Monday, July 13, 2009

Raised Beds of Stone

I was inspired at some point by Paul at Homeowner's Blog to build some raised gardens out of stone. We have piles of rubble stone at our disposal, and when I saw this picture I knew what I was going to do!

Here is the first bed. First, I laid down several thicknesses of newspaper as an immediate weed barrier underneath the rocks.
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Then, I created a dry stacked wall, two stones high. The garden bed is about 4 feet wide and 8 feet long.

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I filled in the gaps between stones with chipped stone. There will be four more of these along the fence, and then they will be surrounded by a layer of rock chips/pea gravel, as per this garden plan (there will be FIVE gardens along the east fence, not three):
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I plan on lasagna gardening these beds by layering a bunch more newspaper at the bottom, a bunch of manure/compost, and then wood chips at the top. Four more to build before I take the truck to find manure!

5 comments:

Fred @ OPC said...

We too like Paul's blog. This is a very cool project; I like the stacked stone border already. Can't wait to see the finishing touches when it all comes together...

Joanne said...

I would love to do that, but I'm still looking for a source for free rocks. I hate the idea of paying for rocks. :-)

Jennifer said...

Thanks Fred! I made three more beds today... one more to go, and then edging the area, filling the beds, and creating the gravel surround!

Green Fairy~ I hear you. We wouldn't have these if they weren't free! Same with dirt and manure... I'm going to find a free source for that if it kills me!

Robj98168 said...

I love to use cardboard or newspaper as a weed barrier! I have even used old bedsheets and one old mattress pad.

goddessof4 said...

Wow!!! Very cool!!!!