(Courtesy: Damon Taylor at flickr.com)
If you have disability issues like a bad back, knee or shoulder problems, or you have trouble kneeling, you still can enjoy the hobby of gardening with little
(Courtesy: James Hou at flickr.com)
or no pain. Disabled and physically fit gardeners both are involved in the art of creating raised table garden beds.
What is a Table Garden?
A table garden is a garden bed contained in a raised box. The box beds are very easy to manage and take up very little space in your yard. In fact, they are ideal for sprucing up a patio or deck.
How to Build Table Garden Boxes
These tables are very easy to construct. Moreover, you can find plans on constructing them on the Internet. You can also get free plans from the Cooperative Extension Offices. You can build a table in no more than two hours and the cost of material for the construction runs as little as $50.
The boxes should accommodate a soil depth of at least 6-inches, but can be deeper if you plan to use plants with larger roots. Most beds are constructed in a square or rectangular shape.
Experts say that you should use a lightweight, organic-rich planting medium and they caution that the medium can dry out quickly. So it is best to install a drip style irrigation system to keep the plants moist.
Experts suggest that you place plants a bit closer together because nutrients are usually concentrated within a small area of the box. You can use seeds or transplants and vining plants are ideal for placement along the edge of the box where they can hang down.
Here is a step-by-step explanation on how to construct a raised table garden.
Step One – Gather Materials and Tools
Gather the materials and tools you will need to perform the construction.
· Pressure Treated Lumber. The sizes can be 2-feet x 12-feet x 10-feet. This is enough lumber to construct two boxes – one 4×4 and the other 3×4
· Pressure Treated Posts. It is suggested that you use lumber that is 4-feet x 4-feet x 36-feet. This will be enough to construct a total of 12 legs.
· Lag Bolts to secure the legs.
· Galvanized screws to secure the box sides.
· ¼-inch Mesh hardware Screen
· 1-Box of Lath Screws to secure screen to box frame.
· Landscape Fabric
· Moisture Retaining Soil
· Compost
· Plants
Tools
· Saw
· Hammer
· Nails
· Tape Measure or Ruler
Step Two – Construction
It is best to build the boxes on site because they get heavy quickly during assembly. The box is simple with one leg attached with lag bolts to each corner.
· Cut 10 pieces from the pressure treated lumber 2-feet x 12-feet x 4-feet and two pieces at 2-feet x 12-feet x 3-feet.
· Cut the pressure treated posts into 12 pieces of 4-feet x 4-feet x 3-feet.
· Secure the sides together with galvanized screws to form a simple box.
· Attach the legs with lag bolts to each corner of the box.
· Cover the bottom of the box with the ¼-inch screen by screwing it to the lower sides of the box.
· Put the landscape fabric over the screen.
· Cover the landscape fabric with soil and compost.
· Install plants.
Things to consider
Water retention could become an issue because the box is raised. To prevent this from becoming a problem, you can put a small sprinkler head into the box that can be connected to a hose. When you water, run a low amount through the sprinkler for 30 minutes.
