Rebuilding a raised bed garden (Part 3)

I was able to get out at 8 AM sharp and go to Lowes for the extra soil and pebbles that I needed. When I got home, I immediately went to work dumping the soil in the bed and then pouring the stone atop the weed guard along the edges of the bed. The latter will keep the weeds at bay (I hope!) and provide an open area to walk around the bed to work on the soil.

Finished bed being inspected by a chipmunk.

Nice and smooth. I like the concrete edging so much I may use it in several other projects.

River pebble and flat stone path along the back.

River pebbles line the front to keep the grass back. Yeah, the "lawn" needs some repair from the use of the backhoe.

River pebbles along the east side and weed guard at teh base of the lilac. I'm going to have to get some more river pebbles.

I also put some landscaper's cloth (the weed guard) around the two lilac bushes to control weeds under them. Those were held down with some of the flat stones I got out of the garden bed. I'll add some river pebbles one of these days to help smother the heck out of the weeds.

Finally, I took the rototiller to the soil in the bed, broke it up really fine and mixed it with the peat moss and preexisting soil to a depth of about eight inches. Then I raked it all nice and smooth and as level as I could.

Now it's all set for some plants! Terry will be picking up some tomato and pepper plants tomorrow while I contemplate how to put some fencing up to keep the critters at bay. They've never eaten the tomatoes but the peppers have had their struggle with ground hogs before.

Speaking of ground hogs, the family that was living under the shed (at least six little ones with a big momma) have apparently vacated the premises. I haven't seen them since I was talking about the merits of a .22 or 9 mm hollow point. Of course my constantly going up to the garage to sit in the shade every hour or so and going into the shed to get tools and such may have discouraged them. It was an easy live while we were away for two plus weeks, but I guess they don't like the company.

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Then Terry and I made a run over to the dump. We had five bags of trash--a lot of it plastic bags from the garden soil and river pebbles, some recycling stuff, an old suitcase, an old toilet seat, and some other stuff that was just laying around we wanted to get rid of. At $3.00 a bag, it would have cost us a bundle to get rid of it all. As it was, because the clerk at the dump said our "load" was under 50 pound it would only cost us, well, $3.00. A bargain!

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I mixed together a sprayer full of Round-Up and sprayed the plants that were growing in the other vegetable garden bed. Some of those "weeds" were gorgeous and I hated to do it to the daisies but the growth was too luxuriant to let stand. I hope to reclaim at least two of the beds before long. I may just cover them with weed barrier rather than plant anything there.

The other large bed needs to be completely replaced as it too was constructed of landscape timbers and they have rotted away. Currently it is one large 8' x 16' bed with a very steep drop--approximately 24"--on the downhill side. I'm thinking of making it into two beds 3' x 14' with a path between them. Sort of a terraced garden, if you will. This one may have to wait for August, however. There are trips to Chicago (1 week), Quebec (1 week), and Nova Scotia (3 weeks) between now and then. Besides, I need the time to get over my aches and muscle cramps.