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I just finished my "tall man" vege garden box and we will start to plant this weekend. All timber, tools and accessories were bought from either the Keperra or Brendale stores. It turned out better than I hoped considering I have never worked with large pieces of Timber before only ever small wooden projects. Thanks Bunnings!
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Dougal_McBear. It's fantastic to have you join us and many thanks for jumping into the conversation.
It would be an excellent idea to use your existing water tanks as veggie gardens. Their height would be perfect for not having to bend over too far.
I look forward to following your project and encourage you to let us know if you need assistance or have something to share. I trust you'll find loads of inspirational projects within the community just like this one as our fabulous members contribute their ideas here all the time.
Mitchell
I have also had a back operation. Hence why I built the tall garden.
Your water tanks are a perfect size. Large tanks may be too wide with a back like ours, you can only "easily" work within 60 to 80cm of the edge of the garden. So if you can get it from either side, the maximum total width would be about 120cm to 150 at the very most.
Keep in mind that it is hard to fill up a large area with soil. You can put in a fake bottom or fill it will old tree stumps etc.
I have built another 5 vege gardens since I built this one. I use the Birdies ones from bunnings and I just make sure I plant stuff that doesn't require too much digging or bending.
I recently made some covers for the more delicate plants. Something to consider.
I hope this helps. I hope your back is well at the moment. Mine has just started to play up again.
Short garden. Tall plants
New vege garden covers for the more delicate plants
It's great to hear of your garden progress @mdstorrs. Those covers look sensational!
Many thanks for sharing.
Mitchell
Hi @mdstorrs.
My back is shot. L2-3-4 fused. T10-11-12 fused. T11 had completely disintegrated. Nothing left except a little lump squashing my spinal cord. Removed it from the front after hacking out half a rib and squishing my lung out of the way 😬 He wanted to fuse S1-T8, but the bones are so bad, they won't hold the screws! Still I'm having fun in the garden, I just have to sit regularly.
It's all new to me. I have planted veges and herbs in the past but nothing this serious.
I feel silly not thinking of just using rubbish to fill the bottom half. It's so obvious. We have 100 acres of wilderness and plenty of dead trees to use. It's 9 gullies / creek heads with 6 freeform clearings, so plenty of scope. I was having some earthworks done and had the excavator half fill the bottom with clay. We put some gypsum in with the clay, so I hope it drains OK.
I've almost finished the irrigation and would be keen to know how you approached it.
I have 12mm poly coming to the centre of the bed then branching as attached. I'm concerned the drippers will spread water deeply but not horizontally, thereby missing some plants. I think I will put more drippers along the central 12mm poly as well.
Your covers look great. I expect to need something to keep the birds and probably the wallabies.
Look after your back!
I have tried almost everything @Dougal_McBear
And I am currently trying out a seeping hose. I bought a couple of 15m hoses and cut them in two. At the moment, they seem to be doing a pretty good job. And I plant closer to the hose when I can. (See photo below) ,but cover the hose with sugarcane mulch to really keep the moisture in.
I used 12mm dripper line, but I found the holes were too far apart and it left too many dry sections. But it's great for my cirtus trees, so it didn't go to waste.
If you use spray / mist irrigation, it can attract bugs and cause fungus. So I carefully choose where I use that. Nowhere near plants that are susceptible to powdery mildew.
I get a lot of great ideas from a local youtube guy (Brisbane) . His channel is called "Self Sufficient Me" It's worth a look.
