Arizona Vegetable & Fruit Gardening
For The Arizona Desert Environment
Pictures, Photos, Images, Descriptions, & Reviews.
George & Eve Delange
Cement Or Concrete Block Raised Bed Gardens.
Arizona Vegetable & Fruit Tree Gardens.
Page Two.
| Newly Constructed Cement Block Raised Bed Gardens. Arizona Raised Bed Vegetable Gardens For The Arizona Desert Environment. |
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Most Of These Items Are For Someone Who Just Wants To Start
Or For Someone With Just A Small Area To Plant Their Garden
Click On The Item For A More Detailed Look. No Obligation!
On June 30, 2013 at about 4:03 PM the Yarnell Hill Forest Fire destroyed the home and gardens of Eve & George DeLange. Eve & George were able to escape by driving to within about 30 feet of the 20 to 40 foot tall flames and then making a turn to the roadway leading to Highway 89a. Eve and George decided as they were leaving, that they would return, and rebuild their home in the Glen Ilah area of Yarnell. This page is devoted to the rebuilding of another of our flower beds, which is now constructed out of concrete block. It used to be made out of old railroad ties. The railroad ties worked fine, but we decided to make them out of concrete blocks this time. This bed is larger than the first one that we built as shown on page one. We did build it in a slightly different manner which we think may be easier. The main thing that we did differently was to use large boards to help level the ground, and we used a rubber mallet to tap the blocks into place, which worked much more quickly.
Cement or Concrete Blocks: Here is some basic information about cement blocks. This general information can be found in just about any book about cement block construction. It may sound a bit technical, but it can help you to decide which size block you prefer. The basic concrete block size of 8x8x16 inches is most commonly used for flower, or vegetable garden, raised beds. It can be found in most home & garden stores. This is the size we used.
Concrete Block Sizes and CMU DimensionsConcrete Masonry Units (CMU), or Concrete Blocks, come in a variety of sizes.� CMUs are identified by their depth - i.e. the thickness of the wall they create.� For instance, an 8" CMU is nominally 8" deep.� As with brick, CMU's have actual dimensions and nominal dimensions.� The nominal dimension of a CMU is the actual dimension plus the width of the mortar joint.� The typical CMU mortar joints are 3/8".� The nominal dimension works within the 4" grid that other construction materials follow. Now, the point of this discussion is that if you are not using morter, while they say a cement block is 8 x 8 x16 inches. It is not! It is 7 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 15 5/8 inches ! When laying out your block bed, use the real size in planing your bed ! It will make your measurements come out better!
4" CMU
6" CMU
8" CMU
10" CMU
12" CMU
Buy enough to do the project. Cement or Concrete Solid Capping Blocks To Fit Blocks You Selected: To give a "finished" look to your project. No holes will show! Shovel: To add soil or remove soil to or from the area you will place the blocks upon. Hoe: To level the soil. We use a hoe when roughly leveling the soil. Rake: To level the soil. We also use a rake when roughly leveling the soil. Garden Hand Trowel: To level the soil. We use a trowel when precisely leveling the soil and the blocks. Gloves: To move the blocks with, or to smooth the area of the soil that you have leveled. Saves wear and tear of your hands. We prefer leather. Rubber Mallet: To tap the blocks tightly together and into place. This will let you level and adjust the blocks in about 1/3 of the time than using a metal hammer and wooden block. Mortar: Not needed unless you plan to paste or bind the construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. Trowel: Not needed unless you plan to paste or bind the construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. 1/2 inch PVC Pipe: To easilly replace your drip line later on as needed. Save a lot of work & time every few years as these lines do wear out over time. Use, if you are using a drip irrigation system. 1/4 inch Drip Line: To provide water to your planter, if you are using a drip irrigation system. 1/4 inch Drip Line Plugs: To plug your drip line to keep soil out during construction of the planter. They are removed, or cut and Drip Emitters are put into the lines when you are building your drip system, if you are using a drip irrigation system. 1/4 inch Drip Emitters:
These are used to adjust the flow of water to your planter, if you are using a drip irrigation system.
2. The next step is to level the ground where you will place the blocks. We used a flat shovel and a rake to roughly level the soil. We then used a level measuring device to make sure the ground was level. We then laid a 2" X 10" X 12' board on the level ground and tapped it with the sledge hammer to insure that the ground was packed tightly. We placed a level on the board occasionaly to make sure the ground was level. We sprayed the leveled ground with a light spray of water to finish the leveling & to firm the soil. After it dried we tested it for being level again. It it were not level we would use the board to level it again. 3. As we placed our blocks on the leveled soil, we also placed a level upon the top of each block to make sure it was level. We made sure that the soil where the blocks would be placed, was compacted before placing the blocks on the soil. We did not compact the area in the center of the planter, so we would have good drainage. 4. We would either add soil or remove soil to help level the blocks. Sometimes, we would lightly tap the blocks with our hand or a hammer to help level the blocks upon the compacted soil. We did not cement the blocks together. You could if you wanted to. 5. We used a heavy rubber hammer to tap the blocks together tightly. An iron hammer can be used, but be careful, you can chip or break the blocks. 6. Note: Before placing all of the blocks upon the compacted soil, we used 1/2 inch PVC to place 1/4 in drip line tubing in place into the planters. We plugged each drip line so that dirt would not stop them up. This was done so we could easily connect the drip lines when reaching that stage of construction. 7. When you think you are done, stand back and take a good look before filling the flower bed with soil. Make sure everything is in place and level. Make corrections as needed. 8. Then paint the inside of the flower bed with a masonary waterproof paint. This will prevent water from leaching stains to the outside walls of your planter. Otherwise, it won't look clean after a few months! 9. We recommend filling the flower beds completely with soil, because this gives you the option of planting deeply rooted plants, like raspberries. Fill the flower bed with soil until it is nearly level with the rim, as the soil will settle quite a bit once you water. The least expensive option for filling the flower beds with soil is to purchase bulk topsoil. Most topsoil suppliers have a "vegetable garden mix" that contains topsoil, sand, and compost. We already had a great amount of good soil already prepared from before the fire. When we had all of the rubble from the fire removed, we had a bull dozer move the good soil to an area on our land where we could easily move it to raised beds as needed, so we reused that topsoil mix. 10. If using a drip irrigation system, connect it to your planter. 11. Then Enjoy!
A great resource about Raised Bed Gardening in Arizona is written by the Arizona Cooperative Extension, College of Agriculture, The University of Arizona. It is called, the Vegetable Garden: Intensive Gardening Methods. Another great resource about Raised Bed Gardening in Arizona is written by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County; Jeff Schalau, Associate Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources. It is called, the Raised Bed Construction. During your first year of gardening you will learn that you need somplace to put the waste from your garden. You could just throw it away. But you could use it over and put it back into your garden. After all, it's good for your soil! Here is a great resource on building Compost Materials that can be reused back into your garden. This resource is written by the University of Missouri Extension, The University of Missouri. It is called, the How to Build a Compost Bin. It tells you everything you need to know!
Here are some others:
Building a Raised Bed Garden
Garden Use of Treated Lumber
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| Before Fire Image. Railroad Tie Raised Bed Garden. Totally Burned By The Yarnell Forest Fire. Replaced With Cement Block Raised Bed. | Before Fire Image. Railroad Tie Raised Bed Garden. Totally Burned By The Yarnell Forest Fire. Replaced With Cement Block Raised Bed. This Bed Is The One Shown Being Rebuilt With Cement Blocks On This Page. |
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| After The Yarnell Forest Fire. Railroad Tie Raised Bed Garden. Totally Burned By The Yarnell Forest Fire. Replaced With Cement Block Raised Bed. | After The Yarnell Forest Fire. Railroad Tie Raised Bed Garden. Totally Burned By The Yarnell Forest Fire. Replaced With Cement Block Raised Bed. |
| First We Leveled One Side Of Soil For The Flower Bed. We Removed Or Added Soil As Needed. Placed The Board OnThe Soil. Pounded It Level With Sledge Hammer. RemovedThe Board. Lightly Sprayed The Soil With Water. Placed The Board OnThe Soil, Releveled If Needed. | Then We Centered The Center Block Of The Bed. Behind The Leveled Board To Verify That We Had Enough Soil Leveled, Under The Board. |
| The Levels Show The soil Is Level. | The Levels Show The soil Is Level. |
| We Then Began Laying The Blocks. Making Sure They Are Level. | We Then Began Laying The Blocks. Making Sure They Are Level. |
| Our Watchdog, Amber. Making Sure They Are Level. She Says They Are O.K. | Our Watchdog, Amber. Making Sure They Are Level. She Says They Are O.K. |
| We Then Began Leveling The Soil For The Last Row Of Blocks. Making Sure The Soil Under The Board Is Level. | We Then Began Leveling The Soil For The Last Row Of Blocks. Making Sure The Corners Are Squared. |
| We Then Removed The Leveling Board For The Last Row Of Blocks. After Making Sure The Soil Under The Board Is Level. | We Then Lightly Sprayed Water On The Soil For The Last Row Of Blocks. This Compacted The Soil So It Stayed Level When Blocks Were Placed Upon The Soil. We Placed The Blocks On The Soil, When It Was Dry. |
| We Used Mason String & Rebar To Make Sure Blocks Were Straight. | We Used Mason String & Rebar To Make Sure Blocks Were Straight. |
| Close Up We Used Mason String & Rebar To Make Sure Blocks Were Straight. | Close Up We Used Mason String & Rebar To Make Sure Blocks Were Straight. |
| Rubber Hammer Or Mallet Used To Level & Straighten Blocks. | Flower Bed, Ready For Waterproof Paint On Inside. |
| 1/4 Inch Drip Irrigation Line Hose. 1/4 Inch Drip Line Plugs. | PVC Pipes Formed To Hold Drip Line In Planter. |
| PVC Pipe With Drip Line. | Drip Line With Plug. |
| Sledge Hammer & Board For Tapping Blocks Into Place. The Board Helps To Prevent Breakage. The Rubber Mallet Works Much Better! | Cement Waterproof Sealer Paint. To Keep Water From Leaching Through Blocks And Staining The Outside Walls Of Planter. |
| Cement Block Raised Bed Garden. Inside Painted With Cement Waterproof Sealer Paint. |
Arizona Desert Landscaping And Gardening, No obligation!
Arizona Animals And Birds, No obligation!
We Buy Our Hard To Find Fruit Trees For Yarnell Arizona At Nature Hills Nursery.
We Have Several Nice Fruit Trees Growing In Yarnell, Arizona.
They Will Do Well In Other Similar Elevations In Arizona. ie.. Prescott, Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Sedona.
Cameo & Fuji Apples! Yummm! Click The Nature Hills Nursery Link To View.
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Most Of These Items Are For Someone Who Just Wants To Start
Or For Someone With Just A Small Area To Plant Their Garden
Click On The Item For A More Detailed Look. No Obligation!
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