plywood base, will it prevent the dirt from seeping out?

Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Matt

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By medelman at 2011-04-25

Here is a link that might be useful: My SFG