Sounds like a great project! Are you doing just regular raised beds, or are you using the square foot method?

Keep us posted. I'd love to see your progress along the way!

Hi Brett

Can't wait ot see how things turn out. I just love working on new garden projects!

Liisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Liisa's Garden Journey

My wife and I are definitely sold on the SFG method, and even have Mel's book, but we're still working out the details of who in the family will have jurisdiction over what. To keep everyone happy it may come down to each family unit being assigned a couple boxes to do with as they wish. So it could very well wind up a mix of a little of everything.

I just picked up some redwood for the first box and am looking forward to building #1 in the comfort of my garage. I'll be building these in a modular fashion so they can be transported and assembled on site. Since this is more of a backyard remodel - that just happens to contain a garden - my box design is a little more complex and more dual purpose (deeper and fancier) on the off chance the family loses interest and these things wind up growing flowers.

One thing my wife is set on is each box is to have it's own trellis that, instead of running down one of the 8' sides, will divide the box in half (making 2 4-foot sections). Which, given our layout, means the trellis will run north/south to take east/west sun. IIRC, that goes against Mel's recommendation of east/west orientation to take in the south sun. But given that we get loads of sun out here and have crazy long growing seasons I'm wondering if it is really going to make a difference either way.

Wife says we'll just grow the low light stuff on the east side and the higher light stuff on the west.

Who am I to argue? My job is to cut wood.

That should work fine with the trellis. I guess you can just try it for a season and if they don't have enough sun, rethink your design. I think it will work fine though.

Post pictures! We'd all love to see your progress, especially the before/after shot.

Thanks everyone.

I should be able to have some pics up of the yard demo in 3-4 weeks (hopefully). We've narrowed it down to 1 fence contractor and we have confirmed the neighbor will go in halves with us on our shared portion of the fence. I'm optimistic I can have the first 3 boxes ready by the first of the year.

Another question if someone would be so kind. The wife says Mel reccomends leaving the grids in place full time, but I'd rather go with something that can be removed after planting and moved from box to box. From my point of view making 1 grid is a lot less work than making 9, but if there is a legitimate reason...

Brett

To grid or not to grid is a personal preference. I like to keep mine in place. It helps me to see where to plant next as things are dying off. Just how my mind works I guess. I used a nylon twine and had no problem with breakage.

Liisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Liisa's Garden Journey

Your wife is correct, Mel does recommend a permanent grid, but that doesn't make it law. I used some 1/4 inch slats and made a grid and plan to leave it in place as long as I have the box.

The reason for a permanent grid is convenience. It's easier to leave the grid on the box so you can get the spacing right, plus it looks nice. I would personally make a grid for each box, but I do agree that 9 is a lot to make. You could do as Liisa suggested and make it out of some kind of twine. Nylon would last for a very long time and comes in multiple colors.

It's up to you. If you don't mind moving the grid each time you want to plant, go ahead and make one. My only concern is replanting when other plants are growing in other squares. It would be difficult to replace the grid when you have plants growing all over the box.

Wow, that's quite a project! Sounds like alot of work, but also alot of fun.
As for the grids, I didn't make any. I just measured off each foot on the top of the bed sides, and made a permanent mark so I could see them. I just count marks and make lines in the dirt to plant. I did the grids in past gardens, and they just ended up getting in the way...

I placed nails in the wood at each foot and then wove one long piece of string back and forth and up and down around the nails to make my grid. I can take it out and put it back up quickly. It's good for planting, but doesn't need to stay.

At the bottom of the link below you can see a picture of how I used the nails.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stringing the grid

What I did for grids, was go to Lowe's and pick up several 8 foot plastic floor room dividers.I just found them in a bin somewhere around moulding. They are around 1-1/2 inches wide with a 1/2" raised part.Anyway, they only cost about a $1.50. I cut them with scissors to fit my 4'x4' boxes. I just laid them on top and kind of wedged them in. They moved a bit but did a pretty good job of keeping things lined up. I can take them out for winter so I can dump some more compost on and work it in. Next spring I'll just put them back in on top.

Ok, it took us a little longer than we originally thought, but we're still in the game. Contractor couldn't start until 12/14 so it's been a slow build up to a really hectic week.

First off hereÂs what we are starting with. IÂm not joking when I say a new garden hose would be an upgrade: (sorry the pics are a little larger than the recommended sizing)

Yard measures 36ÂW x 59ÂD and slopes in not 1, but 2 directions. Still, a pretty decent sized yard.

The neighbor to the North (left) sits about 18" higher than our yard. Underneath those weeds at the base of the chainlink is a hodge podge of wood and brick masquerading as a poor man's retainig wall.

So, in spite of being in desperate need of some TLC I think we can make this work with a real retaining wall and some basic yard leveling.

First to go was the dreaded half-dead tree that had become "one" with the chainlink fence.

Nothing screams 1960's like pink edging. My wife said she and her sister spent countless hours as kids pulling weeds from around that stuff. She couldn't wait to see it go.

And finally, on day 4, we have our first glimpse of the retaining wall starting to take shape.

Starting to really come together now. Yard isn't even fully leveled yet and already looking 1000% better.

Patio slab is in. Both my MIL and GrandMIL use walkers to get around so the slab will now allow them to come out and enjoy some fresh air. We also had metal post cleats set in preparation of the pergola coming later this summer.

You can also see the drip irrigation control box I mounted to the house. The house is on an old water softener system that has to be manually switched to bypass before you can do any watering outside. As a result, total automation was looking to be somewhat difficult to make happen. My work-around are those wind up hose timers that I enclosed in the box. Whoever gets tagged with the watering duties will merely have to set the water softener system on bypass, turn on the outside spigot and then dial each of the 4 wind up timers to the specified amount.

And lastly, I also stubbed a 5th ¾" line to feed another water spigot out in the middle of the yard. Thinking the FIL would appreciate not having to drag 75 of hose around the yard.

And finally, here's where we were by end of day Friday. If all goes according to plan the crew should be wrapping up Monday afternoon and then we can ring in the New Year by building our fence.

That is looking very nice!

One question though - it looks like you are going to put up a wooden fence since you have the 4x4 posts. What is this going to do to your sun situation with blocking out the sun when it is lower in the sky? This may pose a problem with some of the veggies you wish to grow - especially if you plan to put any boxes right next to the fence.

Interesting that you built the retaining wall with regular foundation blocks. As a matter of fact, I started a project behind my garage with this same idea in mind. I have about five feet of usable space between the back of the garage and property line - but I can only use a strip of about 1 foot wide because it slopes down by about one foot over that area - which makes it muddy and slippery when it rains. So I started working on making a two-high foundation block retaining wall as well. Unlike yours though, I'm just setting mine right on top of each other and staggering the joints - then I will fill every other square cut-out with cement to hopefully hold them in place.

That means I'll then have a nice 5 x 27 area as a garden bed (well, 4 x 27 after I put a wooden plank down the middle of it for getting in and out!). That will increase the space by three fold from what it currently is giving me.

Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog

Hello, and thank you.

The SFG boxes will be oriented more towards the center of the yard. We're planning for a 4' strip to accommodate some dwarf fruit trees along the fence, followed by a 3' walkway. So the edge of the first box will be approx 7' from the fence. I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all works out. I can't imagine all 9 boxes will be full all year round, so if need be we can just let some of them go unplanted.

As for the choice of block, well, that was a little complicated. I wanted something like a split face block in a nice sandstone color, but I wasn't in charge of that portion of the project. So when the contractor said foundation block was more than adequate, my comment about jazzing things up was met with a blank stare from my better half. Although the contractor did recommend going with wider block to increase the amount of concrete around the fence posts.

Your plan for the retaining wall sounds like it should get the job done. Although I might shoot for filling all the voids with concrete just be safe. Also maybe consider getting some rebar and coat it with a sealant and pound it into the ground a couple feet every 24" or so before you pour in the concrete for some additional stability. All depends on how long you are planning to stay in the house and if you need the wall to go the distance with you.

Brett

What an improvement! I can tell how much time and effort you all put into making the yard something to be proud of. When finished, it will be something to enjoy for a long time.

Kath

Hi Brett -

That was indeed the idea - to make the retaining wall permanent so it wouldn't have to be replaced. I was originally going to use landscape timbers - but after I found the cost of the foundation blocks were about the same, I opted this route since it won't rot - like landscape timbers will.

I actually am putting some rebar in - although I figured I would only put it in every five feet. I am driving it in the ground about two feet and then leaving about four feet in the air - so I can use it as fence posts to attach my green plastic fencing to - keeps the deer out!

Now I'm contemplating whether I want to use concrete at all to fill in the squares - these little squares are perfect for putting one onion each in - and I'll have 40 - 45 of those squares along that full distance for onions! Hey, every little bit counts!

So, instead, I was thinking of just getting some rebar - as you suggested - and put the rebar in each of the squares right up against the concrete and driving it down two feet into the ground. I would think this would hold the blocks in place while also being able to use the space in the blocks.