More Go Green! projects:
What makes this compact garden so productive is that you will be placing plants close together in squares instead of traditional rows. You can continue to plant as you harvest.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
WHAT YOU’LL DO
Frame
1. Using the 2-by-10′s and 16d nails, hammer together a 4-foot square.
Trellis
2. Nail the 6-foot 2-by-4′s to the back of the frame.
3. Nail the 4-foot 2-by-4 across the back of the uprights.
4. Attach the 7 wires on the back of the trellis by wrapping wires around nails.
Planting
Fill the frame with good garden soil. Divide it into 16 squares. The smaller the mature plant, the more you can plant in each square.
A Helpful Garden
Nail 5/8-inch or heavier exterior plywood to the bottom of the frame and lift the frame to table height by placing it on sturdy saw horses or legs. Once filled with soil, it will be easily accessible to a person in a wheelchair or someone who is more comfortable sitting than kneeling.
You can use rough-sawn hemlock from a local mill, it is naturally rot-resistant. Even regular pine should last a few years.
Instead of using a tarp to controll weeds cover bottom of area with cardboard. It will allow water to drain and when it breaks down it becomes part of the soil
You do need to allow for drainage and should not use pressure treated wood.
For a boy scout project I think its a great learning tool. I also think its a great starter plan that can be built on.
if you nail a piece of plywood on the bottom (to be able to raise it up… won’t you have drainage issues?
Wouldn’t pressure treated woods leach into the soil when it rains?
Why can’t you use pressure treated for the side boards?
Excellent idea….going to do this spring….thank you
The idea is nice, but the plants that they mention to grow….you need more space. A tomato plant next to all the others? Unless you’re going to constantly trim it back, its not going to work.
If you ever find yellow leaves or dead leaves and all the rest is green it could and very well be a disease so pick the leaves off so it doesn’t spread.
The trellis, as long as directions are followed, shouldn’t need extra support. The taller the trellis, the more support it will need.
You could line the bottom with a tarp but to help with wood rot, try pressure treated boards.
I going to try this.
Does the trellis need extra support?
how days will it take to start getting tomatos after planting
Could u line the bottom with a tarp to help protect the wood from rotting or would that bleed chemicals into the soil?
a tarp would not allow for good drainage, and may speed up rotting. I would use weed block on the bottom to prevent weeds and place on the ground in a sunny spot.