Planning a garden doesn’t have to be a large undertaking nor does it have to involve lots of different and pricey elements. Your garden can be “contained” in anything as long as it can hold soil and drain water. Back to the roots  has some wonderful ideas about how to grow a garden in a can, a water garden and see mushrooms grow in a box. Their website also has online activities for the classroom complete with worksheets and science experiments. 

You can grow your garden in just about anything. From paper cups, pots, tins, buckets really anything as long as there are holes in the bottom for drainage and a depth of 3 inches you should be fine.

Simple, easy and effective. But if you really want to put down some garden roots you could build a wooden framed container garden on your deck, yard or any space that you feel has the right amount of sunlight. Mainly you want to identify the purpose of your garden and evaluate your the space you have and the conditions. How much time you want to maintain the garden is another factor to consider and what your planting goals are.

A raised bed container garden is one of the best ways to have a home vegetable garden. It is a fun project even if you feel like you aren’t handy at all. It is easy to make, consisting of four pieces of wood a few screws, newspaper, soil and your seeds. This online tool from Gardeners Supply Company is very helpful in designing your garden. A fun interactive way of planning and organizing what you want to plant and where. They also have a huge selection of garden supplies, tools and everything you ever would need to learn about planting a garden. Keep it simple to start, keep good notes in a journal on what you plant and over the years you will see what grows and how to change your layout depending on which plants flourished and which types of seeds or vegetables you preferred. Most of all, enjoy the process!

How To: Container Garden

This is a very simple project that will make gardening easy and most importantly, enjoyable!

materials

Newspaper, cardboard or Typar( black weed barrier)

hand saw, hammer

3- 8 foot 2×4 of untreated pine wood

20D 4 inch galvanized nails

for a higher garden bed

4-36 inch corner posts

6 additional 8 foot 2×4’s

Instructions

Lay down on the ground, the newspaper, typar or cardboard in a 4x 8 space.

This will prevent weeds from growing under your garden bed.

Cut 1 of the 2×4’s in half to make the ends of the rectangle.

Nail 3 nails into the ends of the 4 foot side into the 8 foot sides.

This creates a 4 x 8 foot rectangular bed.

Fill with a good quality soil.

thoughts

vegetable gardener.com

If you want a garden bed that is higher off the ground you can add corner posts and increase the number of 2×4’s that you add until you reach the height  you are looking for. A higher bed is easier on the back and could be as high as 40 inches or waist height. You can design your container garden to meet your specific size or dimensions but this is one that is designed for a smaller garden. You will need a space of 8 feet X 16 feet. There will be enough wood to construct (1)- 4 x 8 foot rectangular bed for planting. Pick a location with 6-8 hours of sunlight, good air circulation and near a water supply.