Just finished building my four 4'x8'x20" raised beds

Im finally finished with my new back yard layout, including four new 4x8 raised beds. I don't yet have my drip irrigation or grids put in yet, but wanted to show you what i've got so far

The beds are 20 inches high and made of trex composite boards. The corner and side posts are 4"x4" cedar blocks which were cut to various sizes to keep the beds level. For the trellises, i used full size 8ft tall cedar blocks. The trellises are roughly 6ft tall from the surface of the soil.

It's amazing looking and quite sturdy; very hardcore. I would think your trellis's could withstand a hurricane. Great job. Can't wait to see them growing.

Wow! So jealous! That is gorgeous and will definitely last you MANY years to come! Great work!

Holy Moly!!! Are thoses filled to the top with Mel's Mix? Is there a reason why they are so deep?

Love the setup.

Pete

silverbug wrote:It's amazing looking and quite sturdy; very hardcore. I would think your trellis's could withstand a hurricane. Great job. Can't wait to see them growing.

Thanks I needed the trellis to withstand very strong winds. We occasionally get 100+ mph gusts here in Las Vegas

AliSmith13 wrote:Wow! So jealous! That is gorgeous and will definitely last you MANY years to come! Great work!

Thank you. I hope it does last for a long time. I plan to be here for quite a while.

Garden_State wrote:Holy Moly!!! Are thoses filled to the top with Mel's Mix? Is there a reason why they are so deep?

Love the setup.

Pete

Yup they're completely filled with mel's mix. It's about 10 cubic yards total for all four beds. There are a few reasons why I decided on a depth of 20 inches.

-In Las Vegas, we have extremely hard, rocky soil. I was only able to get down a few inches even with a pick axe. (the pick axe made sparks when I hit the ground). At a depth of 6 inches, the roots of most plants would not be able to grow into this native soil if they needed to.

-Extreme heat in Las Vegas. During the summer here, it can easily hit 110-115 degrees. I wanted to make sure there was enough soil to hold water between waterings.

-Extreme wind in Las Vegas. We occasionally get wind gusts up to 100+ mph, so I wanted to make sure the plants were able to grow nice deep root systems to survive the wind and to allow for deep staking.

-Narrow yard. My garden area is pretty narrow (about 14ft wide). I have the brick wall to the east, and the 2 story wall of my house to the west. This means that as i go lower to the ground, plants are blocked by the brick wall in the morning, and my house in the afternoon. Going higher up got me about an hour of extra sunlight during the day. This actually works out nicely because i get about 7-8 hours of sunlight during the summer, and my house starts to block the garden from the deadly afternoon sun

-A dog. My Fiance plans on getting a dog, and I didn't want it trampling all over my garden.

Vegas is not a place that is conducive to gardening.. I think your extra efforts will pay dividends!

gorgeous!! I'm surprised and awe stricken at the 20 inches! Did you use the new book or the old one?

chocolatepop wrote:gorgeous!! I'm surprised and awe stricken at the 20 inches! Did you use the new book or the old one?

I read the new book. It really had a ton of great info. I also bought the SFG cookbook which also has a surprising amount of info about harvesting and storage included.

Chopper wrote:Vegas is not a place that is conducive to gardening.. I think your extra efforts will pay dividends!

Vegas is a pretty easy place to garden year-round as long as you follow a few rules regarding heat management and mulching. During the coldest parts of winter, it only gets down to about 35 degrees in my yard for a short time, so I don't have to worry very much about frost. We use silver reflective mulch (mylar) here which reflects the sunlight back up into the foliage which keeps the soil nice and cool. We also do intensive planting to allow the plants to keep each other cool during the summer. And of course, heat tolerant varieties are a plus. It's June 5th, and 100+ degrees outside and im still harvesting lots of very tasty peas out of one of my containers. It's a heat tolerant "Wando" variety.

Beautifully done!!! Those are some mighty impressive looking boxes I must say. Tell me that's not real grass or I'll be entirely put to shame.

Paintedlady wrote:Beautifully done!!! Those are some mighty impressive looking boxes I must say. Tell me that's not real grass or I'll be entirely put to shame.

Thanks

It's not real grass. It's a special synthetic grass from a company called Synlawn. it was just released in 2010 and greatly reduces the amount of heat retained by the grass. I'm still able to walk on it barefoot even in 100+ degree weather which is pretty nice.

By not conducive to gardening I meant "raw" Vegas. Hot desert with horrible soil intense sun and winds and no water. But with a hose, SFG and Some trucked in MM you got something!

I love your garden pic's and the thought you but into it will really pay off. Don't forget to update us with some photo's when you have the boxes planted.

Nice Garden. good luck with the harvest.

I don't think it's going anywhere with the 4 x 4's. I hope the shovel in the pic was to put in the Mel's mix.

i was watching some videos on youtube today from a guy who has a bunch of great videos about growing your own food, and i came across a video of YOUR garden. i knew that i recognized it right away and have been scouring the forum to find this thread. i would love an update on how things are growing out there for you! here is the video so evey one can watch it.