Raised Bed Garden Plan for 2019 (or 2020)

I love our raised bed garden, but it's falling apart. As I mentioned in my August garden recap, Morgan has destroyed the fence and the gate. I've given up on replacing the deer netting, Morgan Mayhem shreds it (in fact she thinks its her personal set of dental floss). And then with full garden access she indulges in digging and destroying in the beds. Worse, the raised beds themselves are at the end of their lifespan - the cedar is soft and rotted. They are going to fall apart anytime now. All the rain this summer made it even worse - I accidentally kicked one while cleaning up the dead tomatoes and vine beds and my foot went through. Another one started to crumble under Morgan's weight. Sadly, these are done. I don't think they will make it another season.

So it's time to start planning garden #2 to replace our first garden. New beds, new fence. And of course use this opportunity to fix the issues we've had with our first one. There's no better template for improvements than 8 years of experience.

I'm hoping we can implement this plan in the spring... but it's a BIG project. We might not finish in time for planting. It might not get done until next summer, next fall, or even next spring. In the meantime the garden will be paused. As sad as I would be to skip the garden next year, I would rather do that than deal with the frustrations of this year all over again - better to do this right.

First and foremost, the new beds will be made of composite this time instead of cedar. The composite kits I found online cost about the same as cedar in NJ (cedar is very expensive here) but of course should last much longer. I'm keeping them the same size - 8' x 4' was great for our needs. Plenty of room for the plants, but I could reach everywhere in each bed. I also really like having four big beds for crop rotation and variety.

We also need to replace the fence with something sturdy that can't be shredded by Morgan. It doesn't need to be tall - we haven't had deer in our backyard since our neighbors put up their 6 ft privacy fence. It also needs to be low maintenance and let light through. I think that 3 ft vinyl picket fence with wide spacing (like this one from Home Depot) would be the best fit. It will look pretty, never require painting, and will let in a good amount of light through. Morgan won't be able to shred it and the points on top will deter her from jumping. If we do a little cement around the posts, she won't be able to knock it over either. I think we would keep the semi-buried chicken wire, putting it in the inside of the garden fence wall. This would help deter chipmunks and rabbits (though they are much less of a problem now that we have a big hunting dog patrolling our yard).

Other Improvements:

• Wider paths. The paths on the outside around the beds are too narrow and when the weeds grow in and the plants grow big, they feel even more crowded. We made the whole thing the width of the garage originally and divided up the space, but it needs to be wider. If we widen the whole garden imprint by 3.5/4 ft, the paths overall will be more comfortable. 
• Moving the garden gate to face the house at the end of the path. The fence gates that come with the vinyl fence line are 3.5 ft wide, which is where we came up with the 3.5/4 ft number for widening the overall garden. This will help blend the new wider garden width blend into the overall yard layout and look nicer from the house.
• Adding a trellis over the garden gate at the end of the path. Originally I wanted to add a trellis at the beginning of the path near the driveway, but I think with the garden changes it will not only look better in the back, but will help make the new extension look intentional and designed (plus I've wanted a trellis since we bought the house). 
• Having a gate on both sides - it's a little annoying to have to walk all the way around the garden when the ground is wet or all the way around the garage. Having a gate on both sides would be very convenient. 
• Combat weeds. Adding a perimeter around the fence with pea gravel and/or pavers about 6" deep will help with encroachment. While it will be much easier to weed whack the weeds with a real fence in place (vs. netting), this will also help even more by allowing the lawn mower to get closer. 
• Pushing back the length of the garden imprint by 3 feet. Making the garden a little deeper will give us more room. Which I will use for...
• Adding in two narrow beds at the back for non-rotating items, 2 beds that are 8 ft wide and 2 ft deep. I don't mind moving the oregano, thyme and rosemary every year, but if we are making all these improvements, we might as well make this garden the best it can be. And that would include a non-rotating herb garden in the back and moving the strawberries in here too. As much as I like the strawberry bed on the side of the garage, it's no match for Morgan Mayhem and her love of berries. In the long run we could even espalier a couple apple trees back here.  

Here's the plan laid out:

I would also like to add in 16" square patio pavers in gray (before we used leftover patio pavers, but those were a little too small and we had to relocate  them to keep Morgan from going under the fence). We might have to order more pea gravel to fill things in, and we definitely need to order new compost mix in bulk. We plan on emptying the existing beds to fill in low spots in the yard (instead of ordering dirt now) - after 8 years it's time to start fresh.

While we're at it we should fix/straighten the path leading to the garden along the garage. My dad offered us several big slabs of slate (like the ones we have on the side of the garage) which would be perfect for the path along the garage surrounded by pea gravel. I love the look of gray stones and pavers surrounded by pea gravel.

So that's the plan. It would make the garden AMAZING. No more rotting beds, less opportunities for Morgan destruction. Fewer weeds. Easier harvesting. There would even be room for pots where I could have peppers, even the citrus trees back here.

Here's how it would fit into the overall yard plan - it's an easy change to make and it won't effect the usable yard space.