Update on my bigger better garden area.

[Rockporter]

Hi everyone, I promised to update on the new larger garden over in the "My back patio flooded" thread so here is the update. If you see post #12 on this thread it might remind you all the work we started on the expansion of the garden and fixing the problems of water flooding our patio. I updated that thread a few minutes ago and decided it was time to start my new garden thread, the happy place, lol.


So, these are the things we have done so far, cut and pasted from the patio flooding thread post #12 so I don't have to go over it all again, and it gives me a new starting point. If you get confused about the flooding part the link above is to the original post that started it all. These are the things we have done so far and I will add the newest upgrades done to the back patio and garden area. The part in blue is what I had already posted in the other thread, I just didn't want to have to go over it all again.


"Hi everyone, it's time to update the flooded patio thread. We have continued to have issues with the patio flooding all these years, digging trenches helped some, making sure the water was sent toward the street(lower area) and constant push brooming after a storm. The rain gutters helped some but it still wasn't enough because the water just stands on the patio after a rain. We finally got to work on that drainage issue and this is what we have done to alleviate the problem.



First this; The people that were here before put in a pool pad, at least that is what we think it was and it was my garden area. This area was built up with tons of sand and it was all the way to the patio concrete edge. The concrete edge was even with the side of the house where the water should have been draining off and is where my husband has been digging the trenches to get the water to go out down the side of the house to the front. This sand pile was about 18 inches tall so it blocked any water flow we could have had. So, this is how we fixed it.


#1 We dug out two feet of that built up sand area by a 20 foot long section which is the patio concrete area.



#2. We dug out the four 4x4 posts that were set right at the concrete edge which was also part of the stopping water from flowing out. It was part of this very rickety shade cover that if you touched it you knew it would fall apart on top of your head. We took that down the day we signed papers to buy it.


#3. We put in new 4x4 posts at the new edge of the sand because this is what holds my big trellis my husband built for me. It used three posts so we only put back the three needed. Leaving the fourth post out opens the area up better. Actually that fourth post was a short one and I had my garden hose hung on it, but we moved that to the corner of the house instead, and I like it that way better. No post in the way of stepping into the garden.


#4, We put in drainage pipe on the 20' section and added a collector to the gutter drain, then added solid pipe to send it out to the front yard. It was a total of about 70 feet of solid pipe which we dug a trench under the fence to get it out front.


5. Now we bought some retaining wall bricks for keeping the sand back and made a 4 foot wide garden step in area for me. I get dizzy, and I need lots of space to lose my footing so I don't fall down.


6. Final results, no water standing for more than 20 minutes on our patio anymore, and it doesn't reach but about a few feet into the patio and never gets to the back door anymore. Yay, fixed.



Currently my garden is all on my patio on cinder blocks as we were working on that drainage issue and I wanted to make sure we had clearance of rain water. We are clearing the entire side yard to expand the garden from the initial 21 x 24 foot that I think it was to now it will be a pie shaped 30 feet by 50 feet and the 30 foot section is the widest section of the pie. We removed the raised garden beds my husband built because termites and carpenter ants ate them up. We are going to go a different route for raised beds now. We are still deciding on that but we are certain we will use some old castle corner bricks for it. I am still deciding if I want to figure out how to use some steel roofing panels for the sides or not. I definitely do not want anymore wood in my garden.


With the expansion of the garden I will have more cattle panel trellises, I have bought some dwarf fruit trees I put in pots for shade, and will design other shade needs as we go. It will be nice to use that whole side yard for a garden now.


These are the products we used.


Well, haven't used the oldcastle bricks yet but we have purchased them. I like this design but without using wood, and they would have to be much taller. I can't get on the ground with my medical issues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehHKjEWRvog


I like this design as well using those blocks. I think three sisters would grow very well there. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/b...ed-garden-bed/



Here is what we used for drainage, it was far easier than using the old rock burrito design.



https://www.lowes.com/pd/NDS-4-in-x-...n-Pipe/3136611


https://www.lowes.com/pd/NDS-12-in-L...Basin/50053663


and of course just solid corrugated pipe to send the water out.


The bricks we used for a retaining wall for the sand is really nice, it isn't the usual brick, and we made a step into the garden using pavers that matched. Belgard Quarry-Goldrush is the color. We used three layers and we used a 4x8 retaining wall cap on top to finish the look. That pic is just a design idea from Belgard.


We used this retaining wall cap, but I think ours is more of a reddish/orange to match up to the belgard bricks. This is the same brick we used for the step into the garden,This is 4 feet wide with one step into the garden. We have retaining wall on both sides of the step so it offers a nice frame out and an invite into the garden. We used paver support underneath and will used the poly sand to lock it all in.






https://www.lowes.com/pd/Chiselwall-...-12-in/3083613



So, the only thing left now is to get that entire garden area level, put down the new weed cloth and move all my containers in and start building more infrastructure for trellises, and shade. __________________".






Okay, so now I can tell you all about the newest things done in the garden and the patio.


So, weed cloth down after all the weed/grass clearing, stepping stones all laid around the outside edge of the garden making weeding very easy by lifting the stepping stone, lifting the weed cloth and removing any weeds/grass that is popping up around the garden. It looks really nice with the stepping stones all around the outside of the garden and I can also place 5 gallon buckets on them for plants such as rosemary that don't like alot of water.


We bought all the extra cattle panels and made three arched trellises, one is 16 feet long, one 12 feet long and one 4 feet long. I wanted to do a square 16x16x16 with the open part having just a small gate area and using cut cattle panels to finish the rest off. But, although I have all that space added to the garden it was not good for the space, so we decided to do the arched trellises, I still get the same amount of growing space but it is better to have them spread around the garden instead of one big square.


We are covering the 16' trellis with plastic and making it like a greenhouse. We will have windows to open up and screen underneath the plastic so I can have them open during the hot summer weather. My husband will be building a door for each end that will stay open for air flow as well. We will probably do the same for the other two trellises but for now we are working on just one as cash flow allows.


We also built a 7 foot long outdoor workbench with water and double sink on wheels. We tiled the top and even gave it a backsplash, and the entire underbelly is open shelving for buckets, etc. Hubby added under eve can lighting, and a plug for me so I can use the countertop for canning when it is nice outside. He took apart the last little potting bench he built about 20 years ago and reused many of the wood parts that were still good. He also kept the white plastic pegboard that was on the back. He cut it in half in it is on both sides of the new counter for tools. He is still using boards from the last one and even used some on the bench he just cut apart today. I am glad I talked him into saving what was still good to use instead of putting it in the landfill with the bad stuff. This countertop is awesome, I can come out and cook on the blackstone and make the meals right there on my new bench, then I can wash the dishes too.


I guess I should call it my outdoor kitchen.



In the meantime hubby is working on my garden shed which became a toss it in there to get it out of sight place because the a/c kept blowing the fuse when it was plugged into the wall outlet on the back patio. We now have the electric 30 amp plug by the shed so I can use it now, and I can start and nurture seedlings in there.


There were two benches in there stacked on top of each other sized 24" depth. One has legs on it 31" tall, where the second one on the bottom had legs of 15" tall. I asked my husband to separate them, cut the shorter one in half lengthwise and stack the two smaller sections for shelves in the shed on the opposite wall. This will work out perfect because I can store amendments and things on the lower shelf, and use the floor space below it for storage as well, but have use of the top shelf for seedling trays.


The larger bench will be a work bench with plenty of room to spread out when I am working in there. The walls are pegboard so I can hang tools and things there. I also have the floor space underneath as well. I will be buying storage containers I can stack under there to store things too.


I have a 24 or 36" (don't remember) wire rack with 5 shelves in there with a grow lamp which lights up two trays perfectly, I will start seeds there and bought some heat mats for it as well, but I need more lamps for the smaller shelf hubby cut in half. I think I am going to like this setup and it will be nice to save money on seedlings by starting them myself instead of purchasing from the garden center. I also told my husband if things work out I will sell some starts to help pay for the garden, he was pleased by that. He had to remove the wall board off the back wall because there was water damage from the hurricane and I had to replace the damaged a/c that the fins were smashed in the hurricane also. This one unfortunately doesn't have a heat strip, it is only a/c and I will need to figure out how to keep it warm in there when it is cold.


He found termites, wasps, and geckos behind that wallboard. No structural damage though so that is good. He treated all the wood with termite spray twice and let it dry between coats. Then he took the metal corners off the outside of the shed and sprayed all of the entry points with expanding foam to keep the bugs out. So far the shed with the back wall not yet insulated and covered in wall board is the same temp as the outside in the cold. I hope it keeps better temps at night when it is cold once he finishes that part of the job, he is currently working on that for me.


Have I ever said how much I appreciate all he does for me? Yep, I tell him all the time


Once we get things finished on the garden and the shed I will try to post pictures if I can figure out to get them off of my phone. Well, that is the update, I lost most everything in the garden over the artic blast including my fruit trees so I am hoping they survived and will regrow those leaves for me, but I am not holding my breath. I had everything outside the trellis covered, my onions survived outside but that is about it. I cut some things back and I have some green coming out so I am hopeful some of my things will come back.


What was in the covered trellis were my tomatoes, peppers, and many different kinds of herbs and greens with only the spinach surviving, everything else froze. This was just plastic over the top though, I guess I should have covered everything inside there. The wind was quite strong and the temps dropped into the 20's so I am not surprised anyway.


I hope you all are having good fall/winter garden success.