Advice on creating a small garden

fishlessman

TEXASBGE2018 said:

SGH said:

@TEXASBGE2018
You did not say if you was going to do a container/box style garden or a traditional in ground garden. With that said, if you are doing a traditional in ground garden, invest in a tiller. It will save you tons of labor. Best money you will ever spend. 

If you are doing a container or box garden, forget the tiller. 

Sorry it will be Container/box style. Above ground. Plan to make a box at least 4ft by 10ft but could go as big as I need to. May even do (2) 4ft by 10ft's side by side or an L shape. The area I'm considering putting it in is roughly 30ft by 40ft so plenty of room. It will be within 30ft of a garden hose or I may tie in to my existing sprinkler system and add a drip system. Haven't decided on all that yet hence the asking for tips/advice.

soaker hose down the center and make sure to space everything to fit the lawnmower. depending on the soil, you might want to dig deeper and fill it with a soil of choice, you want to plant tomatoes deep

SonVolt

I want to second the notion of taking lawnmower space into consideration. Don't leave a gap you can't reach and assume you'll weed-eat it. You'll hate your life for it. Also remember that you're not supposed to step into container gardens - you don't want to compact the soil. Therefore don't go OVER 4' wide else it's hard to reach the whole area. I would recommend 3' wide. 

SonVolt

Have you considered what kind of soil you will be filling your beds with? 

Webass

I have a small garden setup like much of the suggestions offered.  In  addition, I made a cylinder of 4' small mesh wire and secured it in the middle.  I threw in a small bag of fertilizer and some top soil to get it started and we use it for our compost.  I stir it and stick the hose in it periodically to get the "goodies" seeping out. We use it also to tie up tomatoes and cukes.   In the Spring I've got a good pile of composted material to till into the garden soil.  

TEXASBGE2018

SonVolt said:

Have you considered what kind of soil you will be filling your beds with? 

I have not. Totally new to the process and have no clue where to start.

SonVolt

Based on what appears to be freshly laid sod, you probably don't want a truck from the local nursery driving over it to dump it on your beds. You can go straight potting soil but that's expensive. Your best bet is to buy bags of Potting Soil, Peat Moss and Composted Manure (Black Kow) from Lowe's and mix it in a  1:1:1 ratio (by bag, not volume). Then every year mulch it with 2-3" of compost or pine bark nuggets, purpose being to block the weeds that season but  will also break down and renew the soil over time. 

JethroBodeen

You should be able to sample your soil and take it to the local extension agent for testing. Give them a call and they can direct you to somebody who can...

here4beer

Go for it!  I've done raised beds at 3 different homes since 1990.  Always used treated wood.  The research shows that the extent of leaching from the wood into soil is but a fraction of an inch of depth.  The really toxic stuff CCA (copper chromated arsenate) has been banned since the 90s.

It's out of print but see if you can get Jeff Ball's "60 minute Vegetable Gardening" book.  The 60 minutes a week is B.S. but the late Mr. Ball has a great system that minimizes watering, fertilizing and allows extending the season if you want.  it also incorporates trellises and tunnels into the design.

Also, there are new products out there, like this bag style raised bed 36"W x 72"L x 11"H.  I'm going to try a couple of these:  https://www.amazon.com/Kenley-Fabric-Raised-Garden-Bed/dp/B01N6KLDIE/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=vegetable+garden+bag&qid=1575490321&rnid=2941120011&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-12 

You should be able to grow a mess of chiles, maters and cukes in Tejas!