Sustainable Eye for the Conservative Guy: Raised Garden

Sustainable Eye for the Conservative Guy (SECG) is an idea I’ve had in my mind for quite some time.  I’ve actually gone back and forth on the name, trying to decide if Conservative Eye for the Sustainable Guy is better.  If I get feedback either way, I’m still open to changing it. 

My initial thought was to start an entire new section of TBA or even an entirely new blog based on green solutions that make sense.  By ‘make sense,’ I mean things that don’t require government subsidies, 20+ year payback periods, or are questionable in their effectiveness. 

Over the past few months, I’ve come to realize I don’t have enough time to properly run and promote TBA let alone an entirely new blog.  As I worked on a new project at my house this past weekend, I realized, while I struggle with many of the articles I write due to lack of expertise, I am passing many opportunities to write relevant articles that come easy to me because I am waiting to launch a site I will never have time to maintain.  I’ve decided today I will wait no longer!  SECG will just become an occasional part of the blog.  As I do things at home, I will share my projects and design ideas with you.

We all know, most of what extreme Liberal environmentalists tout as ‘green’ is often too expensive or not at all realistic for the average homeowner.  Because of their policies and pie in the sky schemes, we end up with billion dollar solar plants sitting vacant, a major part of the population (you and me) turned off to the ‘green movement’ altogether, and people wasting their money due to government scare tactics.  While their plan may scare you, I promise, you will never read about a technology or project on this site that will not make you proud to be green, save money, and also allow you to continue with your current quality of life. 

Let me be your sustainable eye! After all, would you rather listen to me or Al Gore?

Let’s move on to today’s sustainable project…
Raised Garden

I’ve been thinking about how to turn a portion of my backyard into a memorial garden for my son Caiden, who passed away in December of 2010.  The area I am looking at is currently occupied by a poorly constructed deck and fence. 

I knew I wanted to remove part, if not all, of the deck so I can create a memorial garden, but I didn’t want to throw away the deck boards.  They don’t look great, but often times, when you turn the boards over, they are pretty nice on the back side.  Because this deck reached it’s lifespan due more to poor construction than wear and tear, these boards were in really good shape.

I decided to tear out the entire deck and will reuse the frame for my new deck, which will only be half the size.  As for the deck boards, they will be the focus of this article since they have been used to build my new raised garden.

Basically, all you need are a few deck boards, some pieces of the deck framing or posts as corner framing, and a simple design touch to make the planter boxes unique.

1)  Cut deck boards to 3′-0″ lengths – determine how high you want your planters to figure how many pieces you will need.  I made my planters only 2 boards high so I would have enough material left for my next project.
2)  Cut your corner structural pieces to 1′-0″ longer than desired height.  You will need 4 corner pieces per planter
3)  Assemble planks into a box.  You can use nails from the deck if you were careful enough in removing them, or if you are lucky enough have your deck assembled with screws, you can reuse the screws.  I would place two nails or two screws at the each end of each board.

Tip:  old deck boards may split, so if you are using screws, you might want to drill pilot holes.  If you are using nails, you can turn the nail with the point up and the head down on a hard surface.  Hit the nail on the point with a hammer one time.  Dulling the tip of the nail will limit splitting.

4)  Time for a design touch.  Cut 4 more deck boards to a length about 6″ longer than the planks you cut for the planter box sides.  Rip the board in half, length wise with a table saw.  You will have 8 pieces when you are done.

5)  Use a miter saw to cut a 45 angle at one end of one board.  Hold the board on the top of the box, lined up with the inside of the plank.  Mark with a pencil where the other end 45 cut should be.  Attach the board to the planks with finish nails.  Continue cutting a marking for each side of the box.  Now make an exact match for each of the four pieces.
6)  Use the scrap piece cut off each end as a spacer and nail it on top of the decorative piece with finish nails. 
7)  Now nail the matching pieces on top of the spacers.

8)  Place the box where you want it and mark the corner posts on the ground.
9)  Dig holes for each post and set the box back into place. 
10)  Use a level to make sure the boxes are sitting flat.
11)  Fill the boxes with dirt

Note:  You may want to staple plastic to the inside of the boxes as a liner.  Treated deck boards are treated with chemicals and you don’t want that in your food.  I did not because the deck boards are old, but if you use new boards, I would strongly consider this step.  If you do, poke holes in the plastic so water isn’t trapped.  

Not only did you just reuse something you would have otherwise thrown away, you also make your garden easier to weed without killing your back and much better looking.

Drive a Liberal nuts and prove you are more ‘green’ than them!

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