"BobR" wrote
"cshenk" wrote:

What i want is to build a flush to the ground, and open to the ground at
the
bottom, TALL LONG raised garden. I am looking at 36ft long, about 2ft
tall,
and about 2ft deep.

So far ideas are to make basic wood frame and set it on an outer rim of
cinderblock to keep the wood out of the damp. Also, lining with heavy
industrial plastic in layers so the dirt doesnt leach out too bad.

Not too much for the cinderblocks concept since they are nothing short
of butt ugly.

Grin, was going to paint them dark brown then let the 15YO decorate them
with painted flowers and such.

My preference would be to build the basic structure
using stones and base filled with loose rocks for first 12 inches then
fill with well draining soil misture. I have done a similar
configuration that also used a number of boulders as well. Using the
boulders allows for creation of some additonal texture to the system.

Sounds nice! Bit beyond us though. This isnt a rocky area of the country
so I'd have to buy the 'boulders'. Also, was thinking if it's open to the
dirt below, will get ground water leaching up which is what we need here. I
will need to mortar the blocks at the back (against the house) as we also
need a sort of water retaining wall there. Not bad just yet, but in time
the water spilling to the porch will damage the exterior wall. We checked
and the damage is minimal as of yet. Specs from contractors show we really
need a retainer wall there, or we need to re-landscape the whole back yard.
It doesnt need to be a high one. 8 inches will be more than enough. Figured
i may as well make it something useful ;-)

Use the spaces between some of the stones for planting some small trim
plants such as small ferns. Its hard to say exactly what the design
should look like but with the length you are talking about (36ft) try
to give it some character instead of making it a long wall. Use the
mesh fabric to line and it will retain the dirt without any problem.

Plastic should work too though right? See, I have lots of that already so
wouldnt need to buy anything.