This guide will walk you through how to install a simple drip irrigation system for raised garden beds. Video and photos are included. We installed this drip system to irrigate our large grow bag garden, yet it’s perfectly suited for traditional wood garden beds, metal raised bed kits, in-ground garden plots, and more! 

Last year, I also shared a tutorial on how we installed drip irrigation in our wood raised beds using drip tape, PVC pipe, and automated valves. We love that option too, but the system I’ll show you today is even easier to set up. Zero plumbing skills are required! It’s also a little less permanent in nature – enabling you to easily disconnect or store your irrigation system during the winter if needed. (Though you could also connect this type of drip system to hard pipe and valves too.)

In this article you will find:

• A list of supplies needed to make a simple raised bed drip irrigation system that connects to an outdoor faucet or tap. 
• A YouTube tutorial that shows the step-by-step process.
• A written summary of the steps shown in the video, with photos for quick and easy reference.
• We’ll also talk about water pressure, winterizing, and how long to run raised bed drip irrigation systems.

A note on our grow bags: We have both 100-gallon and 150-gallon grow bags in our “calendula farm”. Unfortunately our exact bags are no longer available, but this is another well-rated option with similar dimensions and specs.

Supplies Needed for an Easy Raised Bed Drip Irrigation System

 
We get almost all of our drip irrigation supplies from Drip Depot. They’re fantastic! The affiliate links found in this article gives us a small commission at no cost to you. We greatly appreciate your support, which enables us to share tutorials like this with you!

1. A nearby hose tap (spigot or faucet). For the best results and pressure, choose a tap that’s within 50 feet or closer from the raised beds. See pressure notes to follow. It’s usually not all that difficult or expensive to have a new faucet installed closer to your beds if needed!
   
   
2. A 4-in-1 faucet adapter, which is specifically designed to connect drip irrigation to a hose tap. It comes with all the parts you need (that you can also buy separately): 1) a filter to prevent sediment from entering and clogging the drip system, 2) a backflow preventer to protect your drinking water supply from contamination, 3) a pressure regulator (drip systems need to operate at 20 to 30 PSI), and 4) a coupler/adapter that the ½” drip irrigation tubing connects to.
   
   
3. Standard ½ inch irrigation tubing, which is commonly available in 100 foot rolls. For larger projects, consider 250 foot rolls or a 500 foot roll if necessary. This tubing will create the bulk of your easy raised bed drip irrigation system. Get enough tubing to run from the tap, between the beds, up the sides of the beds, and also to create the “header” inside each bed”.  
   

4. ¼” dripline tubing, which comes with pre-installed drip emitters. You’ll need enough to run several lines down the length (longest side) of each raised bed – explained more in the “header assembly” section to follow. For example, one 4×8’ raised bed with 4 rows of dripline will require about 32 feet of dripline tubing.
   
   Note that drip tubing comes in various flow rates and emitter spacing. For this project, we chose drip tubing that has ½ gallon per hour emitters every 6 inches, and space the rows of dripline every 8 or 9 inches across the bed. I find that 6-inch spacing provides nice even saturation and allows for flexible planting throughout the raised beds.
   

5. ¼” barbed couplers to connect the ¼” drip tubing to the ½” main line tubing headers.
   
   
6. A punch tool, used to add holes and attach the drip tubing to the ½” black supply line.
   
   
7. Figure 8 clamps to end the main ½” lines. You’ll need one for each header, and possibly more to end other lines in your system – depending on the layout.
   
   
8. Goof plugs, to end/cap each of the ¼” drip tubing lines. These can also be used to plug unwanted holes in the 1/2″ tubing.
   
   
9. Various ½” couplers (including tees and elbows), used to run ½” tubing line between and up the sides of your raised beds. This varies depending on your system layout. I suggest drawing out your system to determine how many couplers you’ll need. We prefer to use PermaLoc couplers over compression fittings. They’re durable and reusable, making it easy to make adjustments or repairs! On the other hand, compression fittings are more permanent and tubing must be cut to make changes. 
   

10. Galvanized landscape staples to hold the drip line in place.
    
    
11.  Scissors to cut the drip tubing. I also find pliers are helpful when working with the ¼” couplers. 

Optional Supplies

• A battery-operated faucet timer to easily automate your raised bed drip irrigation system. In this particular project, we used a 2-outlet hose timer (what we already had on hand) that can be used to connect two drip lines to a single tap. Or, you can use a single outlet hose timer. They even make 3-outlet timers for systems with 3 zones. We’ve been using these timers for years and they still work perfectly! I haven’t even had to change batteries on some that have been running for two years.
  
  
• Shut-off valves for each bed. Install one of these simple on/off valves in the header or riser of each raised bed for the utmost control! That way, you can turn off the water to certain beds if some are in use while others are not. Or, turn the valve halfway to restrict/reduce water flow to beds that have less water demand than others (e.g. for drought tolerant crops like peppers). We skipped this option in this particular project, but did install individual valves on each raised bed in our main garden space.
  
  
• A hose splitter or Y-valve. With this, you can connect the drip irrigation system to a faucet (on one side of the splitter) while also still maintaining a free outlet to use a garden hose, fill watering cans, etc.

Drip Irrigation System Layout and Pressure 

It’s best to not surpass 100 to 200 feet of solid ½” irrigation tubing (the main line that runs from the tap and between beds). Otherwise, your raised bed drip irrigation system may not have adequate pressure towards the far end of the lines. 

For very large areas (where more than 200+ feet of line is needed), it’s best to split the system into separate zones or shorter lines that will run at different times if possible. For instance, from two different taps, or with two separate lines using a 2-outlet hose timer. This is also helpful if you have various beds/areas with different water needs.

Drip components are designed to operate under 20 to 30 PSI. It’s usually necessary to use a pressure regulator in drip irrigation systems because high pressure can “blow out” sensitive drip parts. Normal house water pressure can be as high as 80 PSI. 

Yet if pressure seems too low in your raised bed drip system (and your house/tap pressure isn’t crazy high), you could experiment with NOT using a pressure reducer at the tap. When in doubt, use a hose thread pressure gauge at the tap you’re connecting the system to to assess the pressure starting point. Then you can simply unscrew and remove the pressure reducer component from the 4-in-1 adapter if needed.

How far should I space drip lines in raised garden beds?

It’s best to space drip irrigation lines in raised garden beds every 6 to 12 inches – and no wider than 12” apart. 

For example, in our 4×8’ raised garden beds, we installed rows of dripline every 9 inches evenly across the bed – or four lines total per bed. With emitters every 6” along the lines, this provides a nice even distribution of water that saturates the entire bed, allowing us to plant along the drip lines or in between. This is especially helpful for closely-spaced plantings like root veggies.

After all, one of the many benefits of growing in raised beds is that you don’t have to follow rigid row planting, unlike traditional field row crops. Plus, the more damp soil there is around, the more the worms, nematodes, and beneficial microbes will thrive! Last but not least, watering in a wide swath around plants (as opposed to directly at their base only) encourages roots to explore, growing larger and wider. That leads to bigger, healthier plants! 

How to Install an Easy Raised Bed Drip Irrigation System

Step 1: Assemble Headers with Drip Lines

Each raised garden bed or planter needs a “header”. The headers are made with ½” solid tubing that sits inside one of the short ends of the bed, where the smaller dripline tubing connects to. 

If you’re installing drip irrigation in multiple raised garden beds of the same size, I find it’s easiest to make just one header in or near the garden bed to figure out the size and spacing. Take note of the measurements, and then use that header as a guide or prototype to pre-assemble the remaining headers in a clean work space. (Such as a concrete patio or large table.) That way, there is less risk of getting soil inside the parts as you work – which can clog your emitters! Assembling the headers first also makes the rest of the system install very quick and easy.

Header Assembly

• Measure and cut the solid 1/2″ solid tubing to fit inside one short end of your raised bed. If you’re using figure 8 end clamps to end the line, leave a couple extra inches to fold over.
  
  
• Cap one end of the header line with a figure 8 clamp or other end cap.
  
  
• The other end of the header will receive water from the main supply line and riser. The design of your header connection will vary depending on your system layout. We added an elbow (90°) PermaLoc adapter to one end of our header, which connects to a riser that runs up the outside of the bed. See photos below.
  
  
• Measure and cut ¼” drip tubing lines. Make them long enough to run the length of the bed and connect into the header.
  
  
• Measure and/or mark where you want each row of drip tubing to attach to the ½” header, spaced evenly across the bed (between 6 to 12 inches apart).
  
  
• Use a punch tool to create holes in the main header tubing. Be sure the holes are all facing the same direction so the drip tubing will lay flat on the soil surface.
  
  
• Attach drip tubing to the header. Insert a ¼” barbed coupler into one end of the ¼” drip tubing. Then push the other end of the barb into the header tubing.
  
  
• Finally, cap/end each ¼” drip tubing line with a goof plug. 

Step 2: Connect Drip Line to Tap

• Optional: To easily automate the raised bed drip irrigation system, add a simple faucet timer to the tap first. You can also add a hose splitter before the timer, leaving one side of the tap free for other things.
  
  
• Next, screw on the 4-in-1 faucet to drip adapter.
  
  
• Connect the ½” drip tubing to the coupler at the end of the adapter.
  

Step 3: Run Drip Line Between Beds

• Run the ½” main line from the hose tap or faucet to the raised garden beds. Use tees, elbows or other couplers to create rows between beds as needed.
  
  
• Each bed will need a point of connection and riser. Cut into the main line near the bed, insert a tee or elbow (depending on the layout of your lines), and add another piece of ½” tubing up the side of the raised bed. Another option is to hide the riser by running it under and inside the garden bed.
  
  
• Optional: Add a shut-off valve for each bed, explained in the supplies section above. The valve can be installed along the riser, or as part of your header.
  
  
• It is okay to cover or bury the ½” mainline drip tubing in several inches of mulch, bark, soil, gravel, or other cover.
  
  
• Leave the very ends of the lines open for now (not capped) so you can flush the lines before adding the drip components. 

Step 4: Install and Connect Headers

Before adding the headers to your raised beds, flush the main lines to remove any potential debris that could clog emitters. Simply turn the water on and let it run freely out of the end of the lines for a minute or so. 

After flushing the lines, connect the headers to the risers you’ve added to each raised bed. Tuck the header inside the short end of the bed and attach it to the riser. Secure it in place with landscape staples or pins. Next, position the drip tubing lines evenly down the length of the bed and pin them in place too. 

Using the System

When you’re ready to use your new raised bed drip irrigation system, simply turn on the tap! If you’re using a hose timer, leave the main faucet ON at all times, set the timer, and it will let water into the lines per the schedule you specify. 

Once the system is set up, it’s easy to calculate water use and flow rate! Count the number of emitters per bed, then multiply that by the emitter flow rate. For example, each grow bag shown in this example has 28 emitters, and each emitter is rated for ½ gallon per hour. That means each grow bag would receive 14 gallons of water per hour the system runs. 

How long should I run my raised bed drip irrigation system?

It depends! Every garden has different water demands based on the unique climate, soil, season, temperatures and rainfall patterns. It also depends on your mulching practices, and how thirsty your plants are. Larger, mature plants generally “drink” more water than smaller ones. Soil protected with a nice 2 to 4″ layer of mulch will stay damp much longer than bare soil, greatly reducing water needs.

In general, it’s best to provide less frequent, deep, long watering as opposed to short shallow bouts of water every day. This will encourage deep healthy roots and stronger, more resilient plants. Try to water enough to keep the soil evenly moist at all times, but allow it to dry out ever-so-slightly between watering. Of course, you never want the soil to be totally dry! But remember that plants breathe through their roots – so the soil shouldn’t be constantly sopping wet either.

In our climate, we typically run our raised bed drip irrigation system for about 45 minutes, twice per week. The time you run your system will also vary depending on the type of emitters used. For instance, if we were using drip tubing with 0.25 gallon per hour emitters (instead of 0.5 GPH), we would run the system for twice as long.

When direct-sowing seeds, plan to provide additional overhead or hand-watering during the first few weeks. That will help keep the top of the soil nice and damp during germination and early root development.

Winterizing raised bed drip irrigation systems

As with all types of irrigation, it’s best to winterize your raised bed drip irrigation system before freezing conditions arrive. At minimum, thoroughly drain the system and protect it with a nice deep layer of mulch. Leaving standing water in pipes or valves can cause them to crack when the water freezes and expands. Or, to further reduce the risk of damage, folks in extremely cold climates may want to remove the drip irrigation components completely. Store your supplies in a protected location over winter, such as in a garage or similar.

Thanks for irrigating with me!

After reading this, I hope you feel empowered and prepared to go install an easy raised bed drip irrigation system of your own. Once you understand the basics of irrigation, the options are endless! You should be able to adjust and tweak things to create an ideal irrigation system for your garden or project. Please consider pinning or sharing this post if it was useful. Also feel free to ask any questions in the comments below. Thank you so much for tuning in today, and enjoy!

You may also enjoy:

• How to Build a Raised Garden Bed (video included)
• All About Calendula: How to Grow, Harvest, and Use Calendula Flowers
• How to Install Drip Tape Irrigation in Raised Garden Beds
• 17 Ways to Save Water in the Garden and Landscape
• Rainwater Harvesting 101: How to Set up a Rainwater Collection System
• Companion Planting 101 and Printable Chart
• How to Remove or Kill Grass (and Grow Food, Not Lawns!)

The post Easy Raised Bed Drip Irrigation (from Faucet or Spigot) appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

What is Hugelkultur

Hugelkultur (pronounced hoogle-culture or hoogle-cool-tour) is a permaculture method of making garden beds by layering logs, branches, leaves, and other organic plant debris with compost and soil. In German, hugelkultur literally means “hill culture”. It has been practiced by natural farmers and gardeners around the world for centuries.

Traditionally, hugelkultur was primarily used to create mounded earthen garden beds at ground level, referred to as hugel beds or “hugelbeet”. Yet the concept is rapidly gaining popularity as a cost-effective way to fill raised garden beds, planter boxes, and containers too. Especially deep ones! 

Benefits of Hugelkultur

• Hugelkultur mimics nature by design. Akin to a forest floor, the variety of decomposing natural material creates immense biodiversity in the soil.
  
  
• Rotting wood behaves much like a sponge: it absorbs, retains, and even releases water. Thus, hugelkultur garden beds require less water, ideal to conserve water and offset periods of drought.
  
  
• As wood and other natural materials decay over time, worms, beneficial bacteria, fungi, nematodes, microbes and other members of the soil food web work to create and release nutrients that feed plants. This type of effective nutrient release can occur for up to 20 years, depending on the density and type of materials used in the hugelkultur bed. The bed improves with time.
  
  
• Decomposing plant materials also generates some heat, which means the soil in hugel beds may warm up more quickly in spring to allow for earlier planting. This can also help extend the growing season come fall or winter, especially when coupled with hoops and row covers.
  
  
• Hugelkultur garden beds are budget-friendly! Filling large raised beds or planter boxes with soil and compost alone can get quite expensive. Filling the beds (at least part way) with collected natural materials is very cost-effective in comparison. Mounded hugel beds may be totally free to make.
  
  
• Hugelkultur garden beds are also eco-friendly. It’s a fantastic way to utilize and up-cycle plant “waste” around your property – rather than burning it or sending it to the landfill! Plus, creating garden beds from collected materials is more self-sufficient and sustainable than bringing outside materials into your garden. For example, bagged soil can create a lot of plastic waste! Whenever possible, get soil and compost delivered in bulk if large volumes are needed.
  

• Hugel beds are excellent at sequestering carbon. They’re also naturally aerated and don’t need turning or tilling. 
  
  
• Hugelkultur is a great way to overcome poor native soil conditions, such as clay or rocky soil.

Potential Drawbacks of Hugelkultur

• Creating or filling garden beds with the hugelkultur method requires access to ample natural materials – a challenge for some urban or suburban gardeners.
  
  
• It requires a good deal of physical labor and effort to make traditional mounded hugel beds compared to standard in-ground garden plots. 
  
  
• Hugelkultur beds may settle or sink down after the first year or so, so topping off with fresh soil and compost may be needed. Add soil and compost within the initial woody layers to reduce settling and air pockets.
  
  
• There is some risk of introducing pests or disease to your hugelkultur beds by using infected materials. For instance, we have abundant oak leaf litter on our property, but the leaves are almost always covered in mealybugs or whitefly, so I avoid using them in hugel beds. Termite-infested material poses a similar concern, especially when filling new wooden raised garden beds hugelkultur-style.
  
  
• Similarly, there is a risk of accidentally adding pesticides or herbicides to a hugelkultur garden – particularly if you’re using materials from an unknown source or not from your own property. Straw is a prime example, which is notoriously sprayed with herbicides and quite difficult to find organic.
  
• Since they’re prone to attract termites, it’s best to keep hugel beds at least 30 feet away from your home.
  
  
• Like other in-ground garden plots, it can be challenging to prevent burrowing pests like gophers or moles in traditional mounded hugelkultur beds. Gophers are a huge problem where we live, which is one of the primary reasons we garden in raised beds instead – and line the bottom of them with hardware cloth so they can’t get in.
  
  
• Tall, mounded hugel beds with sloped sides can be prone to sloughing and sliding around the edges. It may also be difficult to access, harvest, or tend to plants near the top or middle of the mound. Since plants sit higher off the ground, they’re more susceptible to the elements like whipping winds or frost. 
  
  
• Young hugel beds may become nitrogen-deficient, leading to stunted plants. Keep reading below.

Does wood in hugelkultur beds steal nitrogen from the soil?

There is a notion that woody material (including logs, wood chips and branches) can “rob” nitrogen from soil. In reality, it doesn’t actually take any nitrogen away, but instead makes it temporarily unavailable for use by the plants – also referred to as nitrogen lock. Plants may be stunted as a result. Wood chips cause more noticeable nitrogen lock than large logs since wood chips offer significantly more surface area. Nitrogen lock can last for the first couple of years in a hugel bed, but then the nutrient becomes available to the plants again once. 

However, it is easy to compensate by adding adequate soil and compost above the woody material for plants to grow in – explained more to follow. Use mild organic slow-release fertilizers to supplement additional nitrogen if needed. Growing nitrogen-fixing cover crops in the off season (such as fava beans, alfalfa, buckwheat or rye) is another great way to naturally add nitrogen back to the soil. 

Materials to Use in Hugelkultur Garden Beds

• Logs or stumps, including fresh or rotting. Some that are already decaying is ideal! Read more about the pros and cons of different wood types below.
• Branches and sticks
• Wood chips, sawdust, wood ash
• Leaves or leaf mold
• Straw or hay
• Compost and manure
• Other organic yard and garden waste
• Brown paper bags
• Corn husks or stalks
• Fresh grass clippings or dry grass (be cautious of introducing weeds though)
• Chunks of sod, often removed from the site of the new hugel bed and placed grass-side down near the top of the mound after.
• Cardboard, especially as an initial weed-suppressing layer under the bottommost logs. 

What type of wood is best for hugelkultur?

There is definitely some debate about what types of wood to use or avoid in hugelkultur garden beds. There are no hard fast “rules”. And don’t forget: the point is to make use of resources that are readily available to you!

Overall, hardwoods are ideal for hugelkultur. Logs from hardwood trees – including oak, apple, beech, alder, maple, sweetgum, ash, poplar and acacia – will decompose slowly and therefore supply nutrients to your hugel bed over a longer period of time. Yet soft woods such as pine, spruce, or fir will break down and release nutrients more quickly, giving everything a boost from the get-go! So, you can certainly use both. (But we’ll talk more about pine below.)

For the best results, use a variety of tree types and also a combination of fresh and already-rotting wood in a hugelkultur bed. Decaying wood will immediately begin to release nutrients and also inoculate the soil with beneficial microbes and fungi. Meanwhile, fresh wood will be there to support your plants over the long haul. 

Materials to Avoid in Hugel Beds

Have you ever noticed that plants don’t grow well under some trees? Most permaculture resources recommend to avoid wood from allelopathic trees, or those that emit phytochemicals to suppress or even kill competing plant life around them.

Common examples of allelopathic trees include black walnut (the most notorious) as well as eucalyptus, sugar maple, sycamore, red oak, black locust, pepper, manzanita, American elm, and some pine species. However, all of these trees are allelopathic to varying degrees! Even more, they may only emit growth-inhibiting chemicals from certain parts of the tree, such as the roots or leaf litter only. 

This guide from The University of Georgia breaks down various allelopathic trees into “strong”, “moderate” and “slight” categories and also denotes what part of the tree expresses allelopathy. Referencing the guide, it’d be wise to avoid logs and branches from trees that express moderate to strong allelopathy in their “rls” (root, leaf, and stem) pathways. I wouldn’t be as concerned about those that express it in their roots alone. Similarly, avoid using leaf litter from trees where that’s the main pathway.

Don’t use black locust because it will not decompose. Cedar and redwood also aren’t the best choices due to their high levels of tannins and natural rot-resistance. Last but not least, be sure that any species prone to suckering or sprouting (e.g. willow) are fully dead and dry before adding it to your hugel bed.

Can you use pine wood or pine needles in hugelkultur?

Yes, pine is fine to use in hugel beds! Especially in moderation (mixed with other wood types) and/or if it has been thoroughly dried and aged. Certain pine species are mildly to moderately allopathic, though in some instances that’s attributed to their needles rather than the wood itself. 

Pine needles are known to be very acidic (with pH of 3.8) and therefore are often avoided for hugelkultur or compost. However, it’s a rampant garden myth that pine needles make soil more acidic! The University of New Hampshire clarifies that “pine needles themselves are acidic but do not have the capacity to appreciably lower the soil pH”. As pine needles decompose, they’re gradually neutralized by organisms in the soil.

How to Make a Hugel Bed (or Fill Raised Garden Beds Hugelkultur-Style)

Whether you’re creating a traditional mounded hugel bed or filling a raised garden bed (planter box) hugelkultur-style, start with the largest, most dense materials on the bottom. Begin with logs and stumps first, then layer in smaller branches and twigs, followed by leaves or straw. Finally, top it all off with several inches of well-aged compost and soil. Experts recommend incorporating a small amount of soil and compost to fill voids throughout the inner layers as well.

It’s important to provide at least 6 inches of soil (I recommend 10-12 inches) on top of the woody material. This offers adequate space for roots to grow and plants to thrive, especially in early years before the under-layers start to decompose. So, take that into consideration when filling raised garden beds or planter boxes. For instance, if your planter boxes are only a foot tall, add a fairly shallow layer of woody material at the bottom of the bed. The hugelkultur method is most helpful when raised beds are 16 inches or deeper.

In the “soil” layer, combine about 40% topsoil, 40% compost and 20% aeration additives – such as ⅜” lava rock, pumice, perlite, coarse sand, rice hulls, coco coir or peat moss. However, high-quality potting soil already contains plenty of aeration ingredients and perhaps some compost too. In that case, adjust your ratios accordingly (e.g. 70% potting soil plus 30% compost).

To create traditional mounded hugel beds, you can pile materials right at ground-level. Or, dig a shallow depression or trench (the size of the bed) to fill. Add the soil removed from the trench to the top of the mound at the end. To define the bed shape and add dimension, use branches along all sides to make a rough “frame”. Some permaculturists also use large rocks around the edges.

And that concludes this lesson on hugelkultur gardens.

As you can see, hugelkultur offers many benefits in the garden. It’s natural, cost-effective, repurposes waste, and pretty fun to boot! I hope you learned something new today, and feel excited to try hugelkultur in your garden too. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments below. If you found this information to be valuable, please consider pinning or sharing this post! Thank you very much for tuning in. Happy gathering and hilling!

You may also like:

• No-Till Gardening or Farming (aka No Dig): Benefits Explained
• How to Kill or Remove Grass, and Grow Food Not Lawns!
• How to Fill a Raised Garden Bed: Build the Perfect Organic Soil
• Raised Beds vs. In-Ground Gardens: The Pros and Cons Examined
• Companion Planting 101 (with printable companion planting chart)
• Composting 101: Why, What & How to Compost at Home
• Vermicomposting 101: How to Create & Maintain a Simple Worm Compost Bin
• How to Amend & Fertilize Garden Bed Soil Before Planting

The post Hugelkultur: A Natural, Cheap Way to Make or Fill Garden Beds appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

Before we dig into the updates, let’s catch up on where we left off in October. In our last homestead update, I showed you how we prepared the blank slate (aka, an open weedy, sandy field) to become our new garden space – including leveling the area, adding steel edging and landscape rocks to define the borders, and commercial weed barrier fabric as a base for the gravel to come. Check out this post for more details if you missed it. If you’re extra new here, we just moved to this property in July 2021! You can see the story of our property hunt and move here.

Summary of what’s happened since the last update:

• We added gravel to the new garden space… 40 yards of it! 
• Built and installed 19 new raised garden beds.
• Filled the beds with bulk soil and compost.
• Installed drip irrigation to the raised beds.
• Added whimsy and flair with arched trellises, outdoor furniture, solar lights, wine barrel planters, pretty pots, and a new fountain – which is also an important feature for wildlife!
• Planted the very first seeds and seedlings in the new garden. Our new grow room is working out amazingly! So much so, we are contemplating not adding a greenhouse to the new homestead at all… but we shall see. 
• Created a new pollinator garden near the raised beds, as well as incorporated more pollinator-friendly plants and edibles into the old existing garden space.
• Installed a new central paver patio seating area.

I’ll show you each stage with photos, tips, and more details below! But first, here is the updated tour video I promised.

New Garden Tour Video

Gravel Install

When it came time to choose gravel for the new garden, we already knew we wanted to use ⅜” crushed rock like we did at the old homestead. Unlike smoother pea gravel, angular crushed rock locks and stays in place quite well. It doesn’t sink or move as much when you walk or roll a wheelbarrow over it. 

Even though it created a little more work, we chose to mix two different colors of gravel we found at a local landscape supply yard: a dark green ⅜” rock plus some gray-gold ⅜” granite. The blend created the perfect natural rustic vibe I was aiming for: not too modern and cool (like our old garden), but not too bright and warm-toned either. 

It’s usually recommended to apply gravel about 3 to 4 inches deep. So, to figure out how much we needed, I first calculated the square footage of the garden space (LxW in feet) and then multiplied that by 0.25 (since 3 inches = a quarter of a foot). The math said we’d need just shy of 35 yards, but I wanted extra for wiggle room plus a couple pathways I didn’t account for. So, we had 20 yards of each gravel color delivered in bulk and dumped in our side driveway. We have done far smaller gravel projects with just shovels and wheelbarrows alone, but for this… let’s just say my body is grateful for heavy machinery! 

To move the gravel, we rented a small “Dingo” skid-steer front loader thingy for the week. It was the perfect tool to scoop up loads of gravel (in alternating scoops to mix the two colors) and dump it into the back bed of our Kubota UTV. Then we could drive the UTV around back, dump the load, spread the gravel with rakes, jump back in and repeat the process… over and over and over again! We got all that accomplished in November. 

Building New Raised Garden Beds

Next we started building all the new redwood raised garden beds: fifteen 4×8’ beds, two smaller 4×6’ for the narrow far end of the garden, and two 3×5’ beds to frame the backside of the center “courtyard”. Yep, that was A LOT to build! We took our sweet time and slowly built a few beds here and there over the course of a couple months (December and January). You can find a detailed tutorial and video of how we build raised garden beds here! 

Thanks to our fabulous furry friends (insert eye roll here) the gophers, we made sure to add hardware cloth to the bottom of every bed. We also took some additional steps to seal the beds this time around… since we want this garden to last as long as physically possible! (During this project I kept swearing how I never want to build another garden again… lol). I wrote up this post about the non-toxic sealer and silicone we used, plus other tips to make wood beds last longer. 

Because we wanted to utilize the UTV to fill the raised beds (much like we moved the gravel), we couldn’t put all the garden beds in place at once. If we did, it would cut off our access for the UTV because the pathways between beds are too narrow for it to fit. So we ended up stacking and storing the empty garden beds in the orchard area until we were ready to start filling them with soil. 

Installing and Filling the Beds with Soil

Next it was time to go soil shopping! As you may already know, soil health and quality is one of the MOST important variables in overall plant health! After visiting a few local landscape suppliers to scout out the best-looking bulk soil available, we settled on a premium “performance” potting soil blend from Central Coast Landscape. We were also fortunate enough to coordinate a bulk delivery of certified organic compost from Malibu’s compost. From there, we created our own mix of 65% bulk soil, 30% compost, and 5% ⅜” lava rock for added aeration and drainage. You can find more detailed information about soil composition and how we fill raised garden beds here.

One row at a time, we moved the empty raised garden bed frames into place, measuring and adjusting to get them nice and straight, and then filled them with soil. Before adding the soil, we tucked a PVC riser inside each bed so we wouldn’t have to dig in the irrigation connection later! (See more details on irrigation below). 

Just like the gravel project, we rented the “Dingo” skid-steer again to load up alternating scoops of soil and compost into the back of our UTV. With a little finessing, good teamwork and communication, we were able to back the UTV right up to each bed, dump, mix and spread the soil. Each bed took two full UTV loads. Again, this is something we’ve totally done with wheelbarrows and shovels on a smaller scale before. You certainly don’t NEED heavy equipment to create a garden!

Installing Drip Irrigation for the Raised Garden Beds

I never knew irrigation could be so utterly sexy until now. Really though. What isn’t attractive about saving time, energy, money AND water?! Drip irrigation is much more effective and efficient than hand watering or sprinklers, and our plants are totally loving it too! 

I won’t go into much detail here because I made a full tutorial and YouTube video on how we installed automated drip irrigation in our raised beds already. Check that out if you’re interested to learn more. Though I will say that I’m dang proud of us! I had some general conceptual knowledge of water systems (thanks to my past career in Environmental Health) but hadn’t actually worked with cutting, gluing and installing pipes myself – until now! It’s not nearly as difficult as you may imagine. You CAN do “hard” and new things!

Personal Touches, Whimsy and Flair

Now for the fun part! The garden was already looking quite fabulous with the raised beds, borders and gravel, but it was definitely missing some personality and pizzazz. If you tuned in to my recent post on “9 Ways to Add Whimsy and Interest to Your Garden”, then you already know how we spruced up the space. Arched trellises, wine barrel planters, outdoor furniture, solar lights, garden art, and pretty potted plants were among some of the additions.

One of my favorite additions is the new fountain. We created a rock border and bed of various succulents at the base. It really makes the fountain pop visually, and the succulents get passively watered by the inevitable bits of overspray and splashing around it. Double score. We’ve already seen wild birds thoroughly enjoying the fountain, and perching on top of the trellises too. I even spotted a hummingbird bathing in the top of the fountain the other day! So. darn. cute. Learn more about creating a wildlife-friendly garden here. Your yard can even become a certified wildlife habitat – like ours!

Last but not least, we just installed a new paver patio in the center of the garden this weekend. It creates a courtyard vibe and more distinct seating area, and really makes the whole garden pop! We used 2×2 ft concrete pavers, sourced locally from AirVol Block in San Luis Obispo.

The First Plants

Mere hours after installing drip irrigation, I couldn’t wait any longer to sow the very first seeds in the new beds! That process never gets old, but felt exceptionally exciting in this new space. It was still early February so my options were fairly limited. We direct-sowed radishes, turnips, carrots and snap peas first, and beets a couple weeks later. (Learn which crops are best to direct-sow vs start indoors here).

Then towards the end of February it was time to transplant out the cool-season seedlings we started in the grow room back in January. That included broccoli, cabbage, kale, bok choy, mustards and collard greens, kohlrabi, leeks, onions, lettuce, cauliflower, and more. Many of those we typically grow during our fall-winter garden, so it’s a bit of an experiment this year! Check out the full list of what we’re growing this spring and summer in this post, including specific varieties and descriptions.

As you can tell from the photos, many of the beds are still empty right now. Over the next month or two we’ll be transplanting out all of the remaining summer crops, including squash, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, melon, and cucumber along with more annual flowers and herbs. We’ll also direct-sow pole and bush green beans. The plan for the arched trellises includes pole beans, vining squash, and cucamelons – along with the peas that are already growing up one of them now. 

Seeing the new garden come to life with plants has been SO rewarding! The very first harvest of radishes and greens was even better…. and I can’t begin to imagine how it’s all going to look and feel in the height of summer! 

New Pollinator Garden

We celebrated the recent spring equinox by installing a new pollinator flower bed near the entrance to the raised bed garden. I honestly can’t believe what a HUGE difference this one change made! It really ties everything together, and I can’t wait to see it mature and bloom. Especially with the fountain so close by, I think it’s going to be the new hummingbird hotspot! 

The new flower border is full of 40 nectar and pollen-rich plants including lavender, hummingbird sage, other various salvias, yarrow, milkweed, California fuchsia, chamomile, agastache (aka anise hyssop), lupine, scabiosa, lantana, and trailing rosemary. See this list of the best 23 plants for pollinators for even more ideas! I also threw a couple of artichokes in there too… because why not? 

The plants we selected for this space are all petite and low-growing varieties – mostly 1×1′ or 2×2′, a few up to 3 ft. That way they won’t block the view of the rest of the garden once it all fills in. Plus, we already have larger pollinator shrubs along the back fence. Stepping stones will be added soon to break up the large bed into three sections, making it more manageable and providing access for maintenance, pruning, and harvests. 

This area is watered with an automated drip irrigation system we connected to a nearby spigot. Learn how to create a simple DIY drip system to a hose bibb here!

Other Changes and Updates

Last but not least, we’ve given the existing gardens plenty of love too!

In the last Homestead Update I shared that we removed the catmint border that previously lined the brick pathway. (It was too high maintenance and got really infested with leaf hoppers). So to add some interest, color and pollinator flowers back into the space, we planted about 25 new plants a couple weeks ago. Going for a Mediterranean garden vibe, I chose several large spineless agave attenuata as the focal points with a cluster of low-growing plants all around them – including blue fescue, trailing lantana, echinacea, petite salvia and lavender varieties, and African daisies.

We also converted two of the three existing metal raised garden beds into perennial beds. The one closest to the house is now full of herbs: several varieties of sage, oregano, thyme, lemon verbena, and dill. We planted 4 semi-dwarf blueberry bushes in the middle bed, with strawberries tucked in between. “Sunshine Blue” is our go-to blueberry variety since it requires so few chill hours, perfect for our temperate climate. They’re also self-fruitful! The 3rd and final existing bed will be used for overflow plants from the main garden for now – likely hard winter squash this year.

Out in the orchard, we’ve added two lemon guava shrubs, a couple of fig trees, and a fuyu persimmon. I plan to train the lemon guavas espalier-style along one of the black fences (and will likely add some horizontal wires behind them for additional support). I still want to find a spot for pears, plums, and more! 

Just a few more photos…

That’s it for today’s update!

Holy moly friends. Everyone keeps teasing me: where does the “chill” part of Homestead and Chill come in?! I’ll be the first to admit that the R&R has been seriously lacking lately. But now that we have the vast majority of our dream garden built, I think it’s finally time to sit back and relax a bit more. And I think I know just the spot!

In all seriousness, thank you so much for coming along for the tour. We are so excited about our new space, and are honored that you take time out of your busy schedules to follow along with our journey. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below, or simply say hello! See you next time.

The post Homestead Update: New Garden Reveal + Tour Video appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

What you’ll find in this article:

• A quick introduction to wine barrel planters
• The benefits and perks of gardening in wine barrels
• Tips on where to buy wine barrels
• Plant spacing recommendations and examples
• Adding drainage holes to wine barrels
• Filling the barrel with soil (how much and type)
• Fertilizer recommendations
• Irrigation tips
• Plenty of photos for wine barrel garden inspo!

About wine barrel planters

Wine barrels are used in the winemaking industry (no kidding, huh?). They’re very durable, usually made of thick oak wood planks with metal rings around them for stability. Most folks use half wine barrels for gardening (aka, ones that have been cut in half). Full-size wine barrels aren’t used as often since they’re exceptionally tall and require a lot of soil to fill them! You may also be able to find quarter or three-quarter wine barrels in some places too. 

Benefits of Gardening in Wine Barrels

• Wine barrels are awesome for growing food, flowers, herbs, or even trees in small spaces like patio gardens. 
  
  
• Because they’re fairly light and portable (compared to other garden beds), wine barrel gardens are the perfect solution for renters. You can bring them with you when you move!
  
  
• Wine barrels are nice and deep, providing ample room for a wide variety of plants to flourish, including deep-rooted crops like tomatoes or carrots. 
  
  
• Gardening in wine barrels creates a controlled environment which you can tailor to a specific plant’s needs. For example, fill the wine barrel with acidic soil or use acidic fertilizers to grow blueberries or potatoes. Wine barrels are also ideal for growing and confining invasive plants like mint. 
  
  
• Unlike other raised beds, gardening in wine barrels requires no assembly, building skills or tools (with the exception of a drill to add drainage holes).
  
  
• Wine barrels add character and curves to the garden. Even though we have dozens of large raised garden beds, we always add wine barrel planters for a little whimsy too!
  
  
• It’s easy to make wine barrel planters mobile on hard surfaces. Simply screw heavy-duty casters to the bottom! This is especially useful in small spaces where you may want to rearrange things based on the sun exposure, entertaining, or other needs. 
  
  
• Wine barrels last a long time – for several years minimum, up to 10 or more (depending on quality and climate). Learn how to make your wood raised garden beds last as long as possible here.
  
  
• Believe it or not, wine barrels are technically a “waste product” of the wine industry. Therefore, gardening in wine barrels is sustainable! You’re doing your part to reduce waste by giving them a second life. 
  
  
• Since they’re self-contained, wine barrels are automatically mole, vole and gopher-proof. (A huge perk here!)

Where to buy wine barrels for gardening

If you live in wine country like we do, you’re in luck! Wine barrels are generally pretty easy to find at local nurseries, Tractor Supply, and on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. Big box garden centers often carry them too, especially to kick off the spring garden season. Here are some wine barrels currently available from Home Depot. They don’t ship to home, but might be able to transfer to your local store. You can also usually find faux wine barrels like these stylish ones made from fir (though they likely won’t last as long as the real ones). 

If you can’t find wine barrels, keep an eye out for whiskey barrels too! Whiskey barrels are also typically made from oak, very durable, and great at retaining soil and moisture. They’re just a tad smaller than wine barrels; full size whiskey barrels hold 53 gallons of liquid rather than 59 gallons like wine barrels. When in doubt, call around and see what you can find – including wineries or distilleries in your area!

How many plants can I fit in a wine barrel?

You’d be surprised at how many plants you can fit in a wine barrel planter! The surface area is just over 4 square feet, much larger than your average pot.  However, it’s still important to maintain proper spacing between plants – just like you would in any other garden bed. Crowded plants won’t thrive as they compete for root space, nutrients, water, sun and airflow.

You can grow the following plants in standard half wine barrel planter:

• 1 tomato plant
• 1 dwarf fruit tree or fruiting shrub (e.g. blueberry bush or pineapple guava)
• 1 large ornamental shrub, artichoke, or hemp plant
• 1 bush zucchini or squash plant, perhaps 2 if it’s a trailing variety.
• 1 or 2 broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower plants
• 2 or 3 climbing cucumber plants 
• 2 or 3 pepper plants or eggplant
• 4 kale, collard greens, bok choy, or similar large leafy green plants
• 6 to 8 heads of lettuce, strawberry plants, fava beans, or bush beans
• 10-12 onions, depending on variety
• 12+ snow or snap peas (planted in a ring around a central trellis or teepee support)
• Up to 20 bulbs of garlic
• Dozens of carrots, radishes, or turnips
• Several annual flower or herb plants, depending on variety
• Other crops we like to grow in wine barrels include turmeric, ginger, horseradish, rhubarb, and so much more!

Don’t forget about companion plants! Even if your barrel only fits one or two large plants, you can tuck a few smaller ones around it. For instance, one tomato plant in the center with a couple basil or marigolds around the edges.

Adding drainage holes to wine barrels planters

Before filling your wine barrels with soil, use a drill and large drill bit to add at least 6 large drainage holes spread evenly across the bottom of the barrel. We’ve added ¾” holes in the past, which is a great size but drains the drill battery fast. (The bottoms are really thick!) In the most recent wine barrel planters we set up, we added about 9 half-inch holes instead. I wouldn’t recommend anything smaller than half-inch.

This is a crucial step; one you cannot skip! Think about it: wine barrels and whiskey barrels are made to hold liquid without leaking. Sure, they may drain a little between the seams as they age, but overall they’re excellent at retaining moisture. If you don’t add plenty of drainage holes, the soil will get too soggy and plants can easily drown and rot.

We also usually add a layer of durable water-permeable landscape fabric to the bottom of the barrel to prevent the drainage holes from getting clogged with soil. That is a great way to ensure invasive roots like mint runners don’t escape from the bottom of the barrel too!

Elevate before planting

Avoid setting your wine barrel planters directly on soil. Instead, elevate them slightly on bricks or pavers to reduce wood-to-earth contact on the bottom. This will prevent the bottom from rotting – and extend the life of your wine barrel! You don’t need to elevate barrels if they’re on concrete or gravel, but can do so if you wish. Even though most of our barrels are in gravel, we still often tuck several bricks under the perimeter to help them sit level.  Reminder: Wine barrel planters are very heavy once they’re full of soil, so be sure to do this prior to filling them up!

Filling Wine Barrels with Soil

Fill wine barrel planters with potting soil or other soil that is specifically made for containers or raised garden beds. It should be fluffy and well-draining (usually contains perlite or pumice) and moderately rich in organic matter. We typically use quality bagged potting soil mixed with some well-aged compost, but the compost makes up no more than 30% of the total volume. 

Last but not least, don’t forget to top off your barrel with a good layer of mulch! Mulch will insulate the soil, protect plant roots from temperature swings, and aid in moisture retention.

How much soil do I need to fill a wine barrel planter?

Most wine barrels hold about 4 to 5 cubic feet of soil. Once cut in half, the average wine barrel is about 27 inches in diameter and can range from 16 to 18 inches tall. A quick run of the numbers (V=πr2h, anyone?) allows us to determine the volume it holds. For reference, potting soil usually comes in 2 or 3 cubic-foot bags. So, plan on using 2 to 3 bags of soil per barrel.

Fertilizing plants in wine barrels

Like any other potted plant, wine barrels will have slightly higher fertilizer needs than in-ground gardens or larger raised beds. That is because there is more runoff and less overall soil volume to store nutrients. 

Plan to amend your wine barrel planters at least annually, maybe more depending on the plant’s needs. For instance, one round of fertilizer in the spring before planting short-lived annual veggie crops would be sufficient. However, trees or other perennials growing in wine barrels may benefit from fertilizer 2 or 3 times per year. 

We amend the soil in our wine barrel planters with the same types of mild slow-release organic fertilizers we use in our raised garden beds, including kelp meal, neem seed meal, alfalfa meal and basalt rock dust. Or, try this all-in-one organic all purpose fertilizer. Here is another great option specifically for fruit trees.

We also like to water with homemade aerated compost tea a few times per year, which provides gentle nutrients along with important beneficial microbes! Mycorrhizae is another excellent natural addition to support root growth and fruit production, and increase overall plant health and resilience.

How to water wine barrel planters

Irrigation needs vary drastically depending on your climate and what you’re growing. For example, large plants with expansive root systems require more frequent water (and the soil dries out faster) than young plants. Most plants prefer consistently damp soil. But remember, they also breathe through their roots! So, water your wine barrels often enough so the soil doesn’t fully dry out between watering, but also doesn’t stay sopping wet all the time. When in doubt, do a “finger check” and explore several inches below the soil surface to assess moisture.

There are a number of ways to water wine barrels. Most of our barrels are all connected to automated drip irrigation, which is incredibly convenient! Learn how to connect wine barrels (and other pots or containers) to drip irrigation in this tutorial. I even show you how to set up a simple new drip line to a nearby faucet or spigot, or to PVC pipe. Then of course there is good old-fashioned hand watering with a garden hose or watering can.

Clay ollas can greatly reduce the amount and frequency you need to hand water! Before setting up automated drip irrigation to our newest wine barrels, we’d often stick a medium GrowOya inside the barrel and plant around it. If you’re not familiar with ollas, they are vessels that you bury in the soil, fill with water on occasion, and the water slowly seeps through the porous terracotta into the surrounding soil – helping the soil stay moist much longer! Discount code “deannacat” will save you 5% at GrowOya.

And that concludes this guide on gardening in wine barrels.

As you can see, there are dozens of benefits to gardening in wine barrels – and even more plants that you can grow in them! It’s also probably pretty obvious that we love using barrels in our own gardens. I hope you enjoyed learning more about them, and are able to make good use of few wine barrel planters in your own garden too. If you found this information to be valuable, please spread the love by sharing or pinning this post! Also feel free to ask questions or chime in with any tips in the comments below. See you next time!

Don’t miss these related articles:

• How to Build a Raised Garden Bed: Step-by-Step Guide (and video)
• 9 Ways to Add Whimsy and Interest to Your Garden
• How to Grow Fig Trees
• Non-Toxic Gopher Control: How to Gopher-Proof Your Garden
• How to Grow Pineapple Guava (Feijoa): Cold-Hardy Tropical Fruit
• How to Grow Turmeric in Containers, in Any Zone
• How to Grow Artichokes: A Complete Guide with Photos

The post Gardening in Wine Barrel Planters: The Ultimate Guide appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

Follow along and learn how to set up drip irrigation for multiple raised garden beds. Our new raised bed drip irrigation system utilizes drip tape, but the skills you’ll learn today can easily be applied to other types of drip emitters too. This article and accompanying video will walk you through everything you need to know – from supplies to the step-by-step process – to feel confident to set up a similar drip system of your own. 

2023 Update: We also have a new easy raised bed drip irrigation tutorial here – one that connects right to a nearby hose spigot.

In this article you will find:

• A brief introduction to drip tape irrigation, including frequently asked questions and best practices about spacing, timing, pressure, and winterizing.
  
  
• A list of supplies needed to set up drip irrigation to raised garden beds. Nearly everything on this list was purchased through Drip Depot. We’ve been long-time Drip Depot customers, and I recently signed up as an affiliate with them as well. So, we’ll receive a small commission if you shop through our links – which is greatly appreciated and supports our work!
  
  
• A YouTube video. I will walk you through the supplies and process of installing drip irrigation for raised garden beds using drip tape. I also show a quick demo of how to glue PVC pipe, and a few other styles of raised bed drip irrigation systems too. If irrigation feels intimidating or confusing to you, it may be best to start by watching the video and then come back to digest everything else!
  
  
• A written summary of the steps shown in the video, with plenty of photos of our drip system install.
  
  
• Notes for alternative options for installing drip irrigation to raised garden beds (such as using standard ½” irrigation tubing and emitters rather than drip tape). 

Jump straight to the video here.

Drip Irrigation Saves!

Did you know that automatic drip irrigation systems not only save you time and energy, but also save water? Studies show that drip irrigation can save up to 70% more water than overhead sprinkler systems. Rather than spraying everything down willy-nilly, drip irrigation delivers targeted water right at the base of plants and soil. This reduces waste, runoff, and evaporation. 

Not to mention, drip irrigation is more efficient and effective at watering plants deeply, rather than only wetting the top few inches of the soil. Deep water means deeper roots, and more resilient, drought-tolerant, and robust plants. All in all, drip irrigation is a win-win – for you, your wallet, plants, and the planet.

What is drip tape?

Drip tape is essentially a flattened version of drip tubing. It lays flat on the soil surface but puffs up once it’s pressurized and full of water. Drip tape comes with drip emitters pre-installed at a set spacing, such as every 6, 9, 12, 18, or 24 inches apart. Each individual emitter will emit a set quantity of water – from 0.25 gallons per hour (GPH) up to 1 GPH depending on the type of drip tape you choose. Drip tape operates at a lower water pressure (8-15 psi) than standard drip irrigation (20-40 psi). 

It’s important to note that not all drip tape is created equal. In fact, drip tape often gets a bad rap as being short-lived or even “disposable” because of the way it’s commonly used in big ag. Yet the lifespan of drip tape depends on the quality and thickness of the tape used. We chose the thickest commercial-quality drip tape we could find (15 mil), rated to last up to 10 years when taken care of! 

Why we chose drip tape

We chose to use drip tape in our raised bed drip irrigation system for a number of reasons:

1. I love the convenience of pre-installed emitters, rather than punching holes and adding emitters to solid ½” irrigation tubing as we’ve done in the past. 
   
   
2. I also like the close emitter spacing that drip tape offers. Our drip tape has emitters every 6 inches. There is another style of round drip tubing with pre-installed emitters (like this one). But from what I saw, 9 inches was the closest emitter spacing available in that type. We’ll talk more about spacing below.
   
   
3. Drip tape has the reputation of being less prone to clogging than other types of emitter tubing. Drip tape is well-designed not to clog, even when buried below soil or mulch! It was highly recommended by a friend of mine who does professional garden installation and maintenance.

Can you cover or bury drip tape irrigation?

Yes! Drip tape can be installed on the soil surface, buried up to a foot below the soil, or covered with mulch without clogging. Even better, covering drip tape (or other drip irrigation components) can offer protection from sun damage and temperature extremes, thereby extending its lifespan. 

In order to keep the very top of our soil well-irrigated, we plan to keep our drip tape fairly close to the soil surface but will cover it with a little soil and mulch. No matter how you choose to install your drip tape lines, be sure that the emitters face upwards.

Spacing drip irrigation in raised garden beds

I recommend spacing drip irrigation in raised garden beds in a way that evenly saturates the whole bed, with the rows no wider than 12” apart. After all, one of the many benefits of growing in raised beds is that you don’t have to follow rigid row planting, unlike traditional field row crops. Plus, the more damp soil there is around, the more the worms, nematodes, and beneficial microbes will thrive! Last but not least, watering in a wide swath around plants (as opposed to directly at their base only) encourages roots to explore, growing larger and wider. That leads to bigger, healthier plants!

In our 4×8’ raised garden beds, we installed the drip lines about 9 inches apart evenly across the bed – or four lines total per bed. Each row of drip tape has .25 gph emitters every 6 inches. This spacing will provide a nice even distribution of water across the entire bed, allowing us to plant along the drip lines or in between. It will be especially great for closely-spaced plantings like root veggies.

It’s best to position the header in one short end of your raised garden bed. Then attach the drip tape (or other drip tubing and emitters) from the header down the length of the garden bed.

How long should I run drip irrigation in raised garden beds?

It depends! Every garden will have different water demands based on the unique climate, season, temperatures and rainfall patterns. It also depends on your mulching practices, and how thirsty your plants are. Larger, mature plants generally “drink” more water than smaller ones. Soil protected with a nice 2 to 4″ layer of mulch will stay damp much longer than bare soil, greatly reducing water needs.

In general, it best to provide less frequent, deep, long watering as opposed to short shallow bouts of water every day. This will encourage deep healthy roots and stronger, more resilient plants. Try to water enough to keep the soil evenly moist at all times, but allow it to dry out ever-so-slightly between watering. Of course, you never want the soil to be totally dry! But remember that plants breathe through their roots – so the soil shouldn’t be constantly sopping wet either.

In our climate, we typically run our raised bed drip irrigation system for about an hour twice per week. The time you run your system will also vary depending on the type of emitters used. For instance, if we were using drip tape with .5 gph emitters (instead of .25 gph), we could run the system for half the amount of time.

When direct-sowing seeds, plan to provide additional overhead or hand-watering during the first few weeks. That will help keep the top of the soil nice and damp during germination and early root development.

Winterizing a raised bed drip irrigation system

As with all types of irrigation, it’s best to winterize your raised bed drip irrigation system before freezing conditions arise. At minimum, thoroughly drain the system and protect it with a nice deep layer of mulch. Leaving standing water in pipes or valves can cause them to crack when the water freezes and expands.

Or, to further reduce the risk of damage, folks in extremely cold climates may want to remove the drip irrigation components completely – storing them in a protected location over winter. There is no need to take the whole system apart however! Use a threaded adapter at the point of connection in each raised bed. Then you can simply unscrew it, remove the entire header and attached drip lines together in one piece, and hang it in the garage (or something similar). 

Understanding water pressure in drip irrigation systems

Average household water pressure is around 40 to 60 pounds per square inch, also known as PSI. That is an ideal pressure for sinks, showers and outdoor hose bibs. Yet drip irrigation systems cannot handle such high water pressure. Too much pressure can cause “blowouts” or damage. Therefore, you’ll likely need to add a pressure reducer to your raised bed drip irrigation system. 

The best operating pressure for standard drip irrigation tubing and emitters is between 20 to 40 psi. Most times, one pressure reducer at the start of the system is adequate (e.g. where it connects to a faucet or control valve). Our main irrigation valves already had 40 psi pressure reducers installed at the head assembly. Note that lengths of over 100 feet of standard ½” irrigation tubing may start to lose pressure at the farthest end. 

Yet drip tape needs even lower pressure, from 8 to 15 psi, depending on the thickness and specifications of the chosen drip tape. ***In order to maintain good water pressure throughout our large garden space, we kept our main PVC lines at 40 psi but then added a 15 psi pressure regulator inside each raised bed before connecting drip tape.*** 

Supplies Needed for a Raised Bed Drip Irrigation System

Below is a list of the supplies needed to create a drip irrigation system for raised garden beds using drip tape. At the end, I also noted a few alternative supplies and adjustments if you prefer to use standard ½” drip tubing instead of drip tape. 

1. A main water supply. We ran PVC to each raised bed, and then converted to drip tubing within each bed. However, you can easily run the same type of drip tape irrigation system from a regular faucet or hose bib. This article and video will show you how to attach drip to a hose bib with an automated timer.

2. Standard ½” irrigation tubing, which you can buy here in 50 to 1,000-foot rolls. This will be used to create the main “header” that the drip tape lines will attach to. 

3. An adapter to connect the ½” drip tubing to your main water supply. We used this adapter to convert from threaded ¾” PVC pipe to ½” irrigation tubing (which has an option for ½” threaded pipe size under the same link). On the other hand, this 4-in-1 adapter is ideal to attach drip to a regular faucet or hose bib instead. It includes a pressure reducer, backflow device, filter, and drip tubing connector. 

4. Optional but recommended: a valve to control or turn off each raised bed individually. Our PVC-to-drip adapter (described just above) has a valve already included. However, you can buy these separate valves to install within your ½” tubing too. 

5. Pressure reducers. Standard drip systems should be reduced between 20 to 40 psi, which can occur at the main connection (such as at a hose bibb or irrigation valve). Our main irrigation valves already had 40 psi pressure reducers installed. Systems using drip tape must be further reduced to 8 to 15 psi (check your drip tape specifications) so we added an additional 15 psi pressure regulator at each bed. Note that our regulator is made to connect to ¾” pipe thread, but other sizes are available. 

6. Elbows and/or tee connectors to create the header. We prefer these Perma-loc connectors that screw on over the tubing. They can easily be disconnected as needed for repairs or changes. Rather, these common compression-style connectors are more permanent; things need to be cut apart to make changes.

7. Drip tape of choice. We used this heavy-duty 15 mil drip tape with 0.25 gph emitters every 6 inches. The 0.5 gph would be ideal for raised beds too! Drip tape comes in rolls of 100, 500, 1000 feet or more. Run some quick math to determine how much you need. For example, we installed (4) 8-foot rows per 4×8’ bed. So that’s 32 feet per bed X 16 beds (plus a few smaller beds) = about 600 feet. See above for more info on spacing.

8. Barbed adapters. We used these 3.6 mm barb adapters to connect the ⅝” drip tape to the ½” header tubing. 
   

9. End caps or clamps. We use figure 8 clamps to end the ½” irrigation tubing header. These closure clips are what we used to end each line of drip tape.
   
   
10. A punch tool. Used to add holes to the ½” irrigation tubing and then connect various adapters or drip emitters to. Here is a simple hand punch, or this option is similar to what we use.
    
    
11. Stakes, pins or galvanized landscape staples to hold everything in place. 
    

12. If you’re working with PVC, you’ll need PVC primer, glue, and a good set of ratchet-style pipe cutters.
    
    
13. Optional: a timer or controller to automate the system. Our orchard, existing garden, and new raised bed drip irrigation systems are connected to a solar-powered Hunter 6-station controller. The other drip systems we run from hose bibs have this simple faucet timer.
    
    
14. A backflow preventer and filter. It’s best practice to have a backflow prevention device to stop soil or other contaminants from getting back into your household water supply. Similarly, a filter will prevent debris from entering and clogging your drip irrigation system. There are a few backflow preventer options, depending on your main water supply connection. Hard-piped systems like ours usually have a filter and backflow preventer within the mainline head assembly. Or if you are connecting to a hose bib, use a 4-in-1 faucet adapter – which has a backflow device, filter, pressure reducer and drip connection. You can add a timer too! See photos of both below.
    

Alternate drip supplies: 

If you’d rather use ½” irrigation tubing to create rows instead of drip tape, there are a few adjustments you’ll need to make. One, you can create the main header (just like ours) but use 3/4” poly tubing instead of half-inch tubing for the header. Then, use these barbed adapters to connect ½” tubing to it. Keep in mind you’ll need to purchase 3/4” connectors, elbows, and other adapters for your header assembly in this case.

Another option is to still use ½” tubing in your header, but cut it and install tees every 8-12 inches to attach the lateral lines to. From there, you can connect either pre-perforated ½” drip tubing like this, or regular solid ½” tubing with your own emitters added, such as  1 GPH or 2 GPH drip emitters, or connect micro-sprinklers or bubblers with ¼” micro-tubing. Or, you could even connect 1/4″ drip tubing to a 1/2″ header, shown below.

Installing Drip Irrigation In Raised Garden Beds (video)

Now, please enjoy this video demonstration that will walk you through the installation process. Then, keep scrolling for a written summary and additional photos of our system. Before getting started creating your own raised bed drip irrigation system, draw it all out! That will help you visualize the system as well as develop a list of the parts you need.

Steps to Set Up Drip Irrigation in Raised Garden Beds (written summary)

1) Run water supply lines to each raised garden bed

The main water supply lines may be PVC, other hard piping, or ½” black drip tubing itself. One option is to add water lines and risers concealed under/inside every raised bed, either before the garden beds are installed or trenched under existing beds after-the-fact. Or, simply run the water lines up the outside of the bed wall.

After construction or modifications, flush the main water lines to remove any debris before connecting drip irrigation components or valves. Simply turn them on and let the water run for a few minutes. Keep the lines elevated or otherwise protected from anything getting back in during the process. 

Notes on our water line installation:

You’ll see in the photos that we installed our PVC lines on top landscape fabric, under several inches of gravel. However, please keep in mind we live in a mild climate that doesn’t freeze over winter. It also doesn’t get all that hot in summer! Otherwise, it’s best practice in most places to trench and bury pipes at least 6 inches minimum (usually 12″ to 18”) to protect them from freezing or temperature extremes. Therefore, please look into the best practices for irrigation water line installation in your climate. 

To offset how shallowly we installed the supply lines, we used schedule 80 PVC (grey) rather than schedule 40 (white). Schedule 80 is thicker, more resilient to temperature swings, and UV-resistant. Unlike white PVC, it won’t get brittle and crack from sun damage. Therefore, schedule 80 is recommended for above-ground installations (or in situations similar to ours). It is more expensive than schedule 40, so only use it if you have to.

2) Convert from the main water supply lines to drip

Next, use an appropriate adapter for your system to connect the main water supply lines to ½” drip irrigation tubing. (That is, unless you’re already using 1/2″ irrigation tubing for your supply lines). The right adapter will depend on your particular supply lines (various sizes of PVC, other hard-piping, a hose bib, etc) as discussed above and in the video. To use the same adapter we used, you’ll want your PVC point-of-connection to have a threaded female fitting. The adapter is available for either 1/2″ or 3/4″ threaded PVC connections, but be sure to choose the 1/2″ Perma-loc size!

3) Assemble the header and drip tape lines

If you’re installing drip irrigation in multiple raised garden beds of the same size, I recommend making one header in/near the garden bed to be sure everything fits and is spaced the way you like it. Then, use that header as your guide or prototype and assemble the remaining headers in a clean work space. (Such as a concrete patio. We even put some together on our dining table.) That way, there is less risk of getting soil inside the parts as you work – which can clog your emitters!

• Measure and cut the solid 1/2″ poly tubing to fit inside one short end of your raised bed. If you’re using figure 8 end clamps like us, leave a couple inches extra to fold over.
• Measure and cut the smaller/side section of the header that will connect to the main water supply/adapter.
• Connect the pieces of header tubing with elbow connectors.
• Measure and mark where you want each row of drip tape to attach, spaced evenly in the bed (between 6 to 12 inches apart).
• Use a punch tool to create holes in the main header tubing. Be sure the holes are oriented in a way that will have the drip tape laying flat on the soil surface.
• Insert barbed adapters into the holes.
• Attach drip tape. Completely loosen the perma-loc nut (exposing as much of the barb as possible), slip the drip tubing over the barb, then hold it in place while you tighten the nut down over it. Remember, keep the emitters facing UP!
• Add end caps/clips to both the main header line and drip tape lines.

4) Install the drip system – and enjoy!

Finally, install your new drip irrigation in the raised garden beds. Pin everything in place with landscape staples. Connect your header to the main water supply, and turn on the system to test it. Tighten or adjust any leaky connections as needed. Cover the drip components with a little soil or mulch if desired to protect it from sun. Now you can sit back, relax, and enjoy your brand new easy, efficient, time-saving raised bed drip irrigation system!

And that concludes this lesson on how to set up drip irrigation in raised beds!

Well folks, I realize I just shared quite a bit of information to digest. Who knew irrigation could be so dry? But now your garden beds should be the opposite of dry! I hope this article took some of the mystery out irrigation for you. I also hope you now feel prepared and comfortable to install drip irrigation in raised garden beds of your own! Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below. If you found this information to be valuable, please spread the love by pinning or sharing this post. Thank you so much for tuning in, and happy watering!

You may like these related articles:

• How to Install Drip Irrigation to a Hose Bib or Faucet (video included)
• How to Build a Raised Garden Bed (video included)
• 17 Ways to Save Water in the Garden and Landscape
• Rainwater Harvesting 101: How to Set up a Rainwater Collection System
• How to Remove or Kill Grass (and Grow Food, Not Lawns!)

The post How to Install Drip Irrigation in Raised Garden Beds (Drip Tape) appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

I’ll admit, we never sealed our garden beds in the past. They’re made from super durable heart redwood, after all! However, once we moved to our new homestead and began building our “forever garden” (and felt the rude awakening of not being in our 20’s anymore during the laborious process) I thought to myself: I want to make these garden beds last a LONG as physically possible. 

In fact, we seriously contemplated getting some awesome Birdie’s galvanized metal raised bed kits instead. Those things should last forever! (Save 5% with code “deannacat3”). But in the end, my love for the look of rustic wood won that battle, so here we are: we just finished building 19 new redwood garden beds, sealed and siliconed this time. Do it once, and do it right.

After reading these tips, pop over and follow our step-by-step guide on building wood raised garden beds!

WAYS TO EXTEND THE LIFE OF GARDEN BEDS

1) Choose wood that is naturally long-lasting 

One of the best ways to extend the life of raised garden beds is to use quality, long-lasting lumber right from the start. Cedar and redwood are two excellent choices, as they are both very dense and durable. Thanks to their high tannin content, both cedar and redwood are naturally resistant to rot, mold, and insects – including termites. Heart redwood lumber (what we use to build our raised beds) is even more indestructible than common redwood boards. 

Garden beds built from untreated cedar or heart redwood can last well over a decade on their own – likely much longer, depending on the climate and other conditions. The 7-year old untreated heart redwood beds in our old garden are still in excellent condition. I’ve also heard stories of friends’ redwood beds lasting well over 20 years! Then, if you follow the other ways to make garden beds last longer as described below, you can extend their life by several years more.

In comparison, garden beds made of softer woods like Douglas fir or pine can rot out and decay within just a few years. Don’t be tempted to use pressure treated lumber (usually treated pine) to make garden beds last longer either! In addition to containing undesirable chemicals not ideal for organic gardening, the lifespan of treated wood is less than cedar or redwood anyway! Especially when it is in constant contact with soil and moisture – as it will be in your garden.

2) Use wide planks and thick boards

Choosing wide lumber planks is another excellent way to extend the life of wood garden beds. For example, a raised bed constructed out of 2×6” boards will last longer than one made from 2×4”s. Eight, ten, or twelve-inch wide boards are even better! Raised beds are most susceptible to rot in the seams between the boards, where moisture collects and air is scarce. By using wider planks (and thereby reducing the number of seams in the bed overall) it is reducing surface area and places for water intrusion. 

The same idea applies to board thickness. While 1-inch thick boards are often more affordable (such as cedar fence boards, which are actually only ¾” thick), the raised bed will not last as long as one constructed with 2-inch thick boards. Plus, thinner boards are more likely to bow or even crack over time under the pressure of heavy wet soil pushing against them. Last but not least, thick 4×4” corner supports will last far longer than using 2×4’s or other smaller wood in the corners.

3) Seal wood garden beds (with non-toxic sealer)

Sealing wood garden beds can help extend their lifespan many years beyond unsealed wood. Applying a sealer will protect the wood from moisture intrusion, mold, and decay. However, you don’t want to use just any wood sealer on your garden beds! Many sealants and stains contain toxic chemicals – stuff you don’t want around your healthy homegrown food and soil.

We recently used this nontoxic wood sealer on our new redwood garden beds. If you know me, then you know I do my homework before choosing materials to use in our home and garden! This particular product is food-safe, made in the US, won’t leach, has no VOCs, carcinogens or endocrine-disrupting compounds, and is nontoxic to wildlife. Plus, it gets great reviews!

We ended up applying 3 coats of Garden Seal to the inside of our beds (where rot is most likely to occur) and had enough left over to do just one coat on the exterior. It goes on milky white, soaks into the wood well, and dries clear with a slightly satin finish. However, the third coat inside the beds did leave a bit of a visible residue, so one or two coats for the exterior would be best. Be sure your wood is totally dry before application.

Hope’s Natural Tung oil is another nontoxic option to seal garden beds, though I’ve heard it’s best to reapply it annually – which is why we chose the other sealer. This would be a good option to seal the exterior of garden beds where routine application is possible. 

4) Seal garden bed seams

In addition to sealing the wood itself, consider sealing the gaps between the boards. Again, wood garden beds are most prone to decay in their deepest nooks and crannies, including the corners and horizontal seams between the wood. When building our newest raised garden beds, we applied clear silicone to all the seams – which is waterproof, inert, and nontoxic once it dries. My friend Steve has been professionally installing and maintaining organic gardens for over 25 years, and he claims that this single step can extend the life of garden beds by 5 to 10 years!

We used a class 50 premium exterior silicone (or this similar option) to seal our garden beds along the inside seams only. Class 50 silicone is far more durable, flexible, and resistant to temperature swings than lower-rated classes. This is important since garden beds are exposed to varying temperatures, and the wood constantly swells and shrinks with moisture.

Use silicone to seal garden bed seams just like you would caulk. First, squeeze it deep, thick, and evenly into the cracks. Then while it is still wet, tuck your finger inside a paper towel and gently smooth it out – removing gaps, air bubbles, and excess. Pay special attention to sealing your corner supports! I also added a dab to any open knots, holes or cracks in the bed interior.

5) Reduce wood-to-earth contact 

Clearly, your garden beds are going to be full of soil – so a certain amount of “wood-to-earth” contact is a given! Yet beyond their seams, wood garden beds are also quite susceptible to decaying along the bottom perimeter. There, they’re essentially sitting in constant moisture. So, another clever way to make garden beds last longer is to avoid setting the wood right on the ground. 

Our raised garden beds are perched on top of a couple inches of well-draining gravel. Because we have a nasty gopher problem, we also have hardware cloth and landscape fabric (permeable to water) below our beds. However, that isn’t to say you can’t have the bottom center area of your beds open to the native soil below if you prefer! I’m just talking about the wood itself. 

My pro garden friend Steve installs all his raised garden beds on top of a gravel border, similar to a french drain. To do so, he digs a small trench (about 6 inches wide and deep) and fills it with fast-drying ¾” leach rock. Then the perimeter of the wood garden bed frame sits on top.

6) Shou Sugi Ban garden beds

Shou Sugi Ban is a Japanese wood preservation technique that involves burning or charring wood surfaces. The charring process essentially seals the wood, making the wood more resistant to water and insect damage. Shou Sugi Ban garden beds should last several years longer (or more) than untreated wood of the same species. 

To char wood garden beds Shou Sugi Ban style, most folks use a blow torch or propane weed torch. We’ve never done this ourselves, but I’ve heard one drawback is that it does take a lot of fuel and effort. Experts also say it’s important to not burn it too heavily, since deep burns can actually make the wood more susceptible to decay and reduce structural integrity.

This article explains more of the process. This YouTuber also shows his Shou Sugi Ban raised beds here – along with an update showing the inside of his bed 1.5 years after use.

7) Promote good drainage

Good drainage is key when growing in raised beds. Plants prefer fluffy, moist, well-draining soil with plenty of air pockets for exploring roots and beneficial microbes. They don’t like soggy, heavy, compact soil – and neither does your wood! Heavy soils that hold in too much moisture can increase the likelihood of wood decay. On the other hand, raised beds tend to dry out more quickly than in-ground gardens. It can be tricky to achieve the perfect balance! 

Fill raised garden beds with soil that is made for containers or raised planter boxes. This article discusses how we create our own soil blend with bulk soil, compost, and an “aeration” component. Aeration additives include perlite, pumice, sand, peat moss, coco coir, rice hulls, or our favorite: ⅜” lava rock. It promotes that ideal blend of moisture retention and good drainage.

Furthermore, never seal off the bottom of your raised beds with impermeable material, such as a plastic lining. You want your beds to drain freely! I also do not recommend lining the wood walls with landscape fabric, even “permeable” and breathable ones. The fabric will hold in extra moisture right against the wood.

Elevated garden beds or those installed on top of hard surfaces (e.g on a patio, driveway or deck) should have plenty of drainage holes in the bottom – just like pots. For instance, we drill at least half a dozen ½” to ¾” holes in the bottom of our wood wine barrel planters.

And that is how to make wood raised garden beds last as long as possible!

All in all, raised garden beds are a fantastic way to grow food, flowers, herbs and more. I love their sleek look, and for us, the ability to block gophers from getting inside. I hope you picked up a few new tips to help extend the life of your beautiful raised beds today. If you found this information to be valuable, please spread the love by pinning or sharing this post. We wish you the best of luck in building and preparing your beds – with years of bountiful harvests to come!

You may also like:

• How to Build a Raised Garden Bed: Step by Step Guide (with video)
• How to Fill a Raised Garden Bed: Build the Perfect Organic Soil
• Amending and Fertilizing Garden Beds Between Seasons
• Building and Installing a Raised Garden Bed on Concrete (hard surfaces)
• How to Make a Sturdy and Inexpensive DIY Trellis
• Choosing the Best Materials for Raised Beds: Wood, Metal, or Alternatives

The post 7 Ways To Make Wood Garden Beds Last: Nontoxic Sealer & More appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

So, let me show you what we’ve been up to! You know me: I’ll share my thought process, lots of photos, details on the materials we used, and drop plenty of helpful tips and resources along the way. Also, get ready for quite a few kitty pics! We’re absolutely smitten with the barn cats we adopted with the property, and I think they love us back.

I hope you enjoy following along – and learn a few things too!

In case you missed the previous updates:

• A Brand New Chapter: We’re Moving!
• Chicken Coop Deep-Cleaning & Makeover
• Homestead Update: Our New Grow Room
• Full New Property & Garden Tour (video)

Fruit First

If you’ve read our “how to start a homestead” guide, then you know one of the things I recommend doing in any new homestead or garden journey is to plant fruit trees early on. Unlike veggies or herbs, trees can take many years to mature and bear fruit, so it’s great to get them in the ground (and feeding you) as soon as possible. Once established, they’re often far less work than a veggie garden too!

So far, we’ve planted four avocados, two fig trees, a fuyu persimmon, two Meyer lemons, two pomegranates, two pineapple guava, a lemon guava, and a dwarf weeping mulberry. Figs, lemons, and mulberries are self-fertile, but the pineapple guava, avos, and pomegranates will bear far more fruit with a partner around for cross-pollination. Avocados do best with a mix of Type A and Type B avocados around, such as a Hass (type A) and Fuerte (type B).

Many of the new additions were planted in a new hedgerow we created along the southwest corner of the property, while a couple of the trees went into the existing orchard. We planted the avocados in a big open space on the far northeastern property line, which will grow in to provide a fantastic living privacy screen from the modestly busy country road on that side.

We also inherited a few established fruit trees with the property: a mature apricot along with some younger peaches, apples, and citrus. I still want to add pears, plums, and many others with time! What edible trees are on your future dream list?

Clean-Up on Aisle Brick

You know that curvy brick pathway in the center of the existing garden? The one that was once lined with blooming purple catmint? Well… we dug out all the catmint. I know, I know. It was really romantic and dreamy… for the three months or so out of the year it flowered. Yet as the flowers faded, it quickly became an overgrown mess of brown. Catmint needs frequent pruning to prolong blooms, and also needs to be fully cut back to the ground every winter. That was simply too much work for us to maintain looking nice – especially 50+ feet or so of it, times two for both sides of the path!

Maintenance aside, another issues drove us to eliminate the catmint. The catmint became severely infested with sage leafhoppers, which started to spread to other plants in the garden. Leafhoppers are sap-sucking pest insects that damage plants by piercing and sucking nutrients from leaves. They are incredibly difficult to control in an organic manner, and removing the host plant (aka, the catmint) is one of the key ways to knock down their numbers. In addition to digging out the plants, we also released green lacewings in the area – a beneficial insect, and natural predator of leafhoppers along with aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites.

And now, the part you are likely waiting for most…

The Start of the New Raised Bed Garden Space

When gazing out at our soon-to-be new garden area, it was easy to feel overwhelmed at first. First of all, the space is pretty huge – nearly 140 feet long by 60 to 40 feet wide (getting more narrow at one end). It was a blank slate, but not necessarily the most inspiring kind. Nothing but dirt, knee-high weeds, gopher mounds, holes and uneven ground. I had a long-term vision developing, but… where to start? One step at a time.

As you continue reading, keep in mind that we followed very similar steps as we built out our previous front yard garden space – without the help of heavy machinery, just by hand and wheelbarrow, and even had to remove grass first – so all of this easily applies to smaller gardens too!

Step 1: Weeds Be Gone

My mom came down to visit from Washington just after Labor Day, and she unknowingly got the ball rolling on the whole project. Like me, she likes to keep busy and moving. After she’d finished weeding a few planters around our patio area, she asked where to weed next. I looked around and said, “Well, I guess let’s head down there” and pointed to the open field where the garden would go. So all three of us grabbed gloves, hats, and buckets to fill – and set off to start pulling weeds by hand. Yes, pulling weeds by hand in a big field may seem silly, but it was quite therapeutic! We don’t have a ride-on mower, and even if we did, that side of the property wasn’t accessible for small vehicles (yet).

Once the wedding was done and Mom had gone home, we rehabbed an old irrigation system and planted a hedgerow along the far fence. Those few plants and fresh mulch made the whole corner pop! Yet hauling over heavy potted plants, bagged soil and bark for this very modest-size project (in comparison of what was to come) made us quickly realize we needed more help… but not mom help. It was time to look into getting our first heavy machinery for the homestead. 

Step 2: Dirt Bowl

The next logical step was to level out the ground some, including filing a large bowl or depression right in the middle of the future garden. I did a quick calculation and determined that 6 yards of bulk fill soil should do the trick. Around that time we also started looking into used UTVs (Utility Task Vehicles) locally. A tractor would have also been helpful for all the earth and gravel-moving this project will require, but a cart or UTV will be the most versatile and useful for us long-term. We were able to test and then purchase a used Kubota RTV, and we love her already! Her name is Dusty.

In order for Dusty to drive over to the new garden area, we first had to remove a section of the black vinyl fencing that surrounds the existing garden and orchard in the center of the property. I do like that space, but it definitely splits up the property in a way that isn’t the most accessible or free-flowing at times. Once that was opened up (but still a very tight squeeze!) we loaded Dusty up with the bulk soil that had been dumped in the front driveway, shovelful by shovelful and load by load. Once all the soil was moved to the back, we spread and leveled the area with hard rakes. I also leveled other areas, spread gopher mounds, and picked up large sticks and debris. 

Step 3: Defining the Space

It’s amazing what a little definition can do in a space! As soon as we installed the edging, my vision really started coming to life. All of you following along on Instagram said the same, and also that it made the area look even larger than you first thought. 

The plan is to put gravel over the whole space soon (more on that in a moment), along with a long “flower bed” of in-ground plantings and bark mulch along the back side, so we needed a sturdy border that would hold the gravel and mulch in – while also keeping the weeds out.

We chose to use hammer-in steel edging by Edge Right. It’s made of Corten steel, the same stuff sea cargo containers are made of, so it’s incredibly durable and weather-resistant. The metal starts out looking silvery and fresh, but will develop a rustic and protective reddish-brown patina over time. The edging comes in 4-foot pieces, and is available in either a 6-inch or 8-inch deep sizes. Since our soil is very sandy, the folks at Edge Right advised the 8” deep edging was the best option as it would stay most secure in place over time. 

Installation was easier and quicker than I anticipated! We did it all in one long weekend, working on it for maybe 2 to 3 hours per day – so about 7 or 8 hours of active install time total for over 350 feet of distance. I am damn proud to say that I did ALL the hammering myself. I am a Cancer and a bit of a perfectionist, so it worked out best for Aaron to hold each piece steady while I hammered them in. 

Let’s just say thank goodness for CBD! I have been heavily relying on my favorite organic CBD oil and topical roller to soothe my aching muscles and jostled joints with all this heavy lifting.

Step 4: Ground Cover

Next, it was time to prep the ground for the gravel to come. Rather than bark or wood chips, we are going to use gravel in our new raised bed garden area for several reasons. 1) I love the clean look of it, and it’s permanence. 2) Gravel will act as a fire barrier between our home and the neighbors wild, dry property of chaparral brush and oaks. Our new property is more rural and has a higher risk for fire than the last, so this was an essential consideration.

Before gravel, we laid down two layers of contractor-grade weed barrier landscape fabric over the entire space. This will provide a long-lasting foundation for the gravel to sit on, as well as block out weeds and gophers. 

For the first layer, we used our go-to Landsmaster non-woven commercial weed barrier fabric. It’s the same stuff we used under the raised beds and gravel in our old garden, and does a fantastic job. It keeps out even the most noxious weeds, but is still very lightweight, breathable, and permeable to water. We used to be able to buy it in-store at Home Depot, but lately it has only been available online. 

Next, we added a layer of a different type of contractor-grade fabric sourced from a local landscape supply shop that they recommended. It is a thick black woven type with a felt-like underside. Here is a very similar and well-rated product.

Why two layers, you may be wondering? Well, we did two layers of the Landmaster fabric at the old homestead. We were up against incredibly invasive crabgrass in that yard, and we found that it provided an excellent barrier from both weeds and gophers. Plus, the extra layer provided insurance in case one of them accidentally was torn.

Here, we wanted that same durable double-protection, but opted to use two different types of fabric because we need to be able to drive the UTV over the area to move boulders, gravel, wood and soil as we built out the space. The black woven fabric is much heavier, thicker, and stays more taught, so it seemed like the best option for driving over without getting all screwed up in the process. 

A note on using landscape fabric: 

Not all landscape fabric is created equal, nor do I recommend it for every situation! Please avoid the thin, stretchy black plastic-like material you can find at most garden centers. It’s ineffective, rips easily, and makes a hot wasteful mess. Stick with well-rated, heavy-duty contractor grade fabric if you do choose to use it. 

However, there are many other more natural materials you can use as ground cover too! For instance, sheet mulching with layers of newspaper or cardboard under a thick layer of wood chips is a great way to suppress weeds in pathways or around flower beds. Or, climates with regular rainfall are ideal for using cover crops to create living green pathways and ground cover. Learn about the pros and cons of 8 different types of mulch here. 

Step 5: Baby Boulders

Once the edging and landscape fabric was in place, we brought in some small landscaping boulders to further define the space and add a whimsical rustic flair. We used the small boulders to line select sections of the pathways and perimeter of the edging, as well as create an additional border between the raised bed area and flower bed that will run behind it along the fence. 

One of my IG friends told me their local landscape supplier calls these “BFRs”. I’ll let your imagination fill in what that stands for. Fitting indeed, since the four pallets we had delivered weighed a total of 10,200 pounds. I was thanking my lucky stars for Dusty the UTV to help us move these too! 

Next Steps

Next up: gravel! We’re currently deliberating between a few different types and colors of gravel to use here. Since we’ll need over 30 yards, we want to be dang sure of our decision before pulling the trigger. The guys at the landscape supply yard suggested taking home 5-gallon buckets of sample rock to lay out, rinse the dirt off, and see how it looks in the space – both wet and dry.

I want something a little more rustic and natural looking than the bright blue-green 3/8″ gravel we used at the old homestead (even though I do love the look of that one). We sampled one called “Navajo” but it was far too red and warm for my liking. So, I think we are going to mix our own! Yesterday we picked up two more samples: a dark green rock, and a warmer gold and grey granite. Together they create a fantastic “salt and pepper” vibe – the perfect blend of warm, cool, light and dark tones.

Color aside, we always use a crushed type of gravel. Due to its angular edges, crushed rock compacts and locks in place really nicely – unlike smoother pea gravel type stones, which sinks and move as you walk on them. (That drives me bananas!)

After the area is filled with gravel, we’ll slowly start adding raised beds. I have plans for dozens of raised beds in this space one day, but we definitely won’t be building and filling them all at once! See our step-by-step guide to build wood raised garden beds, or how we fill raised bed here.

The garden will also have a center courtyard with pavers, various seating, a fountain, and plenty of pretty potted plants, arched trellises, and wine barrel planters speckled across the space too.

Cheers to good hard work, gardening, and kitty friends!

Wow, are you still with me? Lol… my bad, this update wound up just a wee bit longer than I anticipated. But hot dang, I guess we’ve been busy eh?! I promise I won’t wait so long between updates next time, especially when there is so much to share. We sincerely appreciate your interest in our homestead adventures, and hope that you found some value in this post! Stay tuned to see the progress – and see what color gravel we choose!

EDIT: The next steps and full garden reveal are done! Come check out the space after we added gravel, raised beds, arched trellises, plants, and more – tour video included!

The post Homestead Update: Starting the New Garden appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

What material should I use to make raised garden beds, you wonder? Well, that depends on your personal preference, style, budget, climate, and the materials most available to you. Let’s explore the options!

This article will go over the most common (and not-so-common) materials used to make raised garden beds – including wood, metal, concrete, and more. We’ll discuss things to consider when choosing materials such as durability or safety, as well as the differences between various types of lumber. Finally, don’t miss the list of potential raised bed materials that we suggest to avoid for organic gardening.

Common Materials to Build Raised Garden Beds

• Wood lumber, including hardwood or softwood options
• Metal, such as corrugated metal or galvanized steel tubs
• Bricks, cinder blocks, or concrete blocks
• Felled logs
• Poured concrete
• Wine barrels
• Straw bales
• Large natural stones, cobblestones, or stacked rock walls
• Pallets, fence boards, or other upcycled wood
• Other miscellaneous containers or materials

Choosing the best materials for garden beds

In addition to the list above, you could create a raised garden bed out of just about anything capable of holding soil and plants! A kiddie pool, used tires, scrap wood found on the side of the road… the options seem endless. However, there are a number of factors to consider when deciding the best materials to go with. Not all are created equal!

Longevity

Select strong, durable materials to create raised garden beds if you want them to last. After all, garden beds are subject to near-constant moisture, outdoor elements, and potentially insects or pests such as termites. Plus, soil is heavy – especially once it’s wet! The more soil mass present (such as in a large or tall raised garden bed) the more pressure will be exuded on the bed walls. In that case, thin lumber can readily bow or rot. Even using the best lumber, concrete or metal beds will outlast wooden raised beds. We’ll talk more about the best wood options to build raised beds below. 

Edit: Check out this newer article with 7 ways to make wood raised garden beds last as long as possible, with information on sealing, silicone and more!

Cost

Most often (but not always!), cost is directly linked to durability. High-quality materials that cost more have the potential to last decades or longer. If you opt to save money upfront and choose more affordable materials, you might be sacrificing the lifespan of your raised bed. For example, a planter box constructed of reclaimed pallets or soft pine wood likely won’t hold up half as long as one made with premium lumber. Likewise, large stones or concrete blocks will cost more than straw bales, but last a literal lifetime in comparison!  

Now, that doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune to make raised garden beds! Depending on your situation, you may be more than willing to give up a little lifespan to keep upfront costs down – especially if you’re renting your current home, or only setting up a temporary garden space. There are also plenty of ways to be resourceful and find a great deal. Hit up your local Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, junk yards, and more to forage for materials. Heck, if you have easy access to large felled logs, it’s possible to create an incredibly durable AND affordable bed.

Finally, be sure to shop around and compare prices. For example, we are able to find great deals (and a larger variety of materials) for stones, blocks, gravel, bulk soil and mulch at our locally-owned landscape supply companies. However, lumber from the local shop has proven to be cost-prohibitive, and is far more affordable at the big box hardware stores.

Safety

There are tons of creative and budget-friendly raised garden bed “hacks” out there – but I urge you to use some common sense! For instance, I would think twice before using painted or treated salvaged wood to create a garden bed for edible crops. Especially if the age and origin is unknown! The wood may be contaminated with toxic chemicals like lead, arsenic, or other heavy metals that can migrate (leach) into your soil and food. Even though modern pressure-treated wood is less toxic than stuff they used to make, I still advise against using it.

I’ve seen people use all kinds of up-cycled materials to make garden beds: like styrofoam coolers (made of polystyrene, a suspected carcinogen) or old car ties (contain benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and a host of other substances that are toxic to human health). While I applaud the effort to reuse items in the name of sustainability, I personally don’t think it’s worth the risk. See the section below for a complete list of materials to avoid.

Types of Wood to Make Raised Garden Beds

Cedar or Redwood

Cedar and redwood are the two best choices of wood to build raised garden beds with. They’re both very durable, beautiful, and naturally resistant to moisture, rot, and even termites. The cost of each can vary significantly depending on where you live. We’ve found that redwood is more affordable on the west coast, while cedar is more readily available and thus less expensive in the eastern US. 

Raised garden beds made from redwood or cedar should last a decade or longer! Water storage tanks used to be constructed of redwood, after all! Cedar and redwood are both technically “softwood” lumber, yet the high levels of natural tannins (what repels rot and termites) found in both makes them significantly more durable than other softwoods. With a higher tannin content, redwood is rumored to last a few years longer than cedar – especially if you use heart redwood.  

As you’re browsing the lumber department, you should see options for “common grade” redwood or heart redwood – sometimes referred to as construction heart, ‘con heart’, or heart-B redwood. We build raised beds from heart redwood, which is more dense and therefore more long-lasting than common grade or sapwood.

As much as possible, choose lumber with an FSC certification. The Forest Stewardship Council certifies lumber that comes from “responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits”.

Other wood options for raised beds

In general, hardwood lumber is more dense so it offers a superior level of durability and strength over softwood lumber. Examples of long-lasting hardwood lumber include teak, maple, beech, hemlock, walnut, black locust, and oak. Wine barrels are made of oak, both to enhance the flavor of wine but also to provide incredible moisture-resistance and longevity. We use wine barrels as raised garden beds extensively in our garden! Just be sure to drill at least half a dozen drainage holes in the bottom using a 1/2” to 3/4” drill bit.

While strong, hardwood trees grow more slowly and are therefore far less common in construction than softwoods. Popular softwood lumber includes Douglas fir, pine, spruce, and juniper. These options are typically more affordable than redwood or cedar, though not quite as durable. Raised garden beds made from these softwoods are known to last about 4 to 7 years on average (compared to 10 to 20 years for cedar or redwood), depending on your climate.

Another thing to consider is lumber size. The thickness of your wood boards directly impacts your garden bed’s lifespan too. A raised garden bed constructed of 2” thick boards will outlast a bed made of 1” boards or ½” thick fence boards – by far! We use heart redwood 2×6” boards to build our raised beds. 

Learn how we build our wood raised beds with this step-by-step tutorial (video included)! Or, take a peek at some sturdy, easy-to-assemble raised bed kits here.

Should I seal my wood garden bed?

This is another one of those “it depends” situations! Redwood and cedar definitely don’t require a protective sealer, but may benefit from it in climates with high humidity or precipitation. If you do opt to seal your wood garden beds, choose a non-toxic sealer, such as Garden Seal or Hope’s Natural Tung Oil. Softer wood options will benefit from the added protection of a sealer even more. Follow the manufacturers recommendations for how often to apply a fresh coat.

Personally we do not seal our redwood garden beds, yet we do live in a fairly dry climate! Foggy at times… but pretty dry. We also love the way that redwood naturally ages, untouched. It starts off a beautiful pink color, turns to a slightly amber tone within a year, and then fades to a beautiful beachy-barnwood grey. Cedar also gracefully ages with time, changing from reddish tan to silver grey (unless a sealer is routinely applied). 

Edit: Since moving to our new homestead and building our forever-garden, we did opt to seal the inside of the new redwood raised beds with several coats of Garden Seal to extend their life.

Metal Raised Garden Beds

Metal raised garden beds are becoming increasingly popular! They’re modern, sleek, and incredibly durable. Unlike wood raised beds, metal beds will not rot over time, swell and shrink with moisture, or require much upkeep. That said, galvanized steel raised garden beds are a great choice for super wet climates! Some folks may worry that metal beds will make their soil hot, but it’s nothing to be concerned about. Even if the metal feels warm to the touch, damp soil does a great job of buffering temperature swings. I know many hot-climate gardeners who use metal raised garden beds, no problem.

There are a number of metal garden bed options. You could make your own with sheets of corrugated metal as sides within a wood frame. Or, turn a prefabricated metal container into a raised garden bed – such as adding drainage holes to the bottom of a galvanized steel animal feed or water trough. 

Last but not least, there are a lot of really cool metal garden bed kits out there! My friend Kevin just started selling some super durable and stylish Birdies garden bed kits, shown below. They can be made into a variety of shapes and sizes, and were previously only available in Australia. (Use code ‘deannacat3’ to save 5% off Birdies beds here!). Gardener’s Supply Company also offers a stellar selection of well-rated galvanized steel options like this modular bed kit.

No matter which direction you take, be sure to use galvanized metal so the beds won’t rust!

Are galvanized steel garden beds safe?

Yes, well-made galvanized steel garden beds are totally safe to grow food in! (Note the emphasis on well-made, so choose reputable and well-rated products!) Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. Through the galvanization process, steel is coated with a layer of zinc that effectively seals it and prevents corrosion and rust. It is very unlikely for notable amounts of zinc to leach from the coating into your soil. It takes very acidic conditions and many, many years for a galvanized zinc coating to break down.

Even then, zinc isn’t a bad guy! Rather, zinc is a mineral naturally found in soil – and an essential micronutrient for plant growth! Plants rely on zinc for healthy root development, for added resilience to cold temperatures, and to support other phytochemical processes such as the formation of chlorophyll. However, if your galvanized steel beds start to visibly corrode on the interior, it is best to play it safe and replace them.

Making Raised Garden Beds from Concrete, Brick or Cinder Blocks

Like those made from metal, raised garden beds constructed from concrete pavers, cinderblocks, or brick have the potential to be supremely durable and sturdy. However, this category comes with a few caveats to consider! The installation of concrete block garden beds require a decent level of commitment, especially if you secure them in place with mortar or adhesive. They’re heavy, create a more permanent design than other options, and thus limit your flexibility for change. 

It’s possible to make garden beds from pavers or blocks without adhesive (e.g. simply by stacking blocks) if you keep them fairly shallow. Yet you’ll want to secure them in place if you’re creating a bed two feet or taller, in an area prone to heavy rains or flooding, on a slope, or to otherwise create a more sturdy installation. It’s also possible to find interlocking blocks made for mortarless wall systems.

We have made a number of raised garden areas with concrete blocks and secured them with construction concrete adhesive (the same way we made our concrete block greenhouse foundation). The adhesive is probably not entirely non-toxic, but we only used a small bead of glue deep between each block. Also, those beds primarily house ornamental plants over edibles. Be sure to let your adhesive fully dry and cure before adding soil!

Are concrete blocks or cinder blocks safe for gardening?

Fly ash is a common concern when using pavers, bricks, or cinder block materials to create raised garden beds. Fly ash is a masonry additive that contains heavy metals such as radium and arsenic, and is often used in concrete products for added durability. However, there is very little scientific evidence available that says whether or not those heavy metals readily leach into the surrounding soil. If you’re concerned about this risk, buy your materials from a reputable source where you can ask questions and check specifications to see if fly ash is present or not.

Natural Stone Raised Beds

Going beyond concrete blocks, you can make long-lasting raised planting areas using natural stone too – such as cobblestones, flagstone, small boulders, or other foraged rock material. Unlike concrete, there is no worry about chemical additives here. Natural stones and rocks can be freely stacked, or mortared/glued in place. Because the shapes and sizes of natural rocks aren’t as cookie-cutter as concrete blocks, the construction will require more imagination and finagling to puzzle-piece them together. Yet the finished result will be even more rustic, artistic, and beautiful – and blend in beautifully in a natural garden setting!  

Avoid using these materials for raised garden beds:

• Railroad ties. While they seem kinda funky-cool, railroad ties are treated with creosote – a ‘probable’ human carcinogen. Creosote may also inhibit or harm plants growing nearby.
• Recycled or reclaimed wood of unknown origin. As we explored earlier, if you are unsure of the origin, age, or treatment of the wood, be leery. It could have been treated, stained, or painted in a way that would introduce toxins into your garden.
• Treated lumber, or pressure treated lumber. This one is up for debate with some gardeners. Historically, pressure treated lumber was cured with an arsenic-based compound called chromated copper arsenate (CCA). Arsenic is very bad news, and studies show that it readily leach from the treated lumber into the surrounding soil. The purpose was to make fairly cheap wood (namely pine) last longer against the elements. Though CCA was banned in 2003 and replaced with various less-toxic copper-based chemicals, I still personally avoid treated lumber. After all, the expected lifespan of redwood and cedar actually outlasts modern pressure-treated pine by several years! So, why choose the chemically-treated materials for your raised garden beds?
• Other risky materials such as styrofoam, used car tires, or miscellaneous plastic products (as discussed in the safety section above). If you’re considering a plastic garden bed kit, be sure it is made with food-grade BPA-free plastic.

Decisions, decisions…

Well folks, that concludes this discussion on the most popular materials used to make raised garden beds! I hope that the information provided here will help you make an informed decision on what will work best for your garden. Perhaps you will mix-and-match styles? No matter what, I’m sure it will come together beautifully!

Once you have your beds installed, check out this article all about how to fill raised garden beds with the “perfect” (I hate that word, lol) organic garden soil mixture. Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below, and share this article if you found it valuable!

You may also enjoy these related posts:

• How to Design & Build a Raised Garden Bed
• How to Fill a Raised Garden Bed: Build the Perfect Organic Soil
• Pros and Cons of Raised Beds vs In-Ground Gardens
• How to Build a Trellis: 2 Easy & Inexpensive DIY Designs
• The Benefits of No-Till (No-Dig) Gardening or Farming
• How to Install a Raised Garden Bed on Concrete, Patio, or Hard Surface
• How to Amend & Fertilize a Garden Bed Before Planting (or Between Seasons)

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