My raised raised bed project: finished the masonry part. Yay!!
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Looks great. I can see one advantage is that it will store heat for evenings and colder times.
JackPedigo
Level 9
Dec 23, 2018
1
Awesome project to undertake and a great solution. I won't show you my first attempt at masonry work. I should have used a level more often while rebuilding the top of my chimney. Good thing it's on the backside of the house 
After a while, the soil will settle lowering the level of the plant's height in the bed. I've had to lift plants and add more soil to raise them up. I would have the middle much higher with soil and tapered down to the level of your brick.
flower_nut
Level 7
Dec 23, 2018
3
I am SURE I would have done no better with chimney work. I staked string lines as guides, but I found out that it helped most with side to side alignment, not with vertical leveling. I figured one row of brick could be slightly off (and it is) and still be ok. But had I needed to lay 3 or more layers, there would have been an issue. I have newfound respect for pro bricklayers! Lol
Thanks for the reminder about soil settling. Roses especially seem to suck a lot out of soil. Going higher to start will be good, since some of the potted root balls are already taller than the 10 inches of the little wall. I get so many oak leaves in my yard that I plan on having leaf mold compost to add as a mulch layer every year.
@MikeInBatonRouge
I come from a line of brick masons and I'm embarrassed about my chimney. I did it in a hurry and didn't take my time as I should have. I hate handling cement and I found out I'm no mason. I look at it and it sucks the moisture out of my body. I touch it and I'm dry for days, the same with drywall.
Any work, such as yours, wouldn't last long here without a footing below the frost line. I prefer to dry stack the rocks and when the frost moves them I put them back.
@MikeInBatonRouge
Looks like your biggest pots will have to be planted in the centre. You could dig down a bit more in the centre to accommodate a larger root ball that likes wet feet. A larger specimen plant perhaps? Just a thought...I've done this with most of our larger plants. We have lots of rocks and the existing trees will seek out our new garden and root it well
@flower_nut one of the perks of living in the sub-tropical Gulf South. No killer subsurface frost. Almost makes up for not being able to grow dahlias and fushias, both of which I love. Ah well, at least I can try my hand at a citrus tree or two.
@flower_nut The roses now in tall pots I will just gently spread the root ball out to lower the overall depth, but I am still aiming for maybe 3 inches above the edge of the bricks.
@MikeInBatonRouge
The joys of gardening make us appreciate what we create even more. Grow us a citrus tree or two and I'll plant a dahlia or 2 and try my hand at a fuchsia for you
Masonry work looks great . You may want to insert a liner of some kind between the masonry and your new soil . Some plants may not like the lye in the concrete .
Cast1es
Level 9
Dec 23, 2018
3
I have lined the sides with weed barrier cloth to keep soil from flushing out the drainage slots, but that is all.
I still need soil. I am figuring on 4 cubic yards I will have to have delivered. Waiting until after Christmas to tackle. My entire yard is dense clay. Nutrient rich but TERRIBLE drainage. Roses hate wet feet, so my only option was to elevate a bit. I was given some cast off bricks, but only enough for one row around this 8 by 28 foot bed. So I set a concrete base underneath, forming tapered (trapazoid) blocks 32 inches in length. That was to create drainage slots all around the perimeter. There is room for 30 bushes, of which I already have 23 so far. I had never done any masonry work before, ever. So I am rather proud of my first effort.
MikeInBatonRouge
Level 8
Dec 23, 2018
4
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