I meant to post this a couple weeks ago, but then everything got crazy. We were supposed to go to Seattle for a fun weekend trip but then ended up canceling last minute as COVID-19 started spreading. Now we’ve been at home over two weeks and we’re trying to make the best of it. We’re thankful we can work from home, but we’re still filled with so many conflicting feelings and worries. One of the things that’s really helping me right now is spending time outside prepping my garden. Gardening is a wonderful, restorative hobby that helps relieve stress. I remember reading this article a while back that the commonality between many centenarians is that they gardened! Gardening in the high desert of New Mexico presents some unique challenges though. I tackle many of these by using specific accessories for my raised garden beds.
Some of the accessories I use for my raised garden beds are covers, shade cloth, cover clips, bird netting, and square foot gardening. Let’s look at each of these and how they might help your own garden!
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Twine
The first important accessory for raised garden beds is a square foot grid. Square foot gardening helps us maximize our space and planting close together helps reduce evaporation in the heat of the summer. To mark the squares for our square foot garden, I added nails around the perimeter and tied twine to them to form the grid. Mel specifically says not to do this in his book, but it’s the only method I’ve found that lasts the entire gardening season. (Note: His book is wonderful and I’ve read it multiple times–I’m just a rebel when it comes to the grid!)
I like to use nylon twine so that it lasts the entire season. I’ve tried jute twine but it disintegrates pretty quickly. String the twine across the short length of the planter first. Then overlay the long strings of twine on top. This helps keep everything from sagging. I used bowline knots to tie the twine to the nails.
Note that the inside of the planter is probably not exactly 48″ x 96″ for a 4′ x 8′ planter if you used my plans to build your raised beds. That’s okay! Just divide the inner dimension in half and then in half again to determine the placement of the nails. It’s close enough!
Covers and Shade Cloth
The second essential accessory for raised garden beds is a cover. I have a love/hate relationship with covers. Mostly because I’ve made some epic mistakes in the past. The first year of gardening at our house, I tried to leave everything uncovered. We frequently have sustained 40+ mph winds in our area, and the plants were just not having it. When I researched ways to block the wind, the only articles I found were about planting trees as wind breaks. That would be awesome if we had space for giant trees, but we definitely don’t.
I did see that some people used frost cloth as a wind break, so that’s the first thing I tried. I covered the entire planter (including the ends) and sealed the plants inside. It was great in the spring, but then as soon as the temperature warmed up, the plants fried. Lesson learned. That being said, covering the planters with frost cloth is great for extending the season!
What you really want is a cover that still allows some air flow and rain to get through, but that’s woven tightly enough to offer some relief. The first cover we used to do this successfully was this mesh netting. It’s perfect if your main concern is protection from wind. Below are the raised beds with just the netting. I love that you can still see the plants through the netting.
Last year we added shade cloth on top of the netting. (My favorite is currently unavailable, but here’s another option.) After taking some gardening classes, I learned that “full sun” for plants means 6-8 hrs. A planter with southern exposure in the sun here in NM will get way more than that. Local experts suggest using white shade cloth that blocks 30%-50% of light to get the amount of sun down to the “full sun” range. This made an enormous difference for our plants!
I use shade cloth that blocks 30% of the sun. Here’s a close up of what it looks like.
This year, I’ve removed the netting from the closest planter to see how it does with just the shade cloth. I want to see if the shade cloth blocks enough wind and protects the plants from the hail storms we get a few times per season.
Anything used as a cover needs to be 10′ for the length that will be going over the hoops, by the the length of your planter (plus a little extra to clip). For example, if you have a 4′ x 6′ planter, the cover would need to be 10′ x ~6′. We leave the ends open so the pollinators have access to the plants. The wind blows east to west against the covers so the plants are protected even with the ends open.
Cover Clamps
The last important accessory for raised garden beds is a bunch of clamps to hold on the covers. If you’ve added hoops to your raised beds using schedule 40 PVC pipe, then the easiest thing to do is to get some snap clamps. These are designed to clamp fabric to PVC pipe. Make sure you get the right size (these are for 1/2″ PVC).
Occasionally I’ll have a clamp or two pop off during a super bad wind storm, but usually they stay in place. After a year or two they do start loosening, so you’ll have to replace them eventually. I use about 8 clamps per side (16 per planter). They’re easy to remove if you need to access plants in the garden. Just clam them back on when you’re done.
Bird Netting
Two winters ago we left the covers down on the planters over the winter. The birds thought it was awesome and used it as a shelter/pooping ground until I chased them out in the spring. Unfortunately, I think they remember those good ol’ times, so I clip squares of bird netting onto the ends of the planters until our seeds have sprouted.
I used to nicely tuck the bird netting under the shade cloth so it would look better, but it’s just not worth it. I’m in and out of the planters a lot as I plant seeds according to my planting calendar, so now I just clip it on top. Make sure it hangs past the bottom of the planter opening so the birds can’t fly underneath.
When the plants have sprouted, I just fold up the squares of netting and store them in a ziplock bag for next year.
Here’s the inside of the bed that only has shade cloth plus bird netting on the ends. I just planted radishes and beets, so I’m excited to see those sprouting soon!
I hope some of these accessories for raised garden beds will help you prepare your own garden this summer! My garden will be getting a lot of extra love over the next few weeks while we’re staying at home. Until next time friends, stay safe and enjoy the warmth of spring <3
P.S. I remembered to take a picture of the zip-tied PVC pipe that I left out in my last post on building the planters. Here’s a close up in case you need it! Just thread the zip tie through the holes you drilled in the PVC pipes and tighten it to make the frame.
