Fall gardening is something that I have really come to enjoy since moving to New England over 20 years ago. I really enjoy the four seasons. I love it when the humidity starts to dip and we begin to have those cool coastal New England mornings. Everything is covered with dew and you can start to smell the change in the air. Come early September, I begin to fill my faded and tired summer planters with the colors and textures of fall. It’s such a wonderful time to garden knowing that a frost will not arrive for us until early November on Cape Cod. The season is perfect for entertaining and we still spend lots of time on our outdoor deck.
Choosing a Raised Bed
Since last fall, I keep seeing lots of beautiful raised metal beds in people’s gardens as a scroll on social media. Filled with everything from vegetables, herbs, flowers to fruits, the technology and quality of gardening has not only made more this type of gardening accessible but easier for folks to enjoy a little space of their own. This fall, I am excited to add a raised bed garden to my deck. Living on the coast by the ocean, I was thrilled to find that the Vego Garden has a Raised Garden beds.
The Vego Garden styling is so lovely with attractive neutral colors. I almost chose the green but ultimately ended up choosing the color- pearl white. How fitting for the seaside! The size is perfect for my needs. It is 12 inches deep and can accommodate herbs, vegetable, annuals, perennials and more. This fall, I chose herbs, ornamentals, grasses, and vegetables. When I plant in this manner, it is the best of the ornamental and edible worlds.
One concern that I had was that placing growing containers on the deck can be an issues with added weight. I could not find any lightweight garden soil locally. (We live in a very limited town.) So, I ordered some from Vego Garden too. It took four and a half bags of their soil mix to fill the 2 foot by 6 foot bed to within an inch of the top. The planter was filled in no time leaving space for the plants’s container soils.
When I was selecting my plants, I didn’t want to go with the traditional mums, grasses or pumpkins. I love a good color story! I always like to play with leaf texture, shape and colors. Blooms don’t aways last forever. Look at these gorgeous plants!
Always pick an odd number or plants of combine two plants adjacent to one another to appear as one large one. This is best for the eye.
Plant A Fall Inspired Raised Garden Bed
Supplies:
-Growing Container of your choice. I used the 2 x 6 raised Garden Bed in Pearl White– They have lots of other sizes to accommodate your needs!
–Raised Bed Lightweight Garden Soil– You will need to order 5 bags, but will use 4.5 bags
–Vego Garden Hanging ToolBox– I chose the color Daffodil
Plantings:
- 3 Carex “Prairie Fire”
- 1 Corkscrew Rush “Big Twister”
- 1 Rosemary “Tuscan Blue”
- 3 Agastache “Kudos Mandarin”
- 3 Celosia “Twisted Purple’
- 3 Lavender- “Phenomenal”. (This variety does really well in New England and tends to come back.)
- 3 Kale “Redbor”
- 3 Ornamental Cabbages in varying colors
- 1 Ornamental Pepper “Onyx Red”
- 2 Sedum “Angelina”
- 2 Zinnia “Zahara Mix”
- 1 Sandolina Gray “Lavender Cotton”
- 1 Gazinia “New Day Mix”
- 1 Artemisia “Silver Brocade”
Scale up or down the number of plantings based on your container size. Leave a bit of room between your plants for growing space.
Directions:
- First, position your plants on top of the soil while still in their pots. This allows you to arrange everything to your liking prior to committing. Be sure to pay attention to the maturity height. You don’t want to plant something in the front that will block the view. But in this case, if this happens you could always spin the planter around. Isn’t that clever?
2. Next, remove each plant one by one and plant them into the raised bed as you arranged them.
Silver, Purples, Hot Pinks, Oranges, Lime Yellow, Grays, Greens and Oranges make everything feel like fall.
The plantings will grow. Some will creep into places like the Sedum and the Artemesia. The Prairie Fire Calex grasses will dance in the wind. Celosia, zinnias, lavender will help the pollinators late in the season. While the kale and rosemary will be used in the dishes I create in the kitchen.
Doesn’t this Corkscrew Rush “Big Twister” look so witchy?
3. Sprinkle the plants with an extended release granular fertilizer. I like this one. This will last the entire season for this planting grouping.
4. Once everything is planted, be sure to water it well on a regular basis. Sticking your finger into the soil or a chopstick can help you determine how moist the soil is and when you need to water. It should feel like a damp sponge. If it doesn’t it is time to water.
I love being outside for coffee or a cook out and visiting this garden. I am already dreaming about added a couple more planters to this outdoor space next spring.
Happy Gardening Friends!
More on the Vego Garden Raised Bed: The raised bed is made from food grade coated steel and it quickly arrived; shipped in a large single box. Altogether, it took about 2 hours to put together with my husband’s help. Despite a couple of errors along the way, we quickly realized what we needed to be corrected. A few pieces looked similar and I faced them the wrong way, but it only set me back a few minutes and it was super easy to remedy. Lastly, we carried it from the garage together and we were able to glide it so easily into place with the wheels.
I cannot speak more highly as the the quality of this raised garden bed. I am impressed! The storage space below is fantastic. I did splurge on the handy little plastic covered toolbox that clips on the edge can hold all my tools- like my hand trowel and pruner. Plus, the height of the bed, keeps me from constantly bending over saving my back. I am incredibly impressed with the quality. This bed is going to last us years. I’m already looking forward to spring. Now to chose what I want to add next!
This post contains affiliate links. I was provided the 2 x 6 raised garden bed in exchange for my honest opinion. I purchased the toolbox and garden soil on my own.
