It happened while building a raised cedar planter box for my daughter's backyard patio deck out of my Edgemont Village workshop. A neighbourhood friend paid me a Covid safe visit to my workshop and was admiring my daughter's box that I was finishing up. We discussed how Covid was changing our lifestyle including food security and asked me to build a few raised patio planters for him too.
I have always loved to work with wood especially Western redcedar because of its many special properties. Here in British Columbia, this species, plicata, is very meaningful to the Aboriginal people and is revered for many reasons, here is a link for more information on this very special tree.
I only use BC Red Cedar to build my cedargardenbeds because it is simply the best wood for this application and I love the smell in my workshop especially on cutting days.
I use 5/4 decking material from Rona and rip it down the middle to make the legs and frame. This material is a full inch thick that gives it the strength I need and has nicely rounded edges to give it a nice clean look. The legs are made up of 2 ripped pieces of 5/4x8 glued and screwed with the rounded edges facing away from the join to give it a stronger hold and luckily it also looks way nicer.
I use 1*8 cedar fence material of several widths for both the walls of the garden bed and garden box and for the floor for the garden box. I leave a bit of space between each floor slat to allow for drainage. The floor boards are tacked in so that when its time to change out the floor it can be replaced easily into the existing box. I recommend putting in a few pieces of cardboard on the bottom or landscape cloth before filling the box with soil.
I do offer the choice of adding a 6 mil plastic liner to the inside walls since I believe that it adds longevity to the box at no additional fee.
The inground bed is the best option when there is direct contact to the earth. Depending on the slope of your land will dictate how high to make your raised beds walls.
Raised beds on flat land is a very simple install. The boxes provided by me are built with half inch longer legs to allow the garden box to settle into the earth and provide a stable base.
Raised beds on sloped land will require a level as well as a pick axe although the box I build will be the same construction as boxes on level land. The walls of the vegetable garden bed will be taller so you can maintain the soil depth. Dig a trench with your pick axe where the garden bed can easily be dropped in and then use your level to check the walls are nice and level. You may have to do this a couple of times until you are satisfied.
if you are lucky enough to have enough space that can accommodate multiple boxes I would recommend creating a layout in the space using cord on the actual space so that you have enough room to get in between the cedar boxes to comfortably work and access your inground raised veggie garden.
Since all my boxes are individually built you can choose any size to make your space look perfect.
Raised patio planters are perfect for growing vegetables or flowers when you can not plant directly into the earth. So whether you live in a highrise apartment, townhouse with a back deck or patio,or simply want to have a window box to brighten up your view this is your best option since there is a built in bottom to hold your soil.
These boxes come in any height and dimensions you want, as well as any soil depth, depending on what you want to plant. This is where you may want to discuss your project or ask for a site visit. This is a free service as long as you are in my biking range.
After one conversation, I ended up building several tree planters for a patio deck that held 24 inches of soil for Japanese maple trees with hidden wheels to allow the owner the versatility she required in her limited space. Collaborating on custom space design is one of my favorite parts of the process!
The most common depth is 12 inches/ 30 cm of soil and is perfect for most types of leafy vegetables like Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Bok Choy while Carrots need 12-16 inches 30-40 cm of soil depth. I build these boxes to custom heights to allow for personal preferences like my 31 inch / 78 cm tall box that is perfect for those who have sore backs and cannot bend over comfortably. The width of this box depends on how many rows of greens you want to plant. I would recommend 12 -18 inches apart and also keep in mind how far you have to reach to tend to these plants.
Tomatoes and climbing vine veggies like snap peas also require 12 inches/ 30 cm although I recommend ordering a 18 inch/ 46 cm height so that they will do not climb out of your reach to quickly. Also the width of the box does not have to be very wide if you are growing a single row of vines.
Personally I would not be comfortable reaching more than 24 inches/ 60 cm from any one side. There are so many different veggies that all have their own requirements so I recommend choosing your favorites and then visiting The Farmer's Almanac site to learn more about your favorite.
I love herbs and there is something very special about adding freshly cut herbs to add a whole new level of deliciousness to your dinner. You don't need a lot of space or even direct sun light to grow herbs successfully. The herb box can happily sit on your porch or window sill and only needs 8 inches/ 20 cm width and I can make it up till 48 inches/ 60 cm long.
I recommend a placing your herb planter as close to the kitchen as possible so you can grab some freshly cut herbs quickly and conveniently. You do not require full sun and do very well in partly shaded exposure.
I always have been intrigued by green houses and really appreciate the important role they have in food and flower production. Unfortunately most greenhouse structures are expensive and require lots of flat sunny space to thrive.
I have enjoyed my own inground beds for many years and usually was lucky to harvest 25% of my crop because of all sorts of issues that a greenhouse could solve.
So I decided to figure out a way to turn my boxes into mini greenhouses to protect the crops from inclement weather and pests.
My early hoodie designs featured cedar for the frame. They were definitely successful in prolonging the growing season, managing the pest problem and allowed me to get an early Spring start but they were heavy to lift open even with hinges and quite frankly became an eyesore after a few seasons.
Early Prototype with cedar frame and single panel wrapped:
The break through came when I began experimenting with various types and sizes of PVC pipes to replace the Cedar frame. It proved to be light weight yet very strong and durable. I added clips that act as hinges which also keeps the cover securely fastened for windy winter days, yet still easy to remove completely.
Current all PVC Mini Greenhouse with 3 panel wrapping:
Stackable Mini Green House
Patio Flower Box Greenhouse:
Thanks for visiting!
Please call or text me at 604-657-7618 for more information.
Design, Hosting, Online Registration & Administration Tools By:Powered By:
