3 Steps to renovate an existing garden
Two years ago, the GFG team was tasked with renovating an existing garden in the Boise foothills. This is something we’ve done over the years, especially when folks move into new construction homes, so I thought I would share this before/after and the 3 steps I take when I start planning a kitchen garden renovation.
Step 1: What stays
First, I focus on what I like about the garden. In this instance, you can see that this garden was already on a gravel foundation. I love gravel foundations because it ensures that when the garden drains, it isn’t damaging anything like a deck, driveway or patio. Plus, if you put a garden on a patch of grass, guess what you’re going to grow? Grass in a garden bed! By installing a raised bed in Boise on a gravel base and edging it away from any grass (with steel, cedar or concrete edging), you’ll avoid that annoying task of removing grass from your beds.
I also love this garden’s location for its sunlight, though it’s a bit far from the house. You can’t even see it from the house or the backyard. This home has a beautiful backyard, and now it has a beautiful garden. Unless the garden gets less than eight hours of sun, I usually don’t suggest moving it entirely.
Finally, I love the black powder coated steel beds. If you have been following us for a while, you know we do a lot of black powder coated steel. This isn’t just for looks, but in the Boise foothills, it can be quite difficult to install cedar beds, as they’re not firewise. Steel is a wonderful material for firewise locations. Plus, on retaining walls like these, they provide a thinner profile than cedar. I only wish these beds were taller (2 feet or more), but they’re tall enough for the abundance of veggies our client wants to grow.
Step 2: What goes
Next, I focus on what I can change. In this case, the soil was hard compacted and impossible to work with. It was fill dirt provided by the client’s landscaper that should have just been tossed over the hillside. Soil selection for raised beds in Boise is very important. Selecting high quality, organic soil mixed specifically for a raised bed garden (which can be purchased at many local garden stores), ensures high quality vegetables. At GFG, we amend all the soil we buy because each garden has taught us something differently (minerals for nutrition, compost for our dry climate, etc.) Our team dug this soil out and replaced it with the blend we know works.
We also added two arched trellises for height in this garden. The trellises add visual interest, but what’s more is that they provided a place to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans vertically. There’s plenty of room on the gravel for our squashes to run, and one bed even has a stand of blackberries. I wouldn’t advise anyone to put berries in a raised bed in Boise, FYI, as they don’t need high quality soil to grow and it’s best if they room to spread out (as we know they like to do).
Finally, we replaced the irrigation in these beds with our ½ inch netafim grid. This is what we have found works in all of our gardens to saturate the soil without wasting any water to evaporation. You can see in the photos that this garden is quite happy with all of the changes we made.
Step 3: What’s next
I never like to just plant and leave a space. Our way of gardening takes some getting used to, and when you invest in a Gold Feather Garden, I want to ensure you know how to maximize that investment. In addition to all of the physical changes we made in this space, we also changed the way the garden plans, plants and tends the space. We created two planting plans (one for the cool season and one for the warm season), we planted each bed according to the plan, and then we returned every two weeks throughout the season to prune, harvest, replant and amend the soil. We leave the harvest on their back patio, and all they have left to do is enjoy the garden and its yields. For a busy family who wants healthy, local food in their backyard, this full process works like a charm.
From a simple coaching session, where we evaluate your soil, irrigation and sunlight to create a planting plan and DIY adjustments to the garden, to a complete garden renovation, we’re able to serve folks who already have raised beds in Boise. If you’re getting ready to get plants in the ground but want to get off to the best start possible, fill out our inquiry form to get on our coaching calendar.