Building A Garden Part 1: Design, Planning, DIY Raised Beds & Layout

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Do you have any big garden projects planned for 2020? Let us know what your new year garden goals are!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

@Kevin Knight Photography WOW! That is AWESOME! I wish you the best of luck. Are you documenting it? I wouldn't mind seeing a video. I love watching people build their landscape.

[@Just-Nikki]

The Millennial Gardener I’m building a lean to greenhouse and a permanent walk-in heated hoop house and adding a new 16x8 polyculture earth bed. Wishing everyone success and abundance

[@TheMillennialGardener]

@Kevin Knight Photography you can always do a crossover and just post a video on you and your current life, like your garden project. I've posted SCUBA videos before. It's not garden related, but it's something I like to do on occasion when the stars align. Every now and again, I think subscribers like to see a different side.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

@@Just-Nikki I'm jealous. A lean-to style on my house in Zone 8 would be basically 365 days of growing simply using the radiative heat of the house. I wish you the best of luck! Keep me updated. You must have some significant land.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

@Kevin Knight Photography I bought my camera initially to photograph the scenery where I live (because I find it so beautiful here) and when we vacation, but I wound up using it more for videos than photos. Funny how "life happens" sometimes. I'm going with the flow. It can be fun to change it up.

[@danielleterry180]

Thank you for showing your garden floor plan I am lost on doing the planning part mine are 3x6 I am planning 12 beds for now. Being a truck driver I don’t have time to build as only get 5 days off every 60 days out I have been buying the aluminum beds so when I come off road for good I will have the time to take care of garden kids feed my hens and meat chicks but drew the line at watering garden or picking or canning lol so that will start when I am home to do it...your garden I am sure is beautiful

[@demetriuspowell29]

Great work I need to build more raised beds for my garden

[@farmerbob4554]

I really like the plan as well as the results. A good plan minimizes the amount of waste wood and yours turned out 👍 great. Well done!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks. Whether the plan turns out remains to be seen. I still need to fit all this stuff together, and install the dreaded posts. This is bordering on my limit of DIY capabilities. I'm crossing my fingers!

[@farmerbob4554]

The Millennial Gardener Running a post hole digger (PHD). builds character!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

@@farmerbob4554 funny how nothing easy ever builds character 😂

[@BlissFortress]

Very inspiring, thank you!!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you for watching!

[@deanwa8581]

Looks really great. Cant wait for the videos of the planting and harvesting from these beds.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you. That makes two of us! I'm looking forward to spring already.

[@lindapertusati7990]

It looks really good. Looking forward to seeing it progress.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you! I'll follow up shortly for sure!

[@Just-Nikki]

I wish you so much luck! I’m a 5’3, 117 pound woman who builds my own hoop houses, raised beds, trellises, fences, compost bins, bat houses ( for pest control and guano) planters etc. let’s rock 2020 and keep on building 🤘🏼💪🏼🤙🏼 wishing everyone an abundant 2020 🎉🎊

[@TheMillennialGardener]

That's awesome. If you want to make it happen, you'll make it happen. That's my thought. The only person standing in our way is ourselves, and if we get out of our own way, we can do just about anything. Happy new year!

[@Just-Nikki]

The Millennial Gardener agreed, Happy New Year!

[@deborahsanderson6157]

I found your channel last week and I of course I subscribed. I am slowly working through your videos. I have watched all 3-parts of "Building A Garden". I hope you still receive comments from your older videos. I am intrigue by your garden layout plan. Where is north on your garden plan?

[@nurudinjafferji]

Happy New Year. I have followed your tips for growing figs

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you for watching! Happy new year to you, too.

[@LaHortetadeBussy]

Wow 👍👍👍

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks for watching.

[@thomaswalton4946]

Hello from Sherrills Ford NC in Catawba county...just found your channel. Awesome work! I also like growing things, but not as advanced as you are. Looking forward to more videos, thanks for sharing.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you for watching, fellow North Carolinian! Glad to have you aboard.

[@nickatanassov104]

I love it ,bro. This summer I will be doing the same.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Outstanding! Best of luck and thanks for watching.

[@stevendaniel5649]

Impressive!!!! I'm so proud of you. You can do anything. Young, healthy, smart but, most importantly, a man with vision and passion. WINNER !!!!!!! I can't wait to see the progress. Happy 2020...... Btw: do you have a first name? LOL

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks. My name is Anthony (I come from a long line of Italians named Anthony, so that's where I got the gardening bug from). I learned long ago that life isn't going to come to you, so keep searching to find what you want out of life and go after it. Nothing makes me happier than growing stuff. This was a lot of work, but it didn't feel like work. Happy new year!

[@PracticalPrimate]

Looking good :) Will follow along.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thank you for watching!

[@Jim-si7wz]

I am disabled and had to try and get raised beds for my back garden, 2020 was lost because I couldn't get the lumber because of the covid, however I managed just as summer was in full swing, hired a young man who had no experience but lots of enthusiasm, we got the raised beds up with a few problems, so I am almost set for next year, we had a bumper crop of cherries and apple's cooking ones of course, so cant complain, Scotland is not the warmest country but hey we dont have any thing poisonous insects or snakes or earthquakes, tornadoes, or well anything, but we do have rain lots off it and cold more cold than anything else, but as long as I get the seeds started in the house soon enough then we are off to the start of a good year, if I can do it with sever disabilities' then so can anyone really, never surrender never give in and I wont till the big man upstairs needs another gardener or some thing built of wood, thanks for sharing.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Glad to hear you're doing it! Very inspiring! I wish you the best of luck. I know it's pretty cold in Scotland, but it rarely gets far below freezing. I bet with a simple greenhouse, a lot can be grown.

[@JacobSimpson]

That's awesome man! Your garden is going to be huge!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I hope so! Thank you, and happy new year!

[@TheNCGardener]

That looks great. I need to replace all of my raised beds. They are about 7 years old and are starting to rot and come apart at the corners. I would suggest that you paint or use something to keep the soil out of the corners where they join together. I have problems with fire ants and rain getting dirt in between the boards and it is what really has been the downfall of my raised beds. I also cut 4x4s to screw into the inside corners and that did help some. That was an expensive project but will be well worth it when you finish it. I can't wait to see what you plant. Curious what the fence was for? BTW, I ordered a owari mandarin orange and a pineapple guava from Stan. They came in a couple of weeks ago. I really enjoyed talking with him so thank you for the tip on that.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Interesting. Did you use pressure treated wood? I didn't think of dirt getting into the corners and rotting the wood. Maybe I should caulk them. Ugh, that sounds like such a pain. Yes, fire ants here are a nightmare. Toward the end of last summer, I started getting more aggressive putting down Bifenthrin with a spreader all over the grass and that made a huge difference, so this year I'm going to be a lot more aggressive with that from the very start. That's awesome that you got ahold of Stan. Stan is the man. A true southern gentleman. I asked Stan what variety the pineapple guava was and he didn't know. I think it is an unknown seedling he has been propagating for a long time, so keep that in mind. You may want to buy an Apollo pineapple guava and plant it in the same hole to hedge your bets because some pineapple guavas need a pollinator and aren't self-fertile, and all will produce better with a second type. I didn't know that at the time, so I need to get a second plant.

[@TheNCGardener]

@@TheMillennialGardener They are 2 2x6 salt treated one one top of the other. Hardly any dirt came out of the seem where the two boards meet. I guess they swelled up tight enough. The corners are now coming apart though. If I had to do it again, which is still on the table, I will definitely do something to protect the corners and the screws. Even galvanized sews will eventually rust and break. I did asked Stan about having a pollinators and he said I would not need one. I would have bought one if he had suggested one. Some people would have said yes just to make the sale. I will be getting back with him around March to April as he has fruit trees at that time. He also sent me a handful of scions from his Asian pears that I and going to attempt to graft to the Bradford pear in my front yard.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I'm not familiar with salt-treated. I wonder how they do versus pressure treated? I'm expecting "about" 10 years out of these beds. We'll see what it amounts to. If you have room, it can't hurt to have another pineapple guava. Even if we are lucky enough to have self-fertile varieties, they will do much better with a pollinator. I am hoping I can set a fruit this year, but it may take 3-4 if they're seedlings. We'll find out, I guess.

[@TheNCGardener]

@@TheMillennialGardener Salt treated and pressure treated terms are used interchangeably. They used to use arsenic as the chemical but that was outlawed many years ago. The pressure treat with something else now. Nothings stops bacteria and microbes! I bought a very young guava, it is in a 1 gallon pot and about a foot tall. He told me it would take a few years for it to fruit. I may pick up another one in the spring. When are you starting your fig cuttings?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

TheNCGardener I didn’t know the terms were interchangeable. I never heard the former. You’re correct about arsenic. They now use copper, which is non-toxic and it is why pressure treated lumber is bluish in tint. I use liquid copper on my tomatoes and it looks like pure blue Kool Aid. Winter doesn’t look like it is coming to NC this year, so I guess I’ll start pruning for cuttings in 2 weeks or so. I’ll probably post some stuff on Figbid then.

[@ramonamacabugao1613]

Hi! I would like to know what kind of wood are you using for the raise beds? Thank you for the info.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Sure. It's just standard copper pressure treated wood from Lowe's. Nothing special. It's rated for ground contact. Make sure it has a "ground contact" sticker on it.

[@jamesball5743]

How much space between the beds for walking? Is 2 1/2 feet wide and 9 feet long okay for a bed?

[@bostonchoir]

Great job! I suppose it will be helpful if you remind us what the benefits are in every video. Doesn't treated wood give out a toxic material?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Thanks. No, treated wood is no longer toxic. It's a leftover myth from 30+ years ago when pressure treated wood was treated with arsenic. That has been banned for decades, and companies now use non-toxic copper. Liquid copper is actually considered an organic treatment in fungicides, and I soak my tomatoes in liquid copper in the heat of the summer to keep them alive in my humid climate. Modern pressure treated wood is fine to use in your garden.

[@boinerz]

I like very much how you think everything through when you begin a project; that's the engineer coming through! I don't have raised-bed gardens (I have one large, open space) but have considered doing that often. In 2006, I put in an asparagus bed. The first couple of years there was no harvest, but from then on I have a six-week production every year. It's my favorite vegetable. I'm very curious about your weather station in this video: where'd you get it; is it battery-powered; and, if you don't mind my asking, how much was it? I'm looking forward to the completion of your project. Happy New Year!

[@TheMillennialGardener]

If I had good native soil and didn't have deluge thunderstorms where I lived, I would put in an earth bed and avoid the cost of lumber, but I live on almost pure sand with almost no organic matter, and being on the NC coast, we are liable to get 5-10 inches of rain in one day and 10-20 inches in a day if we get a hurricane or tropical storm, so raised beds here are 100% necessary or your plants won't grow well and also possibly drown if you don't have drainage canals installed. Way too much of a headache for me, for sure. I'll just build a few boxes. The weather station is an Ambient Weather WS-2000. It is AWESOME. I love everything about it. A word of advice: buy it direct from Ambient Weather and not on Amazon. Amazon wants a lot more. The manufacturer raised their price from when I purchased it last year, but I still feel it is a great deal. Make sure you buy the optional bird spike to keep birds from nesting on it. (www.ambientweather.com/amws2000.html)

[@boinerz]

@@TheMillennialGardener I know the area where you live well, so I understand completely about the sand and the weather. Given your situation, you've made the wisest choice.

[@barbarawalker3620]

😊😉🙂

[@Noah-lb9iy]

I have an absolutely huge project planned for this year. I'll have to update you on my project as I get to it. I'm a chef by trade with a huge love for gardening and have always had a garden except for the last few years since I left Cali. I now own my home, so time to kill it. What part of SC are you in?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

I'm actually in NC, just southwest of Wilmington, NC, about 9 miles from the ocean as the crow flies. I love hearing somebody's starting a garden project! Definitely do it. It'll be spring before you know it.

[@kenwood912]

What is the black material you use as a weed barrier?

[@kenwood912]

I found it in your affiliate link

[@TheMillennialGardener]

The two brands I link in my Amazon Storefront are the exact two brands I have down around my yard. They're excellent quality, 4 years old and going strong!

[@ohgators5047]

Are you not worried about the chemicals in pressure-treated wood leaching into your garden soil? why or why not?

[@ddfraser]

Isn’t pressure treated wood poison?

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Darryl Fraser no, that is a myth from many decades ago when wood was pressure treated with arsenic. That practice was banned ages ago. Modern pressure treated wood is treated with copper, which is non-toxic and why the wood is bluish-green. You can actually purchase liquid copper fungicide that is completely organic certified.

[@carolinahomestead2737]

I like what you are doing with the garden expansion. I have been building raised beds, 4'x16' 15 inches tall. I live in the Leland area and have found a place to get good compost at no cost, along with aged horse manure from a local farm. I would like to meet up with you. If you could post an email, or a way to private message, i will send you my info.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

Those are some serious beds. I bet they perform really well. I got my original dirt from Hoffman Ecoworks in Southport and I'm happy with the quality and will go back for more. You can't beat free, though. I know the Brunswick Co. transfer station gives free wood chips and things if you pick it up yourself with a pick-up truck. Free compost sounds awesome. If you want to contact me, I have an Instagram account linked in the video description.

[@alexajaga19]

How are your raised beds doing? We are building our first raised bed garden this year - on a budget - and can get free compost from the waste yard. @themillenialgardener can we skip on the cococoir and vermiculite?

[@gadzukis1018]

pressure treated wood??? oops

[@lemonn_tineee668]

Gadzukis it’s safe.

[@TheMillennialGardener]

There is nothing wrong with modern pressure treated wood. The myth that pressure treated wood is harmful is bad information from many decades ago when wood was pressure treated with arsenic. That has been banned for decades. Modern pressure treated wood is treated with copper, which is why it is blue/green. You can purchase liquid copper concentrate and spray it all over your plants as an organic fungicide, so having very minor copper in your soil is harmless.

[@gadzukis1018]

@@TheMillennialGardener CCA and ACZA is still in practice today. Cooper fungicide kills beneficial fungi that your plants require. it's a mistake guy. there are better alternatives. use pressure treated wood on your deck and not for your plants.