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How to Make Timber and Pea Gravel Stairs

How to Make Timber and Pea Gravel Stairs

Pea gravel stairs? Timber stairs? Outdoor garden stairs? We really aren’t exactly sure what to call the new outdoor staircase that we built in our tiered raised garden beds, but we figured we had better get a ‘how to build timber and pea gravel staircase’ article up pretty quick after posting a picture on our Facebook page. People started asking! Which is kind of a big deal for a tutorial here at Craft Thyme. It seems kind of funny because we almost did not go to the trouble to build these timber stairs. We had been mulling over just using pre-fab risers when Adam got a nice Lowes gift card for his birthday (Thank you In-Laws!). With that little extra bump we decided to go all out and make, what I consider, really fabulous timber and pea gravel stairs. Of course this tutorial is for just one of three staircases we will end up building. On to the tutorial on building: pea gravel, timber, outdoor, (insert name), really freaking awesome stairs!

Building Fabulous Outdoor Timber and Pea Gravel Stairs

Below are directions on how to build four 12″ deep and 3′ wide stairs that rise around 3′ in height.  There are a lot of rise over run calculators on the web you can use to figure out a different installation.  Just remember that dimensional lumber is never the exact dimensions.  6″ was closer to 5.75″!  Measure your wood!  Also affiliate links may follow.

How to Make Timber and Pea Gravel Stairs

Supplies to Make A Small Outdoor Staircase

30′ – 4″X 6″ Copper Treated Timbers (You can read about our thoughts on copper treated wood in the garden)
8- 8 Inch Spike Nail
6- 10 Inch Spike Nail
Pea Gravel (Or some other pretty filler)
Landscaping Fabric (Optional)

Useful Tools

Saw (Our miter saw is one of my absolute favorite powertools)
Tape Measure
Small Sledge Hammer or Hammer
Small Level
Mattock (Also known as my favorite digging tool ever)
Shovel
Heavy Duty Stapler (Optional)

Supplies to build an outdoor staircase for the garden

Step 1: Dig and Sweat

We will save you the details of this part, but suffice to say you are going to need to dig. A lot… We have some pretty nice topsoil on our property but after a certain point we have hard red clay, roots, and rocks. So many roots and rocks… Anyway, we took turns removing the dirt far back enough to set the first stair. We cut in the sides of the soil just wide enough to fit the legs of the ‘U’ shaped stairs. Trust me you don’t want to dig anymore than necessary.

You are going to be building these stairs from the bottom up. So, plan to leave a little mound of dirt that will go through the center of your steps up to the top. Less dirt removal = less dirt to return to each step AND less digging!

Step 2: Is Actually Step 1

The second step is to build the first step! You are going to cut your timbers and form a ‘U’ shape. First cut your front timber the width of your opening. In our case it was slightly under 36″. Then cut two timbers to make the legs of the ‘U’. We opted to not place the timbers the entire way to the back of the wall. We did this for two reasons. First we have (as mentioned in the digging/sweating part) hard packed clay. This dirt is S.O.L.I.D. and digging it out is a beotch. Secondly, since the dirt is so stable we opted to save timber length. We opted to go 3′ back on the legs. We figured this would give us the stability needed and save us an extra 2′ on timbers(and digging!).

After cutting the timbers you are going to need to make your ‘U’. We pre-assembled ours and slid it into place. How did we assemble?

How to build the first step for a pea gravel and timber staircase
Soooooo… Many…. Roots…

Use the long width of your board (5.5″) side to make the rise of your stair. Place one of the 3′ legs behind it and hammer your 8″ spike right down the center. We had concerns about the wood splitting and considered pre-drilling a pilot hole. Of course being the way we are, we opted to just hammer away. And by we, I mean Adam. Those spikes take some real force to get into the wood. My job was to hold the wood and close my eyes so that I wouldn’t flinch every time he hammered in the spike. Want to talk about a trust-fall of marriage proportions. Will you hold a piece of wood, while your significant other hammers in a large metal spike with a small sledge hammer, by your hands and face? Yeah… Complete this same set of shenanigans on the other leg and then slide the first stair into place.

Detail of the spike in our DIY outdoor staircase

Step 2.5: Leveling the Step

While this is kinda part of the above step it is super important to get the first step in level and firm. All other stairs are going to be built off of this one so you need to make certain you have this one right. As you can see in the photos above we couldn’t find our ‘not 18ft long level’ so we ended up using a post level. It worked fine, but it probably would have been a lot easier with a 1 foot to 18 inch level. If you look closely at the bottom stair you will see that it appears to be floating. This is because we have several shims under it to make certain the step is nice a straight. We plan to go and back fill the step once we have made the path in front of it level as well. So much leveling…

Step 3: Making Your Stairway to Heaven Or the Road

The next parts of the process are very similar to step 1. You will make a second ‘U’ shape with the timbers. Simply make the arms of the ‘U’ two feet instead of three. Place it directly on top of the first stair and set it back 12 inches. You are going to want a nice 12 inches of clearance for those of the larger foot variety. I imagine that might not be deep enough for some gargantuan feet but it worked well enough for our family. Once you have your stair in place make sure it is level. Shim if necessary! Picking out straight timbers in the store makes this process a lot easier. I might occasionally yawn and roll my eyes as Adam carefully stares at each board, but in situations like these, a nice straight beam makes for a much faster installation.

Measuring the depth in our outdoor timber staircase

Once you have the stair in place it is time to drive in another spike. It is questionable as to whether this step is necessary but we wanted to make very sure this staircase wasn’t going anywhere. Plus I kinda liked the industrial look of the spikes. Just make sure to hammer your spike inside the 12 inch range. Otherwise you are going to have a wobbly step when you put the next level on. As an alternative, if you did not want to see the spike you could pre-drill a hole to countersink the head of the spike. In case you think I was making up the muscle strength needed to drive in a spike if you do not drill a pilot hole I made a tiny video! If you are upper-arm strength challenged (me) you are going to want to drill first then hammer.

Step 4: More of the Same

Continue the same process as step 3. We made the next tier have arms that were also two feet to tie them into the dirt better and give a good base for the last step that only had 12 inch arms. Our particular installation was constrained by the city road and curb so the wooden arms of each ‘U’ could only go back so far for stability. Because of this we did tie in a few hidden screws to the raised beds on either sides just to make sure that the hundreds of times the kids run up and down the stairs they never pull away from the curb. It really seemed to me that, if you have the ability to put in longer wooden arms and bury them in the dirt you wouldn’t need to worry about these stairs going anywhere.

How to build a pea gravel and timber staircase for the garden

Step 5: Styling and Profiling

After all the steps on your pea gravel and timber staircase are in place the next part is super easy! Take any dirt you have and pack it firmly into each step, while trying to get the dirt semi level. We packed the dirt 2-3 inches below the top of each step. You could pack more but I have this huge deal with landscaping fabric… I loathe the stuff and did not want to see it, but I also wanted a good permeable weed barrier underneath my pea gravel. So I needed to leave enough space to get a good thick coat of rock, but not so much that we were buying 50 bags of rock to fill up each step.

To insure the horribleness that is landscaping fabric was trapped forever I made sure to staple it to the inside of the staircase and bury the backside underneath each stair. This is optional as you could just fill the stairs, but I really wanted to try to cut down on weeds and also how much rock sunk into the dirt.Adding a permeable barrier to the pea gravel and timber stairs

After that it is simply a case of filling in your steps! We used a mix of two sizes of pea gravel. As you can see there is a larger gravel in the middle and smaller at the edges. Why? Cause we think it looks cool. I think it would also look cool with a black river stone, mulch, flagstones and pea gravel, crushed marble, bricks, you name it! There are a lot of options for styling these outdoor timber stairs.

Top view of completed DIY timber and pea gravel stairs we put in out raised garden beds.

You will be seeing more of these type of stairs on Instagram as we have two more of these outdoor staircases to build! Follow us there to get more behind the scenes construction shots as we build two more tiers of raised beds!

Tutorial on how to create timber and pea gravel stairs for your tiered garden.

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You Don’t Need A Bog to Plant Cranberries

These small plants are what grows the humble cranberry.

We have all seen the juice commercials where the actors are standing waist deep in water, cranberries floating around them. Doesn’t everyone know cranberries grow in a bog? Well NO, they don’t. Cranberries, are awesome ovals packed with vitamins, antioxidants, and a tart punch. It is a shame they only make their fresh appearance at Thanksgiving, but I have really enjoyed craisins since they came on the market and wanted to try my hand as growing cranberries at home.  They are one of my secret foods that I love.  I try to make a homemade cranberry sauce each year.  Since we have been doing plant profiles on my gardening favorites and temperate perennials I thought we should profile the lowly cranberry next! (Affiliate links may follow)You do not need a flooded bog to grow cranberries. You can grow a cranberry plant as a pretty perennial ground cover in zones 2-7.

Tell me more about Cranberries

What? You want me to tell you more about a cranberry plant and how to grow them?! I thought you would never ask.  Vaccinium macrocarpon (aka Cranberry: Yep, being all fancy and Latin again) grow naturally in damp areas on tiny evergreen vines. Unlike many vining plants, cranberries, grow as an evergreen ground cover and not up a trellis. Like blueberries they enjoy slightly acidic soil but need more dampness to thrive. We planted ours late summer before last and though the foliage is considered evergreen it did not necessarily mean it stays green. Ours turned a pretty reddish hue; spring saw the tiny leaves turn dark green again.

Cranberries are native to North America, specifically the North Eastern area. Cultivars have expanded the zones that you can successfully grow cranberries. So my zone 6b-7a should still technically allow me to grow cranberries and it proved true.  We did leave them at the prior house (sniff, sniff) but I have been waiting for the local vendor to put their plants on end of summer sale so that I can add cranberries back into our home mix. The suggested growth zones are 2-7. Cranberries grow best in areas where glaciers, during the ice ages, left pockets of minerals and silt. Mixed with years of damp organic matter piling on top and you have a perfect place for smaller vining ground cover.

One of the things I find most fascinating about cranberries is the size of the berry in comparison to the vine. We bought vines that were already bearing fruit, which means they have to be 3 years old already. If your only experience with a cranberry is from a can, then allow me to explain. The berries themselves are oval shaped and probably 3/4 of an inch long. In comparison the leaves are maybe half that size. It looked way out of proportion to me! Additionally the berries are a light green to almost white before the ripen to that dark cranberry red.

What a cranberry plant actually looks like
Here is my very chapped hand for size comparison to a cranberry plant. This is why you should wear gloves when gardening…

The plant is very long lived. There are estimates that some cranberry vines can be 100+ years in the North Eastern US. Though commercial vines are replaced much more frequently, you are likely to get many years out of any plants you grow.  Temperate perennial food FTW!

How to Grow Cranberries

I am going to cry foul on the traditional cranberry advice. We bought ours at the end of the summer, plunked them in the ground and mulched heavily. We have thick clay soil, so with mulch everything tends to hold water like nobody’s business. I guess we were in luck as this is NOT the recommended way to plant them. Luckily they spread on runners, like strawberries, so I plan on remedying my planting mistakes around the plant and give it more favorable conditions as they spread. So, you know, do as I say not as I do, but note that I have found cranberries relatively easy to plant and keep alive.  (Not like my kiwis  *sigh*)

If you want to go with traditional planting methods then here is what I should have been doing. Depending on what type of soil you have you are going to want to dig 5-6 inches of top soil out. I know this is probably going to kill gardeners everywhere, but cranberries do not want all that lovely top soil. Excavate soil in all the places you want the vine to spread. Remember they can grow up to 7 feet in length creating runners the whole way.

So what are we going to replace all this soil with? Mostly peat (1/3 or more), some top soil, and sand. Pretend you are trying to mimic a shallow wetland and add lots of peat. I’m not sure how well the new peat substitutes work. Knowing how peat needs to be somewhat conserved I might be tempted to try one of the new eco-friendly faux-peats if I was going to cultivate a large area. BUT! Cranberries need that slightly acidic soil, so make sure to supplement if you do not go with traditional peat.  FYI, traditional peat is acidic in nature. Interestingly enough, once you cultivate your cranberries you have technically created a ‘bog’. A bog is what they call any field created for cranberry production.  It does not have to be a flooded field. So I guess I lied in the title, since as soon as you plant them you are putting them in a cranberry bog.  Please forgive me!

After you complete your soil prep you will want to plant the plants about 1 to 3 feet apart and add a thin layer of sand. Some sources disagree on whether or not the sand is necessary. Since, mine seem to be thriving in mulch I would say probably not necessary, but I will be raking the mulch back and trying it with sand next year for one very important reason. WEEDS! Cranberries hate weeds, but if you want them to produce runners and spread they need to be able to touch bare soil. Bare soil is weed country! So the sand will work as a mulch to keep the weeds down but allow all the runners to root out.

Okay, this next piece is IMPORTANT for what you are trying to achieve with your cranberries. If it is year 1 or 2 then you are trying to achieve runner growth because they are not going to produce much fruit anyway. Which means fertilize lightly with nitrogen throughout the growing season. In year three it is time to decide, do you want more growth or fruit? Fruit grows in 6-8 inch upright branches that grow up from the runners. A plant that has plenty of food grows lots of runners. A cranberry that has less nitrogen will focus on growing uprights to produce fruit. The choice is up to you. A good mix of runners and upright growth is what you are going for since this plant is around for a long time.

Other than making sure the soil is optimal and has a bit of food, the only other major piece will be to make sure they stay evenly damp. Again, this is not the flooded bog you see on TV, but just making sure the soil does not get dry for days on end.

These small plants are what grows the humble cranberry.
Note the upright steams. These are what will actually make tiny flowers and grow large red cranberries.

So Why The Flood?

Cranberry farmers flood cranberry bogs for a couple of reasons.  They will flood the vines with water to protect them from severe freezing in the deep winter.  They will also flood them in the early spring as pest management.  But mostly they flood them for harvest.  See, cranberries float…  Which means you can flood a field of ripe cranberries, have them float to the top and skim them off.  It is not only easier, but leads to less bruising and prettier fruit.  Home growers like me aren’t going to need to flood the cranberry bog.  Just make sure it has nice consistent water throughout the growing season.  So if you are zone 7 or above give this cute cranberry ground cover a try!

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First Time Home Buyer Boot Camp

buying a house

Most of Craft Thyme’s exploits revolve around the little Reganskopp homestead, but occasionally we do projects in other’s homes. When our friends, Trevor & Justine, decided this would be the year to get married and buy a house we wanted to cheer them on. We also gave them LOTS of advice (solicited & unsolicited) as first time home buyers. They, at least, seemed appreciative (thanks for pretending guys) of our first time home buyer boot camp. While most real estate agents should help a first time home buyer, we thought we would distill our experience into a quick first time home buyer guide in case you don’t have the helpful sort.

First, let’s set the stage: Western North Carolina real estate is an odd market. Houses around Asheville, range from pricey to ridiculous. They are a mix of old (40’s-60’s), really old (1900’s-30’s), and brand spanking new (which are the ridiculous prices). It makes it very hard to find a first time home that can be afforded and also isn’t a dump. Which is where we come in! We offered to help look at houses and then do some basic cosmetic transformations when they finally found ‘the house’… Guess what? They found ‘the house’! Of course, the house came with some awesome items like cracked ceilings, faded eggplant paint, stale cigarette smell, but also large open living/dining area, and spacious yard. We looked it over with them and saw lots of the potential they also saw. Offer was made but that is just the beginning!

First Time Home Buyer Boot-camp

Please note we are NOT licensed real estate professionals, but we have bought, sold, refinanced, and fixed up a number of houses in Western North Carolina. Between Adam and I, we have purchased 5 houses. Three of them built before 1935! Talk about a lot of repairs, mortgages, and learning experience shooo, but always double check our advice with the paid professionals.

First Time Home Buyer Bootcamp

The Search

Before you begin any search make a list of the things you must have and want to have. If you are shopping with a spouse you might find that your ‘need to have’ list isn’t exactly the same.

When comparing lists our friends found that they had to pay attention to find both a large yard and a location that was not so far away from the city/civilization. The need list and your price range will inform your buyers agent and your search. Your ‘want list’ will help you make the final decision and allow you flexibility in your budget. Once you have a budget and your lists remember the following.

  1. Be prepared to look at a lot of properties. Most first time home buyers will not have a good idea of what items are in their price range. Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised! However, in a lot of cases you may find you need to reign in your expectations to meet your budget.  Or you can be like us and buy the first house you saw (Brianna) or decide you will buy a house when you walk in the door (Adam).  Don’t be like us!
  2. Once you have seen a few properties start doing your own web searches. Many property websites will set up alerts to your email when something new comes in the market in your search criteria. Being the first to put an offer in on a property can make a huge difference in a hot market.  You will also get lots of spam.  Trust me I am still getting email about houses in and area I lived in 5 years ago… Which leads to #3
  3. Be prepared to make decisions quickly. One of the reasons I tell you #1 (Look at a lot of properties) is so that when you find a good home you can jump on an offer and not be stuck in indecisive mode. We have lucked out on a number of properties because we came in quickly with a fair offer. Our friends did too!  Pro Tip: Have that pre-approved mortgage letter.  It makes your offer much more attractive, plus it is a lot less worrisome if you know you can afford the offer you are placing.
  4. If you have a buyers, agent look at properties they suggest too. We found our previous house at the suggestion of our buyers agent. We actually would not have looked at the house. We had seen it online and made the assumption that the seller was going to place another house next to it and subdivide the lot. Our buyers agent knew they had plans to sell the house with the larger lot instead of developing it further. We would have passed on our perfect house!
  5. Bidding wars are just not worth it. It is tempting to pony up some more cash when you have been on a lengthy search, already fallen in love with your house, and then someone is out-bidding you by a few 1000 dollars. Don’t, just don’t. There is always another house. Being house poor and paying at the very top of your market value is never a good way to start off your first home. Leave the bidding war to more experienced home buyers. Even then…  I still give it a “don’t” no matter how experienced a buyer you may be.
  6. If you aren’t using a buyers agent make sure to have a reputable real estate lawyer.   Actually make sure to have one of those no matter what.  We had the worst time closing on our current house because the previous owner’s lawyer had been barred from practicing real estate law and there were title questions.  Anyway, a good lawyer can help you put in a formal offer (Buyer’s agents can do this part in many states) and close on your home (Buyers agents can not do this part in many states). This process is not one you want to scrimp on as a first time home buyer. A house is probably the largest investment you are going to make, you are going to want to protect yourself throughout the process.

buying a house

When Buying an Older Home or Any Home!

Great, now you have put in an offer and it has been accepted! Let the panic begin! Just kidding, don’t panic but do move fast. Hopefully, you have set a certain due diligence period to check out the house and back out of the offer if you found something cray, cray.  If you haven’t, well then, you probably didn’t pay attention to #6 from above.  Tsk, Tsk.

If you are a first time home buyer we must stress the importance of spending a little extra cash and getting an excellent home inspector. We have a great home inspector that we recommend. When he is done you basically end up with a 100 page manual and a 2 hour walk through that explains everything about your house. Not all home inspectors are the same! Ask around for recommendations and do not just use the first person on your real estate agent’s list. But Do book this person ASAP. Your due diligence period is likely small and home inspectors, contractors, surveyors, etc can often be booked up.

Older Home Buying
I see potential in older houses, but you also want to see electric, and foundation, and running water ;)!

Once you have your home inspection use that to negotiate repairs. Sometimes this works and sometimes it does not.

Our friends were able to get plumbing fixed and some money at closing. I have been able to negotiate money back for new electric. Sometimes, in the case of our current house, you are getting a cheap price so as NOT to negotiate repairs. It never hurts to ask, but you may not get anything. At that point you can make the informed decision if the work/DIY is something you are interested and capable of completing or if you need to accept the loss of a little money and move onto another property.

ALWAYS remember that cutting a loss of a few hundred dollars is better than being saddled with a house you are unhappy with and/or is so costly to repair you end up being house poor just to keep the lights and water on. That being said make sure to do the following as soon as you have an accepted offer.

  1. Notify your mortgage company: The time it takes to close a mortgage is really quite insane. Do yourself a favor and get the process moving as quickly as possible.
  2. Once you notify your mortgage company they will set up an appraisal. If for any reason, you think you might be backing out of the property have them hold the appraisal to you have the home inspection. BUT NOTE: holding the appraisal can hold up closing. Again, this seems like it shouldn’t be a big thing, but the bank ordering the appraisal to the actual time of completion can be pretty lengthy. You are not going to be able to close that mortgage till the bank makes sure you have enough equity to cover the purchase price.
  3. Home Inspection: Book one ASAP. If you really aren’t going to hire a professional at least get your home-knowledgeable friends to do a walk through and make a list of everything you want to repair upfront plus everything that may need fixing in the first few years (so you can start saving).
  4. Survey: Any time there might be property line questions it is worth it to get a fresh survey. You may need to ask for them to mark the line if you are trying to notify the neighbors that the line is not exactly where they thought it might be.
  5. After your due diligence: Go ahead and call cable/internet, power, water, and electric companies. I made this rookie mistake and forgot to book the internet provider till almost at closing. They were not able to come for 2 weeks! Talk about eating through data on our phones.
  6. Keep in contact with all parties. While in a perfect world the various home inspectors, real estate agents, lawyers, mortgage companies etc would be doing their job it never hurts to check in. You don’t have to be obnoxious, but a simple email or call to ask if they need anything else is a good reminder for them to pick up your file.

Great You Made It!

Great you made it…Almost!  You haven’t closed yet.  If you have gotten through all the hurdles it is time to start pestering your laywer for the HUD-1 Settlement Statement.  Depending on your state, they have to produce this a certain number of days prior to closing.  I know, I know, there are lots of numbers and columns.

Look Over your HUD-1 ASAP!

I am pretty sure I have never had a pre-closing HUD where it was correct.  You need to diligently contact the laywer, mortgage company, real estate agent, or any one else to correct any mistakes.  The HUD is the be all and end all of closing and if it isn’t right you may delay closing and/or spend an entire flipping day in a lawyer’s office (true story I even left for a lunch break).

Once your HUD is settled the only thing left to do is go get a cashiers check for closing from the bank, and bring your ID to closing.  You will be asked to sign or initial about 1000 documents.  It is impossible to read every piece of it (which is why we suggest the reputable lawyer), but make certain to pay attention to the high points.  You want to verify the title information, mortgage, etc matches what you have been discussing the whole time.  Once you close you should get some keys and be good to go!  We had a few closings that ran late and were registered at the court house till the next day.  You will want to consult that lawyer on whether you should move in or remain out of the house at that time.

But anyway once you have closed you are now a HOME OWNER!  Enjoy!

And if you want to grow some insta-equity we will be going over tips shortly on quick fixes that add a lot of equity to your home for little upfront cost!

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How to Prepare Raised Garden Beds: Weed Free Style

How to fill your raised beds with good soil, that maintains moisture, keeps out weeds, and doesn't cost a fortune.

Do you want to know the best way to prep raised beds once you have them built?  The soil mixture you use for your raised beds is a hotly contested subject; and everyone has their own techniques.  However, we have developed our own unique method that is cost effective (a nice way of saying cheap as possible), retains moisture, and keeps weeds from coming up through the bottom of your bed.  I feel pretty secure that our method will give you a good weed free start on your raised garden beds.  We have been working with it all summer and despite the groundhog setback the beds have been yielding lots of pretty veggies and flowers. We got the idea from hugelkultur beds (a topic for another post) and tested it out in our newest DIY garden boxes.  It is working great! First let us give you the lowdown on some of the problems of raised garden beds and then get onto prepping those beds.

Raised Garden Bed Issues

We can all agree raised beds have a lot of advantages.  You have more control of the soil, attractiveness, soil drainage, etc.  BUT, in our experience some of the great things about raised garden beds can also be issues.

  • Raised garden beds can dry out very quickly. Like whoa…
  • Weeds, especially grass, like to pop in from the bottom/sides
  • It costs a lot to fill a raised bed

Craft Thyme’s process for preparing raised garden beds addresses all the above issues and helps make the beds virtually weed free! Affiliate links may follow.

Supplies

  1. Landscaping Fabric (Yes, I am suggesting making a deal with the Devil)
  2. Stapler (Like a construction stapler, not a red swingline)
  3. Scissors
  4. Wood branches/chips/logs (see below)
  5. Topsoil
  6. Garden Soil
  7. Compost (Optional)
  8. Plain Cardboard or lots of Newspaper

Step 1: One of only two times you will hear me say use Landscaping Fabric

As a matter of course landscaping fabric is the devil.

Landscaping fabric is the thong of gardening.  It serves a small purpose and is always in the way forever after.

However, in preparing raised garden beds I have found it very useful.  Start with a long sheet of landscaping fabric.  I try for at least the length of one side of the raised garden bed and fold it in thirds.  But if you happen to be folding it outside on a windy mountain day, well you are going to curse and probably cut shorter sheets). Cut along those fold lines to make three strips of landscaping fabric that is about 12 inches wide (Most standard rolls come in 3ft widths.  Obviously, cut accordingly if you buy one of those big honking rolls).

Take the fabric and staple the fabric no more than 6 inches high on the wood of the bed.  Anytime you hit a corner or have to start a new piece fold the fabric and overlap.  More fabric is not bad in this case.

Found the perfect use for landscape fabric: A way to keep expensive soil inside a raised bed

This process is, in my humble opinion, and excellent squat workout.  Adam built a lot of beds… Let’s just say I got quit the glute workout.  You can staple it lower if you have small beds, but you want to insure that the fabric overlaps the ground below.  This will work as a barrier to keep dirt from leaking out of your beds and weeds from poking in on the sides.  Remember we are going for weed free raised garden beds!

Step 2: Wrap it up

Take sheets of cardboard or 5-6 sheets of newspaper and cover the entire bottom of the bed.  If you have issues with the newspaper blowing around you can wet it down to make it stick to the ground. It should overlap over the landscaping fabric.  This will make sure the fabric stays down when you start filling the beds.  The cardboard/paper will decompose over time and the roots of plants will be able to go past it to dig in the soil below.

How to prep a raised bed to minimize weeds and cost

Step 3: Wood is Good

NEXT LAYER!  Not sure why I needed to scream that, but it felt right.  So the next layer is dependent on the height or your bed.  Shallow beds will get just wood chips, deep beds get sticks covered with wood chips, deeper beds get logs, then sticks, then wood chips.  Hopefully you get the idea.

Modify hugelkultur to make a water-wise raised bed

The wood acts like a sponge and holds water in the raised bed.  I have heard the decomposition of wood can rob the soil of nitrogen, but so far we have been good because the soil is going to suck anyway.  Read further to see the discussion on supplementing the soil and how to tackle that going forward.

When gauging the depth of the bed, leave a minimum of 6 inches of room for actual dirt from the top!  Cause plants can’t live on wood alone, mushrooms are another story.  Few tips for selecting wood:

  • Old rotting logs are best
  • Small dry sticks and old leaves will also work
  • We happened to have a lot of fallen logs and wood chips from tree work we had done in the fall.  If you do not have your own; try to find twigs, branches, etc from the neighborhood.  It is always easy to collect fallen limbs after a storm.  Unless you live in a desert… Or grass lands…   If you have to buy bags of wood chips try for the non-colored/Untreated types where available

How to use rotting wood chips to keep moisture in the bottom of your raised beds

Step 4: 5 Second Rule (Dirt don’t hurt)

In case I hadn’t already diverged from traditional gardening advice enough…  You have two options available for dirt.  You can spend a fortune and get the best, compost-ful dirt you can find.  Almost every post you will read on the internet will suggest spending as much as possible on dirt.  Maybe that is a great way, but I follow the second method: 3 inches of cheap topsoil and the 3 inches of whatever gardening soil is available for sale at the local big box store.  I turn a blind eye to the label for this one moment in time and throw whatever horrible bag it is in the bed.

Adding topsoil to a DIY raised bed soil mixture
Can you say C-H-E-A-P topsoil?

Trust me these bags are labeled as fertilizer for 10,000 months!  Grow an Amazeballs Garden!  Etc.  They aren’t good, they do not last a quarter as long as they say, and I feel bad, but they are cheap, get your garden going, and give you a base to build really awesome soil in the future.  I’d choose gardening some over gardening perfect everyday!

Adding the final layer of premium garden soil to get your raised garden beds off to a good start.

Now What?

That folks, is how you prep a raised garden bed.  The landscaping fabric/cardboard and purchased soil insure you start with a weed free bed!  Feel free to plant away!  If you follow this planting guide your veggies will help shade the ground and keep a lot of new weeds from sprouting.

But wait there’s more…

Couldn’t resist the infomercial appeal.  Once you start with this technique you are going to have a couple options to ‘raise’ these beds to a higher level.  Get it?  You have a small amount of soil on top of a lot of ‘not exactly nutrient rich’ material.  The wood material is what is helping keep your beds nice and moist, but it isn’t adding a lot of umph to the growing power of your plants.  We combat that by adding organic fertilizer the first year.  I also throw every single earthworm I find into the raised bed.  You could, alternatively, add lots, and lots of compost throughout the growing season.

In fall I cut all the old annual plants at the base and allow their roots to rot in the soil all winter long.  Additionally I rake in mostly composted chicken droppings and/or mostly finished compost and let the bed set.  Do not rake it deeply into the soil (a couple of inches or two is perfect.  You want to let the earthworms, fungi, and other bugs do most of the work).  After the first year, I transition the dirt into a more traditional organic method.  I focus on building good soil out of my cheap base which is an entire topic for another post. In short,  I add compost as the season continues and by that point the soil is usually healthy enough to support year round planting!  In short, though, you can expect to get one good season just out of the crap soil.  So go out and get planting! And yes these seedlings and seeds came from my favorite vendor Sow True Seed!

How to fill your raised beds with good soil, that maintains moisture, keeps out weeds, and doesn't cost a fortune.