How to Plan a Raised Bed Garden

This week, there will be some dirty hands around

The Everyday Home. It’s garden planting time!

All of my new raised beds are in and I have worked my magic

getting the soil amended and ready to be planted.

Today, I went to the Garden Center and bought some plants.  

The Hubbs said I had way too many plants. I didn’t tell him this

was my “Starter Kit.”  haha!

How to Plan a Raised Bed Garden

How to Plan & Plant Raised Garden Beds to Get the Most of Your Vegetable & Herb GardenClick To Tweet

Raised Bed Garden from the Beginning

So, these “before” pictures of my garden I am going to share

will not be the most exciting to look at (think all dirt!) 🙂  –

I wanted you to see where I was starting from and I will blog

about my journey, and hopefully end with an abundance of

canned and preserved goodness by Summer’s end.

Here are my new garden beds as seen from our deck. 

These images were taken later in the afternoon as the sun was

sliding behind the trees.  Our back yard has a slight slope to it

which actually helps the garden. I don’t have to worry about

heavy rains flooding the beds, etc.

Here’s a closer look.  The middle bed is 10×10 and has a

smaller raised bed in the center with a tall 4×4 post.  

I am shopping for the perfect bird house to go on top

of the pole.  I am also thinking of adding to hooks for

hanging baskets to add some color. 

 

Adding Accent Plants

The center of this smaller box will be planted with

butterfly-loving plants and flowers, and I have a great

project in mind to create a butterfly watering dish that

I can’t wait to share with you.

Although not a vine known for butterflies, I bought

this hummingbird-loving Carolina Jasmine vine.

I will plant Coneflowers and Bee balm and Verbena

at the base, to name a few. 

Add Bee friendly plants and Martin Bird Houses to your garden to help with pollination and pest control. Click To Tweet

I know an image of a raised bed of dirt isn’t very exciting,

but this is some of THE prettiest dirt I have ever seen.  

Just a bit of advice…pay extra for good quality soil.  

I added in some extra ingredients like sphagnum moss,

manure and lime to raise the pH in the tomato beds. 

 

The Plants

Here are some of the plants I purchased to get me started.

I will spend some extra money and buy larger tomato plants

because I get impatient and want those delicious red orbs

as soon as I can get them.  🙂

This is primarily the herbs and peppers.  My husband

insisted I had way too many plants, but I saw he kept

adding more and more types of pepper plants.  

Tabasco is his newest variety. 

And I could not possibly talk about my garden without

sharing my Gardening partners.  Meet our newest adoptee,

the Ginger Tabby on the right.

Winston Maximus Cornelius, III.  Better known as “Max.”  

Here is Max checking out the Catnip I will plant for them. 

Or, as I refer to it as… “Cat Crack.”  😀

So, how do I decide what to plant where?

Over the years (and it helps to be a farmer’s daughter)

I have learned what plantings work best with each other,

and which plants should never be planted together.

Primarily because of acidic reasons. 

Do some research into 'companion plantings' when planning your garden layout to get the most of your garden space. Click To Tweet

The Raised Bed Garden Plan

There is a lot of reasoning behind this plan above.  

For example, the beans and squash will create the

perfect area for shade-loving spinach and lettuces. 

Eggplants and Peppers are perfect companion plants

for Peas, just as beets and beans are perfect companion

plants for cucumbers.  It’s very important to know what

to plant and not what to plant with each other.  

Burpee Seeds is the perfect source for finding out

what grows best together.

So, while this space may not be very exciting now…

 

Once I add this…

(*affiliate links -please see disclosure for more info)

*Martin Bird House Barn

By the way, a Martin house is great for a garden or

backyard because Martins eat a LOT of mosquitoes

and insects.  Win-win!

And also some beautiful hanging baskets…

(image courtesy of The Old Weeping Center)

Future Plans

Eventually, I also want to add a sweet picket fence

with a vintage garden gate…

(image courtesy of Keeping It Cozy)

I can’t wait to share my Gardening Journey with you. 

Hopefully, in a few months – instead of images of empty,

soil-filled garden beds, I will be sharing THIS!

Until then, whether your garden is a small herb garden or

you have tomato plants on your patio, or you have several

acres of vegetables and herbs…

Happy Gardening, my Everyday Friends.

xxoo, Barb

…………………………………………….

Thank you for spending a few

minutes of your day here with me. 

 

You can follow along with

The Everyday Home here….

PINTEREST      FACEBOOK

TWITTER      INSTAGRAM

GOOGLE +     HOMETALK

BLOGLOVIN‘

Here are some of the Link Parties I may be sharing this post with.  

You can find more parties on my Linky Party Page.

” Make Yourself at Home! “