Raised Beds

We’ve been under a stay-at-home order since maybe Mid-March and although we are both still working, we knew it was the perfect time for a project.

I had removed an old Spirea hedge from the south side of the house with the thought of planting something more interesting (Spirea blooms beautifully for about a week each spring and then after that, it’s unimpressive). The hedge was cleared last spring but it rained so much, we couldn’t get a team in to grind out all the stumps, let alone plant anything.

This year we decided we needed a modern day Victory Garden and set about planning a series of raised beds along the house.

A while back, Jonathan had  installed a spigot on that side of the house connected to a length of PEX, thinking it would come in handy once we planted. So the first step was removing a section of old PVC and replacing it with PEX. (The goal is to replace all the PVC but much of that will require tearing out the tiled walls in the bathroom and that’s just not an option right now.)

Jonathan did take this opportunity to remove a section of the fence to install a new gate on the south side of the house. We had a gate there at one time but it was too wide and the weight was pulling it out of kilter. Our main gate by the driveway is wide enough for bikes and mowers so this one will just be a people-gate.

I hand-tilled and pulled out weeds but Jonathan did all the building using the handy connectors at Gardener’s Supply. He spent the next weekend hauling topsoil and leveling the beds to adjust for the slope of the yard.

We wanted some height to the garden and something to add interest to a blank section of wall so we decided on a trellis of beans. We eat a lot of green bean salads throughout the summer so it’ll be more than simply decoration.

I ordered a ton of seeds from Renee’s Garden–mainly salad greens that I have in pots on the back patio–but by this weekend, I’ll have some tomatoes and basil planted.

Watch us in action!