SHIFTING ROOTS

home, garden, food, and prairie lifestyle

  • About
    • Contact
    • Work With Me
    • Features
    • Privacy Policy
  • Blog
  • Gardening
    • How to Start a Garden: Especially if you’re in Zone 3 or Zone 2
    • Seed Starting
    • Vegetable Gardening
    • Perennials
    • Cut Flowers
    • Small Space Gardening
  • Recipes
    • Canning
    • Preserving
    • Prairie Fruits Cookbook
    • The Best Pumpkin Recipes
    • How to Make a Tempting Christmas Cookie Tray (Plus Recipes!)
  • Popular Posts
  • E-Books
    • Pretty & Practical Garden Planner
    • Cut Flowers Made Simple
    • Constant Colour Perennial Garden
    • Small Garden, Big Harvest
    • Growing Roots Online Gardening Course
    • Frost Proof Flower Garden
    • Bouquets Made Beautiful
    • Savvy Seed Saving Annual Cut flowers
    • Prairie Fruits Cookbook
    • Online Gardening Consultations
  • Seasons
    • Christmas

How to Design a Front Yard Raised Bed Vegetable Garden

February 8, 2019

Space is at a premium in urban centres, and you might not have enough space in your backyard to plant as many vegetables as you like. But have you ever thought of going out into your front yard?

In some neighbourhoods, the front yard space is even larger than the backyard space, and can easily help you double your available gardening space.

If you’re thinking of starting a front yard vegetable garden, check with your city or municipality that they are allowed, ask for a line locate from your power, energy, or cable company, and start dreaming up your new raised bed vegetable garden!

Here’s how I made over part of my front yard into a raised bed vegetable garden.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase anything, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read more about it in my privacy policy.

The Before

Our front yard was pretty uninspiring, to say the least. In the previous year my husband constructed these cheap wooden raised beds for me because I could not fit in everything I wanted to plant in the backyard. I had even more plans to expand my vegetable garden, so the dried out potentillas had to go.

The potentillas were so overgrown and parts of them were even starting to rot. I’m sure they were beautiful in their time, but if I was going to keep them, they were in desperate need of a good pruning because they didn’t flower very much in the summer.

Ordering Soil and Mulch

I’m not sure why, but the thought of ordering soil and mulch from a landscaping company seemed really overwhelming to me. However, I knew that this was too big of a project to be dragging bags of the stuff from a big box store back and forth in my truck.

However, I went with a friend to one of the larger companies in the city and got it done!! I ordered 1 yard of pine mulch (the cheapest option) and 2 yards of soil with compost and peat already mixed in.

I assumed that because compost and peat was already mixed in, that I wouldn’t have to make any further amendments to my soil.

I was wrong.

While the vegetables in the new soil performed alright, there was a noticeable difference from the ones in the soil that I had been improving with compost and manure for 3 years.

Planting your first vegetable garden? Here’s the 10 easiest vegetables to grow, plus 6 tips I wish I would have known.

Though these piles may seem on the small side, it still took me around 9 hours of work to move everything with a wheelbarrow to where it needed to be. Since I don’t have a driveway, I had to get it all done in one day before any of my neighbours complained to the city.

If you are in this situation, check the city bylaws to see how long you as a homeowner can leave something like this out on a city street. In my city it’s 24 hours, but in some places it can be as short as 6 or as long as 48. If you need longer, you may have to apply for a permit.

The moral of the story? Schedule your delivery for a day when you know you have the entire day to deal with your soil and mulch!!

Creating My Raised Bed Vegetable Garden

Almost finished our front yard project. The two wooden raised beds in the front will be upgraded next year!

I filled up the raised garden beds with soil, surrounded the area with cardboard, and layered over a 4 inch layer of mulch.

Technically, I could have left the grass, but I wanted this project to be as maintenance free and neat looking as I possibly could. I don’t want to risk getting complaints from my neighbours because I am behind on the weeding.

The occasional weed will still come through your mulch. However, I can promise you that these weeds are super easy to pick–especially when you compare the amount of weeds you would have otherwise.

Looking for the next cool front yard landscaping ideas?  How about a front yard vegetable garden?!  Here's how I turned my yard with no curb appeal into a low maintenance raised bed garden.  It's a simple design for a small space that anyone can do! #frontyard #design #vegetablegarden

Another thing you should know about mulch is that you’ll have to replenish it every 2-3 years. Wooden mulch will decompose over time, making your formerly 4 inch layer not thick enough to suppress weeds. You can use cedar mulch instead if you don’t want to top up your mulch as often. However, cedar tends to be more expensive.

The Best Method of Planting Vegetables in a Small Space Garden

Once the project was done, I planted my new raised beds using the square foot gardening method and the seeding square. (You can also get it on Amazon here.)

If you’re used to traditional rows in a garden, it can seem very strange to switch to this way of planting a garden. But once you try it, you’ll be hooked! You’ll be able to plant more vegetables in the same space and keep down the weeds much easier.

In fact, I found that once I had done the initial major weeding in June, there was barely any weeds after that, and it was easy to simply pull out the few that did manage to come up.

If you need ideas on square foot gardening, I have these 4 free templates (that are colour co-ordinated with the seeding square) that you might enjoy. If you don’t want to use the seeding square, you can figure out the spacing by using Mel Bartholomew’s book. (But seriously, you’ll save so much time and headache with the Seeding Square!!)

Get 4 Free Square Foot Gardening Templates

Start your square foot garden the easy way!

You'll get 4 4x4 plans for

  • Salad Garden
  • Beginner's Garden
  • Salsa Garden
  • Kid's Garden

Plus a short 3 day email course of how to get started with square foot gardening.

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit
Looking for the next cool front yard landscaping ideas?  How about a front yard vegetable garden?!  Here's how I turned my yard with no curb appeal into a low maintenance raised bed garden.  It's a simple design for a small space that anyone can do! #frontyard #design #vegetablegarden

In the bed on the right, should not have planted that pepper between the artichokes. I had never grown artichokes before, and had no concept of how tall they would actually get. (3-5 feet!) Needless to say, the pepper did not do well.

I also did not realize that butternut squash and watermelon would cross with each other. I was blessed with some lovely mutant squash. What do you get when you cross a butternut with a watermelon? A very weird squash that you really don’t want to eat!!

A Front Yard Vegetable Garden Builds Community

Overall, I was really happy with my front yard vegetable garden. It was easy to keep up with and I would often notice people who were walking by enjoying it.

Neighbours would often stop by to chat about the garden, and perfect strangers would stop their walk to ask me questions about the garden if I was outside working on it.

I was a bit nervous about possible theft come harvest time, but so far it has not been a problem.

Looking for the next cool front yard landscaping ideas?  How about a front yard vegetable garden?!  Here's how I turned my yard with no curb appeal into a low maintenance raised bed garden.  It's a simple design for a small space that anyone can do! #frontyard #design #vegetablegarden

In fact, my biggest problem was actually the birds that mercilessly picked at any lettuce, kale, beets, and swiss chard that I planted. Next year I will protect my plants with cloth until they are well established.

Looking for the next cool front yard landscaping ideas?  How about a front yard vegetable garden?!  Here's how I turned my yard with no curb appeal into a low maintenance raised bed garden.  It's a simple design for a small space that anyone can do! #frontyard #design #vegetablegarden

By late summer, the garden was very productive and my mutant butternut squash/watermelon vines had taken over. All in all, I’d say my front yard raised bed vegetable garden project was a huge success!

Recommended Resources

If you’re looking to plan your own front yard project, here are a few resources I recommend:

  • Mel Bartholomew’s 3rd Edition Square Foot Gardening Book.
  • The Seeding Square, on the product site, or on Amazon.
  • The Edible Front Yard Book by Ivette Soler
  • A Three-pack, 4×4 Raised Bed Garden Kit
  • Or this tiered wooden option
  • Or just a basic wooden raised bed.
Looking for the next cool front yard landscaping ideas?  How about a front yard vegetable garden?!  Here's how I turned my yard with no curb appeal into a low maintenance raised bed garden.  It's a simple design for a small space that anyone can do! #frontyard #design #vegetablegarden

P.S. If you’re a new gardener and looking for hold-your-hand-virtual gardening advice, my new online gardening course is for you!

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

3 Comments
Filed Under: Curb Appeal, Gardening, Landscaping Tagged: front yard, landscaping, raised beds, raised vinyl beds, square foot gardening, vegetable garden, vegetable gardening

An Honest Review of My Raised Garden Vinyl Beds

May 22, 2018

This post is sponsored by Raised Garden Vinyl Beds.  I received free and discounted product in exchange for my honest opinion of their product.  This post also contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase something using one of my links, I make a bit of extra coffee money at no extra cost to you.  Thanks for supporting Shifting Roots!

Last summer I made my first foray into the world of square foot gardening.  I didn’t know exactly what I was doing, but those raised garden beds I kept seeing everywhere on Pinterest intrigued me.

My husband and I knew we’d be making some changes to the yard, but we weren’t sure exactly how much we could do in one summer, so we decided to make our raised beds cheap and cheerful.  That way, if we decided to change things we weren’t committed.

We built ours out of thin wood and filled them up with soil.  They looked great and did the job beautifully.  However, I began having doubts when the nails were starting to come out of one of them in the fall.

We just built the things, and they were already falling apart?

A Raised Garden Bed that’s Built to Last

Once the snow melted it was clear that our sad little wooden beds weren’t going to last much more than one more year.  The wood was starting to warp and the nails looked weak in another bed.

To be fair, we could have built them a little better.  However, last year when I interviewed my friends Graham and Sarah about their yard, their built-with-better-wood ones were falling apart after 3 years.

That’s why when I saw an ad for Raised Vinyl Garden Beds on Facebook, I had to check it out.  The beds looked like they were built to last and the company was local–win-win!!

P.S.–Raised Vinyl Garden Beds ship to Canada and the U.S., so you can get yours even if you don’t live in Saskatoon and area.

Almost finished our front yard project. The two wooden raised beds in the front will be upgraded next year!

Get Your Vinyl Raised Garden Bed Set Up in 30 minutes–No Joke!

I chose two of the 4×4 premium beds.  I’ll be investing in a third and replacing the two sad wooden ones in my yard next year.

The beds are fairly easy to put together, and it took me less than 30 minutes.  It actually took me longer to look for a cordless drill, give up, and find the screwdriver.

I had a little trouble keeping everything square, but with the second one I screwed in one of the corners first, then assembled everything and it was no problem.

The directions say that you can use a screwdriver, but I highly recommend a cordless drill.  I couldn’t find ours and ended up using a battery operated screwdriver.  It worked well, but I had to push quite hard to get the screws to go in the vinyl.  I know a cordless drill would have required little effort.

I love my vinyl raised beds in my front yard.  They make square foot gardening so easy!  I'll show you how I make it work in my small space, plus give you some ideas and plans for what to plant in it. #raisedbeds #squarefootgardening #containergardening #beginnergardening #easygardening #gardening #vegetablegardening

Related: 8 Reasons You Should Start Square Foot Gardening

If you’re ordering soil for your beds, I recommend getting a mix of soil, compost, and peat moss.  Your landscaping centre will likely call it something like garden bed mix.  I found that one bed used up around 1/2 a yard of soil.

Once my beds were set up it was time for the fun part–planting!

Planting is Easy and Fun with a Raised Bed

The beds are 3 1/2 feet by 3 1/2 feet on the inside.  I used the seeding square to measure out and plant my garden, so I was left with a six inch strip on two of the edges.  This was great, because I got in an extra row of marigolds and lettuce.

Here’s what I planted in one of mine.  Feel free to download the image and plant the same in your own!  You can also download 4 more planting templates here.

I love my vinyl raised beds in my front yard.  They make square foot gardening so easy!  I'll show you how I make it work in my small space, plus give you some ideas and plans for what to plant in it. #raisedbeds #squarefootgardening #containergardening #beginnergardening #easygardening #gardening #vegetablegardening

Related: The Best Vegetables for Beginners & How to Get Started Gardening Fast

I am loving gardening in my new vinyl raised beds.  I don’t have to bend as much, they look fantastic, and have serious curb appeal.  I’ve noticed quite a few people check them out as they’re walking by our front yard, and had a few ask me where I got mine.

They’re really sturdy and kid friendly, so I don’t have to worry about them falling apart if they get sat on, or my son getting splinters in his fingers if he tries to help me.

I love my vinyl raised beds in my front yard.  They make square foot gardening so easy!  I'll show you how I make it work in my small space, plus give you some ideas and plans for what to plant in it. #raisedbeds #squarefootgardening #containergardening #beginnergardening #easygardening #gardening #vegetablegardening

Low Maintenance?  How about NO Maintenance!

Best of all, I will never have to build them again.  Because let’s be honest–who really wants to spend a weekend rebuilding your raised bed every 3-5 years, plus staining them every year?  You might have the best of intentions now, but there’s something seriously demoralizing about rebuilding something you’ve previously built.  Cedar is so expensive these days, that depending on how you build the bed, the cost is very similar to vinyl.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be planting my garden or enjoying time in the sun instead of adding yet another project to my to-do list.

Raised Garden Vinyl Beds come with a lifetime warranty, so they will look good today and 25 years from today.  Even cedar can’t do that.

Want to get your own?  Let me make the deal a little sweeter.  When you send me a copy of your Raised Garden Vinyl Bed receipt, I will give you my beginner gardening course for free–a $50 value!

Pin me for later:

I love my vinyl raised beds in my front yard.  They make square foot gardening so easy!  I'll show you how I make it work in my small space, plus give you some ideas and plans for what to plant in it. #raisedbeds #squarefootgardening #containergardening #beginnergardening #easygardening #gardening #vegetablegardening

 

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

6 Comments
Filed Under: Gardening, Sponsored Tagged: Gardening, raised beds, raised vinyl beds, raised vinyl garden beds, square foot gardening

Week 4: Yard Transformation Challenge

May 15, 2018

It’s almost May Long Weekend and I have been super busy getting my yard and garden ready.  Come see my blood, sweat, and tears in this week’s edition of the yard transformation challenge.

Thanks again to Nat of Simple Family Crazy Life for hosting this challenge!

[Read more…]

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

1 Comment
Filed Under: Curb Appeal, Gardening, Makeover, Seeding Square, Yard Transformation Challenge Tagged: Curb Appeal, raised vinyl beds, seeding square, square foot gardening, Yard

10 Vegetable Gardening Essentials

May 8, 2018

Gardening season is here! If you’re planting a vegetable garden this spring, you’ll want to check out these 10 items that make the job a lot easier.  These are all items I personally use or are as close as possible to the ones I use myself.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something by clicking a link, I earn a bit of extra coffee money at no extra cost to you.  Thanks for supporting Shifting Roots!

[Read more…]

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

www.shiftingroots.com

1 Comment
Filed Under: Gardening Tagged: beginner gardener, garden weasel, Gardening, gardening course, gardening gloves, raised vinyl beds, seeding square

Grow roots with us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

P.S. First time gardener? You'll want to download the quick start gardening guide below!

Recent Posts

  • Protected: 5 Easy Ways to Increase Pollination in Your Vegetable Garden
  • Bloom Times: What Cut Flowers Grow When in Zone 3
  • The Best Vegetables & Flowers to Start with Winter Sowing
  • 21 Cut Flowers to Grow in Part Shade
  • The Best Grow Lights for Seedlings (from Budget to Bougie)

Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Connect with Shifting Roots On. . .

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Find What You’re Looking For. . .

Privacy Policy

I love seeing the world through this loving boy’ I love seeing the world through this loving boy’s eyes.  Honestly, I’ve been so sick that I wasn’t really in the mood to “do Valentines Day” but there was this sweet little voice going on about how excited he was for today and how much he loves his family and I just couldn’t resist.  So whether you’re on your own, part of a couple, or in the thick of life-with-littles craziness, Happy Valentines Day!

#valentinesday2020 #mylittlevalentine #boymomlife #lifewithlittles
How do you pass a cold -28 day? By planning your How do you pass a cold -28 day?  By planning your garden, of course!  Today in my stories I’ll be going through the steps I take to start planning everything out.  I’m curious, do you start planning now or wait until the last minute?

P.S.  want your own copy of this planner?  This is the newly updated paid version and it’s on sale by itself from now until Sunday for only $5.  If you’re from Canada, use the code CANADA to make $5 USD be closer to $5 CAD.  Head over to the link in my bio to get yours.

#gardenplanning #gardenplanner #gardenersofinstagram #gardenersofig #organizedlife #organizedliving #wintergardening
Curious about growing lettuce indoors? My experim Curious about growing lettuce indoors?  My experiment is a success so far, although it’s still going to be awhile before I’m eating another salad off of them.

Okay, so maybe a little rant today.  I think sometimes in the gardening space we’re guilty of making things seem easier than they are.  Myself included.  This lettuce project is a case in point.

Was it easy?  Yes.  But will it provide me with endless salads all winter long? Nope.  Or at least not at this scale.  I’m going to estimate that I’d need at least 15 plants this size, especially since it’s winter and everything just grows slower.  And I’m the only person in my family who really eats salad.

In conclusion, this is a fun project to pass the winter, and not a truly sustainable source of lettuce.

Thoughts?

#growinglettuce #eatwhatyougrow #growwhatyoueat #wintergardening #indoorgardening #plantproject #sustainablefood #gardenersofinstagram #gardenerslife #northerngardening
Part of the mystery of seed starting is knowing ex Part of the mystery of seed starting is knowing exactly what to start when.  Every two weeks, I'll be posting these handy guides so you have enough time to order your seeds and be ready to plant when it's time for your area.  To find out when these veggies, herbs, and flowers need to be started where you live. . . ⁠
⁠
1. Search out your area's last frost date.  There are plenty of calculators on the Internet.⁠
⁠
2. Count backwards 8 weeks from that date.⁠
⁠
3. Start these seeds when that date hits.⁠
⁠
If you follow me because we're in similar zones--don't panic, it's not time yet!! I won't be starting my 10 week seeds for another two weeks, and even that is slightly on the early side. (I'm starting everything a bit early so I can hopefully plant it out before baby gets here--I won't be physically able to do it after.) I like posting the info early for followers in warmer zones and so you can save it and still have time to order/buy seeds & supplies.⁠
⁠
Which one of these are you most excited to start?⁠
⁠
#seedstarting #seedlings #homegardener #northerngardener #homesteading #urbandhomesteading #homesteadingskills #gardenlife #gardenlifestyle #startingseeds
Eeeek!!! My luffa seedlings are up!! I’m growing Eeeek!!! My luffa seedlings are up!! I’m growing the whole seed packet in hopes that a few of these little luffa babies will provide me with zero waste sponges that I can use for home cleaning, and as an exfoliant in home made beauty products.

The catch?

These plants are notoriously hard to grow, especially when you live somewhere cold with a really cold growing season—and if they get a hint of frost on them they turn to mush and all my hard work is ruined.

Gulp.

But gardeners are born optimists, so I’m giving it a shot—because you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

P.S. if you’re trying luffa in zone 3 like me, just basically ignore all the directions on the seed packet.  Start them immediately (two weeks ago would have been ideal) and follow along because I’ll show you exactly what to do and when.  I’ll be popping these under a grow light once the sun goes down.

#luffagourd #luffa #loofah #seedlings #seedstarting #northerngardening #northerngardener #gardenersofinstagram #gardenersofig #mygardenthismonth #gardenlife #canadiangardening
This weekend I took a big leap of faith. I came t This weekend I took a big leap of faith.  I came to New York to meet with other content creators/business owners to dig deep into what we do and create a strategy around our messaging.  I don’t even know how to properly describe what all went down, but is was incredibly life changing and I really feel connected to this tribe of women who are committed to playing to win and being the people our businesses need us to be.  I’m so excited to share what I’ve planned for my business with you in the coming months.

#playtowin #gardenblogger #businessowner #wahmlife
Is there such a thing as a no-fail houseplant? I Is there such a thing as a no-fail houseplant?  I think the Sansevera or Snake Plant or Mother-in-law’s tongue comes close.  Sure, it might be the vanilla of the plant-loving world, but it is so good for so many situations!⁠
⁠
It can handle you forgetting to water it, low light, or bright light.  It is somewhat forgiving if you are an over-waterer. ⁠
⁠
I’ve had this one for 2 or 3 years now and I keep getting rewarded with more spikes.⁠
⁠
Plant lovers, is there another houseplant you think would be perfect for beginners?⁠
⁠
#crazyplantlady #houseplantsofig #houseplantsofinstagram #snakeplant #houseplantlove
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2021

Copyright © 2021 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in