Depends on the garden design. I have 4 raised beds next to each other. Cement blocks are 8 inches wide so for me 4 raised beds would lose me 64 inches of space (16 x 4). Not a big deal if you have the space but in a small area it adds up.
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I definitely understand the math. What I’m saying is don’t discount seating as a worthwhile use of space. Now, if you’re planning on doing a bunch of raised beds, block is probably not the right material for a lot of reasons, including that you don’t need that much seating. But for one or two beds, why not?
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Find a day your cinder blocks are dry…very dry…
and use
‘Great Stuff’ formaldehiyde foam from the cans as your adhesive …use a small bead sparingly…3 blocks high is not a problem.
You can sit on your blocks too.
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You can plant inside of the holes of cement blocks. You really don’t lose anything but the outside inch or so.
I had a cinderblock bed for a few years before the shutdown left my handy husband with more freetime than usual and he did a garden makeover. I tried to grow within the block holes as well as the interior of the bed. That was fun to see what grew well in those smaller spots and what died quickly. It was hard to keep the plants in the holes watered well enough because they dried out so quickly.
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I’ve got several of these beds and while they move some, it isn’t too bad. I’ve only gone 2 blocks high though.
This one uses over-sized blocks (wider than most). It has worked well as a garden bed, mostly to grow potatoes. Note that it doesn’t really have ends, as I used tree trunk sections there and they have mostly decayed. In fact, to the upper-left, you can see a bed which is entirely made of tree trunk sections which are getting pretty soft after 6-7 years.
There are a few rows of radishes planted now and the slate acts as a place I can step in the middle.
I’ve got figs in this one, which is in a wet area. Over the years, at least half of the bottom block has sunken into the ground. I can’t say that these figs have done all that well, but I’m not sure if the bed is to blame. The one at the top of the pic is RDB and has produced a handful of figs each year for the last 2-3 years.
This one has probably been the most unstable, as I have it near the top of a hill. I think the mix I used to fill it drains a bit too well, as the strawberries I originally planted there gradually died out. I’ve used it for other stuff in recent years, and just mixed some compost in the other day and tried planting more strawberries.
I’ve also used a single-high row of blocks as edging. It worked OK, but probably wasn’t worth the work. I’ve been taking apart one of the edges (probably give up on weeding beds and just mow up to the trees) and re-purposing the blocks.
I just made this bed with the leftovers from the edge:
You can tell I didn’t spend a ton of time getting everything perfectly level and square. In fact, the ground slopes, so I tried to hug the slope, rather than building up (or digging into) the ground.
So, at the end, the last block didn’t fit perfectly. My solution- knock off part of it with a hammer and fill in the space with some left-over cement.
There was one part which looked particularly precarious, based on the slope of the ground, so I added some supports. (5’ galvanized rigid conduit (1/2") which was cut in half to get 2 stakes out of it).
I wouldn’t argue it is beautiful, but I was looking for functional. I should have checked into corrugated metal, as it sounds like it could have been easier. Moving a lot of cement blocks is certainly a workout. After the first trip where I moved 4, I settled into a more sensible plan of only bringing 2 of them up the hill at a time…
I’ve always squeezed things in too tight, so I don’t think it has been bad having the blocks enforce some separation. But, I admit that I am thinking about planting some of my extra day neutral strawberries in the holes. Particularly the block which has a double-wide hole (already filled with dirt on the upper-right of a few pics up).
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Yeah, they’ve gotta be level and tight to be stable. The porosity of what you used seems to me to faciliate allowing excess water to seep out better. For a one or two layer transitory bed, it really doesn’t matter if they’ll stay super stable. And if you’re filling them anyway, then moving the blocks around to facilitate crop rotation just allows the shallow garden soil spread into the topsoil layer after the framing is reloacted anyway. Strawberries do well in the holes with the right soil, and it is very easy to pinch off the runners. Herbs like thyme or pennyroyal that stay small and dense anyway seem to fill in nicely as well.
For the question of underlayment someone above asked. There are a thousand different ways. If I am not immediately needing the ground below to be tilled, I usually just put down a layer of cardboard on top of the grass wide enough that I can at least overlap the edges with my block so the grass and more functional “weeds” are discouraged from participation in the prepared space. I usually wet the cardboard before adding my soil so it both breaks down faster and matts up to minimize crawl spaces for any exploratory critters to find before sufficient good rains do that task. for the types that leave gaps between, I may add more cardboard around the edges or landscape fabric up to at least the first course of block so the grass doesn’t exploit the cracks. That stuff is invasive.
I have never used cinder blocks but have seen a number of them in my area. Usually two high because of the cost of filling them with good quality garden soil. I still suggest a level 2x10 ten foot by three foot rough cut eastern cedar box put together using Kregg pocket screws into cedar 4x4s. We can always remove the screws and disassemble the bed to replace a piece as necessary. I’m wary of pH changes using cinder; and there are a number of ag programs that will advise against using treated metal sheeting like galvanized steel for leaching reasons. They look nice but are health risks in long term use. My guarded opinion is still to use the tried and true natural untreated wood. It is an expensive venture with the cost of cedar and the good quality garden soil like Earthmix.
This garden is starting its 33rd year. Each box is 3 feet wide and 30 feet long and ten inches deep. Filled with Earthmix garden soil. It’s been very productive. The most expensive tomatoes and peppers and garlic you’ll find anywhere. But they are all very fresh and tasty.
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Because we live on a steep hill, I built a 4 feet square concrete wall (backfilled) for two of my fruit trees about 4-5 years ago. The roots subsequently expanded out to the four foot limit and both trees have started to lean at an angle. Never again! I thought I was so smart, but the roots disagree. For another 2 fruit trees (paw paws), I built a wooden box using 2x12s. In this case, it was because we have a very active vole colony that burrows under our south lawn side. Last week I removed the frame after 3 years, and the roots had also crammed right up to the boards. I think I have learned that trees should always have the freedom to grow/expand.
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I think of putting fruit trees in raised beds as a last resort if your native soil isn’t conducive to growing (too much acid, too much salinity, too much clay, whatever the reason) but in many cases I could see implementing some of the strategies used in pot culture like trimming roots every few years as a viable solution to what you are describing. This is all provided you aren’t trying to grow a full sized tree in a hole for a dwarf.
Back to the topic on hand, has anybody tried putting retaining wall block on end horizontally to make a raised bed? I have a bunch available but for the sake of space saving I’m hesitant to build it the “Normal” way with them laying flat, but it might be the best way and just making a wider bed with stepping stones for harvesting and maintenance.
If you are interested in DIY you can try this:
Also check out the related videos on this channel, he makes several different versions.
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That’s exactly what I am thinking of trying this year.
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I have done that. At our old house one border of my garden was done that way. I had to trench the bottom out a bit and partially bury them to stop the block migrating and slow the grass invasion. After that it worked well. I use them at our new house to make individual little square beds for berries. Again I still have to trench about 1/3 to 1/2 of the block.
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I watched all his videos in the past with all the different test aggregate. Very interesting.
That is my preferred method as well. How have you done your corners? I just screw mine to eachother. We are in a pretty dry environment here so wood takes quite a few years before replacing is needed.
I use 4x4’s ten inches long for corners and attach the 2x10s perpendicular to them using Kregg jig and Self tapping screws. I’ll see if I can show you a photo of the garden so you can see what it looks like.
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Thanks for the feedback Calvin, I appreciate it. I might embark on that project this weekend if I find time.
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I ended up making some of these. They turned out pretty good. My main problem is getting all the air bubbles out of the bottom. I’m at the curing stage now though.
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those look really good. looking forward to seeing how they sit when you put it together
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Sounds interesting