Use Boxes in a Raised Garden to Prevent Weeds
Use Boxes in a Raised Garden to Prevent Weeds
Let’s talk about weeds. I hate weeds. I’ve been getting all sorts of comments from readers asking about how to prevent weeds. This brings me to my all time favorite blog post I wrote a while back. I have been overwhelmed by all the love I am getting every since I wrote the article: Raised Garden Bed Designs. Taking that simple idea my daughter had for a garden and turning it into a Cinder Block Raised Garden. The response has been overwhelming!
I’ve been doing this garden for just over 3 years now. I ended up making the Cinder Block Garden even bigger than the years before. I’ve made it taller too. I just love it taller.
I’ve also been inspired by some seriously talented people too. I’ve had people show me their mosaics work around the cinder blocks and some murals painted on too. My heart is bursting with joy. I think the most powerful message I received from that article was how it was going to be used to teach kids how to garden in other countries. I cried tears of joy. The gift of helping and inspiring others is a gift that I will cherish forever.
Trying to keep weeds out of your garden is no joke. Organic mulches will definitely help. Hardwood mulches, shredded newspaper, straw (not hay) etc… You want to make sure your mulches are at least 2 to 4 inches deep.
Sometimes weeds get so bad that you need a chemical. You need to use a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent them from germinating and they won’t kill the existing plants or grass either.
One of the best ways to prevent weeds is the boxes I used in our raised garden bed idea. It worked perfectly. It prevented the grass from growing through underneath it and I had no problem with weeds all season long. After the season was over I decided to move my garden to a different area of the yard and make it bigger. When I removed the cinder blocks and soil I was amazed to see the box was completely gone with a dark, rich layer of soil underneath it. I’ve been using boxes ever since. I used to use that black weed barrier fabric as seen here, but it never works. Weeds always seem to find there way through it. It’s a complete waste of money in my opinion.
Go ahead, try boxes! I bet you will be amazed!
Be sure to check out all of the garden articles we have below. Who’s ready for warm weather? Me!!
Plants of all kinds are very industrious and always trying to find ANY path to air and sun…I’ve always thought that the woven fabrics provided the path in between the weave which is, in my opinion why they don’t work well…Cardboard, indeed any paper, including newspaper is a solid barrier and can accomplish the same if you don’t have access to cardboard…Like your point about the cardboard turning into soil…Have you tried adding red wigglers available an any bait store or even on line? They will areate your soil and accelerate the decomposition process…Worm castings anyone?
Just was hoping to discover how you can raise the garden in a garden bed using cedar blocks would you have to stack a lot of them or is there other ways to do this?
I would stack them. I would offset the stacks though. I would start the second layer of bricks in the center of the first layer.