Raised beds for my front yard planter next to driveway...

[RickF]

hey all.. so I started yet another task in my yard.. I started digging up this one plot of dirt that is on the left side of my driveway.. since it’s where all of my utilities come in I had to get the lines mapped by calling 811 so they could map their respective lines. Gas, electric, cable, telephone, ...

I was planning on just backfilling it with my stockpile of wood chips.. I dug the trench so far to a depth of about 14”.. the round manhole (so-cal Edison) is 14 tall for your reference.

This thought came to me this morning of creating one big or two raised beds there for flowers or veggies.. the main requirement is that the raised beds must be able to be disassembled if the need arises for the utilities to be dug up/repaired.

With that in mind I could put the raised beds on top of the wood chips, but they would sink as the wood chips decomposed, which I think would look odd a year or two down the line. So, I was thinking that I could create temporary foundations for these using cinder blocks below grade and make a wood based planter above grade that sits on top of the cinder blocks.. I would then backfill the outside perimeter of the cinder block bases with the wood chips...

My primary concern is regarding the possibility that since the cinder blocks are not cemented in place, that the weight of the soil in the beds could move the blocks and take the bed apart... my gut tells me it probably won’t but...

The space isn’t exactly rectangular.. but close.. it’s roughly 12’x7’..

thoughts..?

 

[so lucky]

Maybe you could use some of that caulk that sticks to anything, and glue the cinder blocks together.
Does the round man hole have to be left as it is? Could you paint it brown, to match the mulch?

 

[RickF]

Thanks.. I hadn't thought of that actually.. I don't think SCE would like me painting their man hole cover.. lol.. It says on top -- high voltage and whatnot..

 

[bobm]

View attachment 31583 View attachment 31584 hey all.. so I started yet another task in my yard.. I started digging up this one plot of dirt that is on the left side of my driveway.. since it’s where all of my utilities come in I had to get the lines mapped by calling 811 so they could map their respective lines. Gas, electric, cable, telephone, ...

I was planning on just backfilling it with my stockpile of wood chips.. I dug the trench so far to a depth of about 14”.. the round manhole (so-cal Edison) is 14 tall for your reference.

This thought came to me this morning of creating one big or two raised beds there for flowers or veggies.. the main requirement is that the raised beds must be able to be disassembled if the need arises for the utilities to be dug up/repaired.

With that in mind I could put the raised beds on top of the wood chips, but they would sink as the wood chips decomposed, which I think would look odd a year or two down the line. So, I was thinking that I could create temporary foundations for these using cinder blocks below grade and make a wood based planter above grade that sits on top of the cinder blocks.. I would then backfill the outside perimeter of the cinder block bases with the wood chips...

My primary concern is regarding the possibility that since the cinder blocks are not cemented in place, that the weight of the soil in the beds could move the blocks and take the bed apart... my gut tells me it probably won’t but...

The space isn’t exactly rectangular.. but close.. it’s roughly 12’x7’..`

thoughts..?

Have you considered what would happen when your wife or friend or salesperson drives onto your driveway , opens the car door that somehow hits the raised bed side, and then after a few choice words ,presents you with a bill for body work and a paint job to their car door. Also, it would be wise to check with your home owner's insurance to see if they would pay a injury claim due to the raised bed being a trip hazard.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I did about 8 huge raised beds in all concrete block in Murphys CA (northern CA) and it was a dismal failure. The weather was too hot and those concrete blocks held in the heat like horribly. I covered the beds with newspaper to try to reduce evaporation, again no good. No soil movement. Those suckers are heavy.

 

[RickF]

thanks.. In my case the concrete blocks would be below the surrounding chips and whatnot -- I do not want them visible at all. As for hitting a car door with them, none of them -- I will probably do a single rectangular shaped planter in the center of the "plot" so any car door would be several feet away easily. As for the trip hazard, every property has trip hazards of some sort or another, including that SCE round manhole.. I'm not too concerned about that -- the only way someone would trip over something like this is if they were walking with their eyes closed -- which I guess could happen I suppose. I could close the gate the covers the front of the property.. If someone opens the gate at night... I'm more concerned about what veggies they might steal. lol

Rhodie -- if it matters, I live on the northern edge of LA county and 3-4 months of the summer it is almost always 100F day after day after day.. I guess I'll have this experiment to try..

 

[flowerbug]

if you have no real reason for a raised bed i'd not do it. especially in an arid climate unless you are going to plant heat loving arid compatible plants...

 

[Ridgerunner]

What are some of the reasons you'd use a raised bed instead of an in the ground garden?

Better drainage. Do you need that there? How well does that area drain in your wet season? I assume you have a wet season. A raised bed usually takes more watering. Is water expensive or maybe not always available?

Minimize soil compaction as you don't walk in it. That's seven feet wide, you will not be able to get to the back without walking in it. With a raised bed you can usually get at it from both sides. Reaching in more than a couple of feet can be an issue. You are going to be walking in that.

Access. Someone with physical imitations may find it easier to work a bit higher up than at ground level.

Mulch control in rain. You may need an edge around it to keep mulch from washing out in a heavy rain. You can do that with edging instead of a raised bed, but that may present some challenges of itself. I'm dealing with that right now because of a new gutter downspout. Look at how water drains in a rain and will it wash.

From my viewpoint in a totally different climate I don't see a lot of advantages for a raised bed, especially over the utilities. The wood chips underneath will compost and shrink, plus they may greatly enhance drainage underneath. I just have this vision of you being pretty dry a good part of the year and water being expensive. I'd consider having a planting medium (dirt) within 3" to 4" of the concrete surface and topping that with your wood chips as a mulch. Or if you can keep the wood chips from washing away have them above the concrete a bit. Maybe your cinder blocks can be used as an edging to contain the mulch?

 

[ninnymary]

Whatever you decide, I'd make that bed 4' wide. That way you have about 3 feet in the back by the fence to get into for weeding, harvesting, etc. So bed would be 12x4.

Aren't you in the high desert where water is tight?

Mary

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

That's the temps we had in Murphys and then again just down the ways in Angels Camp CA. And boy oh boy was water expensive in Angels. In Murphys, we had a well dug.