Raised Beds

The Tucson Gardener

Red yucca bloom.
Red Yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora, bloom and seed pod.

Current Cultivations

Garden Clubs

Garden Books

In the Garden Calendar

Tucson's Wildlife

Spring wildflowers.

Local Garden Links

Links for Special Needs

The Archive

The Tool Shed

Bobcat.
Bobcat visitor.

FAQ

Glossary

Search

Site Index

You're visiting Tucsongardener.com

Brick Raised Beds
Pros and Cons
As with most things, there are favorable and not so favorable aspects to concrete block raised beds. I chose the heavy bricks that I did for two reasons. The first was cost. The bricks ran about 69 cents each not including the delivery charge. The second reason was they'd stay in place without the use of mortar. My vegetable garden is always changing and I didn't want anything that would be considered permanent.

Moving the bricks from their pallet and then placing them level and very close together is a difficult chore. And if you happen to drop one on your toe it's going to make you scream. I kept that in mind and didn't drop any. I also wore gloves when moving the bricks. I used bare hands leveling and placing the bricks. My vegetable garden is actually on a slope and leveling wasn't as easy as it could have been. The last bed I constructed is several inches lower than the rest.

My bricks were placed two high and gave me deeper raised beds than I had with the 2 by 10's I'd used in the past. The untreated 2 by 10's rotted over time and warped out of shape. Each bed had already been replaced at least once before I decided to try the concrete blocks. The new, deeper raised beds allowed me to use all the compost I'd made over the past six months and there's plenty of room for the addition of more compost and manure.

The 1 by 2 wood frame supports netting to protect seedlings from the birds.

The wooden beds allowed me to attach boards and staple netting to keep out birds and some rodents. With the soil below the top of the bricks by about six inches I made a large wooden frame and attached netting which is easy to move and will also keep birds away from the sprouting seeds. The higher surrounding edge also keeps the straw mulch in place better than before. Floating row covers will be used for the eventual winter crop of lettuce.

	Before
In mid August this vegetable garden was in need of work before a fall planting. The wood raised beds were badly decomposed.
	After
The concrete jungle is waiting for cooler weather and a chance to see how the crops will perform in the new raised beds.

It's too early to tell which raised beds building material is more preferable. Certainly the wood was easier to work with and occupied less space in the garden. We'll see how I feel about the bricks after I stub a toe or scrape a shin a few times. (2000)