Still More Raised Bed Construction

This last weekend was an opportunity to do something a little different with the raised bed construction and to re-purpose our store-bought Wayfair bed.

Last spring, we were not keen to dig too close to the garage, so we purchased an 8x4 10" high bed from Wayfair. It was roughly the cost of the lumber to build one. It was easy to put together. It was split into two 4x4 sections. That said, I've not been entirely happy with it. Just one season later, the boards have been slightly warped by the weight of the dirt inside, and are showing signs of weathering. Given that the cost savings are minimal, I think it's best to stick to the home-made ones for the future. Below, you can see the half of the bed that still needs to be moved or adjusted.

 

We discovered, as the summer went on, that it was difficult to reach the back of a 4 foot wide bed from the front or the side to do any work. 

At the same time, we determined that we wanted to lift and consolidate the blueberry bushes. According to the info. we could find, fall is the time to do it. 

To alleviate the problem of the bed being too difficult to work, I disassembled it, cut down the boards at the side into 2 foot sections. I then attached them to scrap 4x4 corner pieces, and put screwed a couple of 1x2x8 sticks to the back to keep the sides from sliding apart. 

Voila, a 2x8 raised bed for the east-facing side of the garage. This area gets a ton of morning sun, lasting into the early afternoon. Last year, we'd split the blueberry bushes into three separate beds, and then obscured them by planting "pollinator mix." I don't think they grew as much as they might have this year.

I lifted them, and put them in the new bed, watered them in Monty Don Gardener's World style, and there they are. We'll wrap them up to put them to bed for the winter in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, here's hoping they are happy in their new home.