Looking for a way to get a garden started quickly, with minimum effort? My no build raised bed garden came together in a few hours. Yours can too.
I thought I would share some pictures of my garden this year. I’ve done some improvising to get it in place quickly with as little effort as possible. Perhaps you can adapt some of these ideas to get things planted easily in your garden too.
Easy No Build Raised Beds
My house in Texas is in gardening zone 8b, which means that we can grow a fall garden (it acts like spring in the North) starting in September, and then in March, we start our summer gardens. We already have 80 degree days so the peppers, tomatoes, and beans need to be in the ground before it gets too hot and dry.
Feeling like I was under the gun at the beginning of March I chose to create a no-build raised garden bed system this year. They are easy to move, so as the permanent beds get built this summer I can still use them.
100 Gallon Stock Tanks
We purchased three 100 Gallon Water Stock Tanks ( found at Tractor Supply) that are 4 feet long by 2 feet wide. These have been elevated on cinder blocks and wood because we have fire ants here and I don’t want to have them invade the tubs. Follow the link (not an affiliate) to see the other sizes available. Perhaps this will give you an idea for things you can find locally.
These galvanized tubs make simple raised beds that give me 24 square feet of growing space or as much as a 3×8 foot raised bed. I’m using the square foot gardening method and planting items as close as possible. I’ll also use succession planting and be sure to rotate crops as soon as they mature. Another bonus – because of their raised height they are easy to weed and harvest.
These tanks are 2 feet deep so I can successfully grow tomatoes above ground.
30 Gallon Pots
I have another area on the side of the house that gets plenty of sunshine and I use it for a container garden. I’ve decided to expand this area to grow more food and herbs. The 30-gallon pots are used and were purchased from my local nursery for $5 each. I like this size because it gives me 18 inches of depth for planting. Almost any food can be grown in depths of 18 to 24 inches.
I already have big pots of peppermint, spearmint, and orange mint (as you can see they are ready for the first harvest) and I also have some broccoli that has been harvested and is growing a second side shoot crop.
Additional large pots will become small raised beds of kale, Swiss chard, mustard greens, and collards. These are the greens we like to eat in salads and in our morning green smoothies.
I have blue water drums are going to be cut in half and used as planters too. We’ll grow a teepee of pole beans, a couple of zucchini plants, and more green peppers in these. I’ll also put in a tub of potatoes, even though they are considered a cool-weather crop, since I was gifted some potato chits and don’t want them to go to waste.
Other ideas for large container gardens
- Use an old bathtub. I used an old bathtub as a large planter in my yard in Oregon. It was filled with mint, but any crop would work.
- Purchase a plastic kiddie pool. Drill holes in the bottom to allow for drainage.
- Cut down plastic garbage cans to be 2.5 feet deep, then fill them with 2 feet of soil. Alternatively, you could use this for a compost bin.
- Use CleverMade 62L Collapsible Storage Bins (Amazon) as a no build raised bed garden.
- Purchase large felt cloth grow bags. (Lazy Pecan)These are similar to the kiddie pool idea, except they can be filled with soil, then taken down, folded up and used year after year.
How can you think outside the box and create a no build raised bed garden for your property this year?
What kind of soil are you using for those 100 gallon water stock containers? Just bagged potting soil? Thanks
I purchased organic bagged soil at the local big box store and then added 1 5-gallon bucket of peat moss (for water retention) and about 4 cups of vermiculite (to give the soil more airspace).
Don’t the galvanized tubs get to hot?
Hi Janice, so far the heat hasn’t been an issue. As with all container gardens, I’ll need to water daily when there is no rain.
This is new for me, I have limited space. I am trying to pick a spot that would work. I am also a renter living in the city. Los Angeles. Thank you!
Hi Kathryne, you’ll need to pick a spot with 6 to 8 hours of sunlight and preferably access to water (although you could tote buckets if needed)
I, would like to show you how I, use those Black Tubs for growing.
First I, have an insert I make from signage material called “Coroplast” that I put in the bottom that holds 7 gal’s of water for a Sub Irrigated Planters.
Next I use 4 Polyester cloth wicks that keep the roots moist.
Also each planter has 8 side holes, making greater use of each tub.
Each tub has an individual water fill tube, or I also have designed the tubs were your able to “Daisy Chain” them together, with a 5 gal. bucket with a Float valve to keep the water level in each constantly filled.
I, have some pictures, but nowhere to post them here.
Terry
Do you drill any water drain holes in the bottom?
Just to clarify…you did drill holes in the stock tank? Working on this in my backyard and want to be sure I do it correctly! Last yeer I used 5 gallon buckets and drilled a few holes int he bottom and they worked good but they just didn’t look too nice!