Raised Beds - How Deep?

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Author Message   Timnamber  My Weather Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 06:08 am EST :    My mom has had knee replacement surgery and it is getting harder and harder for her to get down to her beds and then be able to get up... My hubby and I were thinking of suprising her with raised beds, but I am not quite sure of how deep (tall) to make them. I want her to be able to sit on a chair and work in them... Right now, all we are looking for is perennial beds - some places say 12 inches and some say 18 inches. We were thinking of doing them with the composite decking material with a bottom with drainage to help keep any grass or anything growing up from the bottom - she has that wonderful bermuda grass that seems to creep in no matter what you do. Just trying to keep her enjoying her garden and make it as easy as possible on her. Thank you! Timnamber - North Carolina, Zone "7b"   Jak3  My Weather Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 11:34 am EST :    Do you have access to a Lee Valley store? They have some raised bed kits that give you the corners and some kind of system that allows you to use standard patio stones on their sides to form the box. (If you get what I mean). It seems to me that these would require a huge amount of earth to fill, but they would be permanent, would look nice, would not need mainteneance....If I can find a catalogue, I will post their website for you. Jak3 - Ontario, Zone "4/5"   Timnamber  My Weather Posted on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 12:36 pm EST :    I have never heard of them, but I did a search and found them...The ones with the patio stones look really neat - and we could get the same ones we used on her patio to match. http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=47455&cat=2 Thanks! So, I guess if I was planning on trying to keep the bermuda grass out with landscape fabric in layers - I would need to go 2 feet tall? Dirt to fill is no problem - one of her longtime friends owns a mulch company and has soil - just told me to let him know when we need it. (Lot's of people in on this suprise) Timnamber - North Carolina, Zone "7b"   Chrisb  My Weather My Time Posted on Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 02:48 am EST :    My hubby made me a raised bed about 4 years ago. It is 12" tall. We didn't remove any of the grass where we put it and I don't have any weed barrier in the bottom. I've never had any trouble with the grass growing in it. At 12" high it still requires some bending. Maybe you could get her one of those little rolling garden seats. I have also found that with my bed (4' wide x 20' long) the smaller garden tools with the telescoping handles are great. I can reach from one side of the bed to the other with them. Good luck on your project and I'm sure your mom will love it and you for doing it. ~Chris Chrisb - Virginia, Zone "7a"   John57  My Weather My Garden My Time Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2007 - 09:52 am EST :    I deeply hope you have not gone the better part of a month without finding some very useful information. Your question interested me because I was called on once to design a garden for a handicapped gentleman..... and..... in the days before the internet...... researching the topic was a whole different ballgame than it is now, I found these links....... and hope they prove useful to you..... A First Hand Account An Excellent Article... The American Horticultural Therapy Association John57 - Oklahoma, Zone "7a"   Sonyaeby  My Weather My Time Posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008 - 11:33 am EST :    Thanks everyone...I'm looking at creating a raised bed as well because the owners before us buried their pets in our one flower bed. I don't want to disturb the dead, so I'm raising it. I'll check out that Lee Valley store in Toronto, it looks great. I'm sure I'll find more than what I'm looking for there! Sonyaeby - Ontario, Zone "5a"   Seil  Supporting Member My Garden Journal My Weather My Time Posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008 - 06:13 pm EST :    We did a raised bed using 24 inch square patio blocks stood on edge but we didn't have a kit. We used rebar and construction adhesive to make the frame. It did require a lot of soil to fill it but it was worth it. I have one of those garden bench/kneelers and I can sit on it and work comfortably on my roses. I've also been virtually weed free since doing this. That garden bench that turns over to become a kneeler has also been a blessing. When I do get to a place I have to kneel at the handles make it so much easier to get back up again. There are several brands. Here's what I found on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=garden+kneeler&tag=googhydr-20&in dex=garden&hvadid=1097525921&ref=pd_sl_55cpjn496k_e Seil - Michigan, Zone "6"

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