Create a Garden Bed Without Power Tools in 5 Easy Steps

My new house came with a quarter acre sized yard which had only two flower beds, one of which had a serious erosion problem (more on that in a later post). What's a gardener to do? Start putting in garden beds, of course. I needed to get my garlic planted in October so that's where I began. However, I don't have much of anything in the way of power tools and after buying a house and moving I don't have money to burn. Here is how to put in a new garden bed with minimal tools on the cheap.

First, choose your location. If you're growing edibles, then you're going to need a sunny spot. Most plants also need good drainage. Of course, if you want to spruce up a shady, wet area of your yard, go for it. Just know that you'll have to be very careful in your plant selection.

Second, measure out where you want the bed. Don't make it more than two feet deep unless you can get all the way around, then you can make it four feet deep. Any bigger, then you'll not be able to reach in to pull weeds or get at your plants.

Third, remove the sod. What a pain. By far, this is the hard part. Using a round pointed shovel, lift up and remove the carpet of grass. Hey, at least you're getting  a  good work out.

Fourth, install a weed barrier. If you don't do this step, you will regret it later. Grass grows like a living carpet and you've got to block the roots from spreading into your new bed. Now, if you're cheap, broke or hard-core environmentally friendly, you can use cardboard cut into 6 inch strips. I've done it. However, it will rot eventually and the grass will grow in. Consequently, I use black plastic edging because it's inexpensive and permanent. It's not particularly attractive but I figure I can add bricks on top of it eventually and build up the soil more. This will do for now.

















Fifth, fix the soil in the bed. You'll probably need to take a hoe to break up the soil underneath the sod. Since you removed the sod, you'll also need to add to the quantity of the soil. Depending on what you want to grow and what your soil was like to begin with,  this is the best time to improve the quality of the soil as well. You can add compost, manure, or fertilizer.

Now you're ready to put in your plants!
















On the other hand...

If you plan ahead in the fall, you can put in a garden bed by installing the plastic edging and then covering the sod with cardboard and grass clippings. Over the winter, all the grass and weeds will die and in the Spring you can put your new plants in. This is where I want to plant my raspberries in the spring.