A Fresh Start. In the Same Place.

“Begun is half done”, says the ancient proverb. 

And so it is - even here in the world of organic garden design.

Often, our garden designs start from scratch ; a raised bed layout we’ve drawn, built, and installed in a brand new garden area at a customer’s home. Sometimes, we simply build the cedar garden beds that are already drawn into a new landscape design illustration - building and fitting these small pieces into the larger puzzle, exactly to spec. These projects can often be something like ‘an easy lay-up shot” for us, as the raised bed size and edible garden location have already been selected, and the work site has already been neatly leveled for us, with the irrigation water supply clearly marked and ready for connection.

But, not infrequently we’re asked to replace existing raised garden beds that have begun to show their age. In many of these, the wood has become so soft and deteriorated that boards have come loose, spilling sad-looking piles of soil on the ground as a sort of S.O.S. for help ;  the ‘smoking gun’ evidence that instantly validates the customer’s verbal testimony of the garden’s poor condition. 

But no wood lasts for ever - especially when it’s in perpetual contact with wet soil. But most of these examples we’ve replaced are clearly well over ten years old - not a bad run for raised beds. And, thankfully, the raised beds have been carefully placed in the best possible site on the customer’s property. The irrigation system is still working. The decorative ornamentals planted around the garden years ago are now really hiring their stride. The pebble pathways still look like they did the day they were installed.

So, in cases like this, we’re all too happy to honor the excellent work of a capable predecessor,  and recreate the very same raised bed design that’s been so thoughtfully planned and delivered.

This process begins by carefully removing the old raised beds - often requiring heavy-duty trash bags to collect and transport the most badly decayed sections of the garden planters. 

With the garden site fully cleared of the old planters, and a final measurement with the customer to confirm the exact size of the new cedar garden beds, it’s off to our Charlotte workshop to begin building. 

Frequently, our customers ask that their replacement raised beds are built taller than their old planters. Many raised garden beds out there are only 11” tall - or even less - which is functional, but not very far from the ground. 

Our 19”-tall Kitchen Garden design is very popular because this seemingly slight increase in height actually makes a HUGE improvement in comfort while working in the garden.

This was the case with Jessica’s garden, and while we did build her new cedar garden beds to the exact scale as the old design, her new planters are substantially taller than her previous raised beds. Which she loved.

Jessica’s organic garden design includes an L-shaped raised bed that’s about 4’ wide, 16’ on the long side, and 11’ on the shorter side. The rectangle shaped raised bed measures about 4’x9’.

Fortunately, we’re almost always able to use any soil that’s leftover from a previous garden as a base in the bottom of our new cedar garden beds, as was the case here. 

But because of the substantial increase in the height of the new cedar garden beds, an additional three cubic yards of premium organic soil was needed to top up the new planters.

With new drip irrigation grids fitted and installed - just below the soil surface , where the water can soak directly into the root zone - it was time to pack up our gear, snap a quick photo, and hand Jessica the keys to her new organic garden.

Does she love her new garden? We sure do hope so.

And with a smile that would melt a glacier - and those chic red garden boots - It sure seems like it.