Mow less: Add raised planting beds to your landscape

I hate mowing the lawn. As I write this, I’m avoiding looking out the window so I don’t see that it’s time to break the mower out, tune it up and put it to work.

When I was a kid, my father had a weekend landscaping business that entailed maintenance at a couple of banks. I was the youngest of three girls and we were his laborers. He paid very well, but I always got the safest (read: worst) job of weeding. After what felt like hours of pulling stubborn weeds from sandy, dry, endless parking lot medians, I longed to have the chance to walk behind the mower. I still remember the first time I was allowed to wield the beastly machine. I was on top of the world. And then it got old, really fast.

My husband also hates mowing the lawn. He too, remembers waiting for the chance to be old enough and then getting old enough and wishing the chance had never come. There is something truly ridiculous about feeding a plant so it grows fast and furious, and then lopping it off at every turn. We both agree that lawns are useless, but that’s where the agreement ends. If left to him, the lawn would never be mowed. He doesn’t care one bit what the neighbors think. He doesn’t mind when the children lose toys to the sea of grass. But I do, and so I am the one who checks the oil, fills the gas tank, and grumbles to myself as I push the mower along.

To make things more interesting, because just mowing a plain yard is no fun, we have more than 10 raised beds. When designing the layout, we spaced them far enough apart to fit the lawnmower between. In theory, this would make mowing easy. And if the beds remained empty, it would be easy. But when oodles of vegetable and fruit plants are in full bloom, it’s like barreling through the jungle. I’ve had to balance on the narrow edges of the wooden beds while trying to turn the mower around and not damage the produce that is begging to be harvested. Mowing at my house, is a full contact sport. But, even though I complain about mowing between our raised beds, it’s still better than a full lawn of grass. Also, I plan to avoid guerrilla mowing this year by laying down mulch between the beds.

So why am I such a huge proponent of edible lawns? Besides the aforementioned fact that feeding then mowing the grass is a ludicrous notion, most lawnmowers (mine included), are gas powered. They are fossil-fuel-eating beasts that pollute the air with carbon dioxide as well as noise. What’s worse then waking up bright and early Sunday morning to a growling lawnmower?

My hatred of lawn mowing has pushed me towards many of the solutions I’ve discussed over the last two weeks; I plant more clover every year, we increase space for herbs and rip up lawn for fruit and berry plants. And the beds themselves are an excellent way to eliminate grass and grow food.

At River and Roots Community Garden, we use raised beds built from Douglas Fir and sealed with linseed oil. Most of the beds are 10 foot by four foot and are one foot high. Before we filled them with compost, we covered the turf with thick layers of newspaper, to help with lawn and weed suppression.

The width of the beds in important. Though it may seem easier to build fewer, larger beds, remember that you have to be able to reach across the bed to plant, harvest and weed. You don’t want to step in or walk across your raised bed as that will compact the soil. Four feet across works well as you can usually reach across most of the bed.

At the community garden, we’ve started making several of our beds double high, increasing them to two feet. Initially, this was necessary for our gardeners who suffered from bad backs or other health ailments. After Sandy, we realized that our southern beds would be better equipped to avoid submersion when the Peconic River overflows, if they were higher. Your circumstances will help decide what the best height is for your yard.

When using raised beds, I highly recommend employing square-foot gardening techniques. Amy Davidson wrote all about this method in a previous gardening blog. I could never do the topic justice so check out her information.

Though we built our beds out of wood, you can use lots of different materials to designate your gardening area. Friends of ours used cinder blocks. They filled the openings in the blocks with soil and planted flowers there. They made a beautiful addition to the beds! You can also use brick, stones, or anything else you have laying around. Be sure to avoid treated woods, though. You don’t want the chemicals used to leach into your soil and plants.

Unless you’re already a seasoned gardener, I wouldn’t recommend taking over your entire lawn at once. Try one or two raised beds. You can even start with something less permanent, like a few large planters. Not only will you have your own fresh herbs and vegetables, you’ll be taking back your weekends, one patch of grass at a time.

It’s not very complicated to build a raised bed, especially if you choose brick or stones. However, if you want to use wood and need some guidance, try following these plans from the do-it-yourself network:

Building raised beds

Begin by measuring one 2 by 12 by 12 board to a length of 35 1/2 inches for the planter box end pieces. Use a framing square and a pencil to mark for your cut. Then, using a circular saw, make the cut. You’ll need two end pieces for each box. For the bed sides no cuts are necessary, use the entire 12-foot length. This will make your planter box 12-foot long by 3-foot wide.

Once all of the wood is laid out, pre-drill holes in the side pieces using a cordless drill and a 1/8-inch drill bit. These holes will prevent the wood from splitting when you attach the side pieces to the end pieces. Next, using 3-inch galvanized wood screws, attach the two pieces. Repeat these building steps for each planter box.

With all the beds in position, use 18-inch stakes to keep the beds in place. Drive the stakes into the ground until even with the top of the bed. Next, attach it to raised bed using 2-inch screws. The stakes will prevent the beds from moving as soil is put into them.

Laurie Nigro, a mother of two, is passionate about natural living. Laurie resides in downtown Riverhead and is co-founder of the River and Roots Community Garden on West Main Street. Contact her by email to laurie@riverheadlocal.com.

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