Adventures in Elevated Garden Boxes

When I was trying to find a good place to plant my garden, I discovered the best location was also the location where my pool pump drains when you clean it out.  That didn't seem like a good plan.  Therefore my garden mentor recommended an elevated garden.

So my husband built a beautiful box!elevated planter boxIt looked like it would be a perfect solution, however, we did not take into account the weight of the dirt.  So, when we filled our big beautiful box with dirt, the bottom attempted to detach!  Thankfully he had some spare wood to reinforce the base where it seemed most fragile.elevated planter box reinforced

Then the rain came.  After the weight of the dirt and the water, most of the east side of the box caved in!

elevated planter box cave in

So he reinforced it more!  Hopefully it will hold for the rest of the season.  I already have thought of how to do things differently next year.  Sometimes the failures are just as important as the successes.  Failures make you think.

Next year I'll follow my garden mentor - her boxes look a bit sturdier!

how to build an elevated garden box

2 Comments

  1. Cookie on July 6, 2015 at 7:55 pm

    We just planted our first ever garden this year, and chose the box route as well. We didn’t get them started when I hoped, but it was fun and I think in our neck of the woods we’re still in time. Can’t wait to see both of our harvests! 🙂

    • Betsy on July 6, 2015 at 8:00 pm

      Even if I don’t have the harvest I hoped for, I have loved watching tiny seeds growing into these amazingly diverse plants. There’s definitely a spiritual aspect to gardening. I enjoy it! I’ll be excited to hear how yours goes.

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