If you enjoyed this video, please “Like” and share it to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching😊TIMESTAMPS here: 0:00 The Problem With Raised Bed Gardening 1:41 These Garden Bed Liners Just Won't Work 4:20 The Perfect Garden Bed Lining Material 5:46 How To Line A Raised Bed Garden 7:49 How To Fill A Raised Garden Bed 9:54 Adventures With Dale
Lots of good info here but I feel like there are better uses for the area than the raised bed tucked in between trees. In situations like this I grow plants that have small root balls and prefer some shade. It’s perfect for herbs and annuals and gives it a more food forest vibe!
Great little video. I double up on my syrup tubs as planters. Use one as a wicking source. I use to have raised bed without bottom and you're right, the roots would come right up in them. the biggest problem thou was the moles. During the summer time they would come up through the bottom and tunnel around. You would be watering then all of a sudden a big hole would open up as the water drained out. So I went to tubs and doubled them up. I also had them on my newly planted figs. Killed several of them. So what I did was take hail screen. 1/2" square and line the holes with it. Roots can still grow through it and it would keep the plant safe until the figs got established.
Any advice for mole crickets? We moved to Myrtle Beach two years ago from NY. We woke up to tunneled holes in our backyard. We removed four mole crickets from the pool. They look like a crab mated with a cricket! We had to get educated pretty quick about palmetto bugs, giant wolf spiders, venomous snakes and now there is some fat foot long brown slimy lizard thing that ate one of our little birds! Yeah, so my neighbors hear me scream a lot. Like daily lol Someone HELP! - Kristin
Thank you again for posting videos it helps so much. You have one lucky dog he's spoiled. Please don't stop adding him at the end I don't know which I like best your garden videos or adventures with Dale.
Someone did this in 2020 in their mini polytunnel and the rats tore through it. The tree roots also still came though. I always get meres/horse tail through our weed fabric. I also am not keen on the breakdown of it. Wish i had taken notes/pictures of my late Step FIL mole traps in buckets. It looked medieval but did work. I would prefer a humane trap and take them somewhere.
It just needs more layers. You can also place a piece of hardware cloth underneath, which will be almost impossible for an animal to chew through. If I had an issue with rats, I'd put the hardware cloth on the bottom, then 3 layers of 5oz or thicker weed barrier on top of that. The hardware cloth will block the rats, and then 3 layers of the weed barrier will block the overwhelming majority of possible roots.
Last year I followed your recommendation and used that weed barrier to grow my watermelon over. It worked so well I’ve tripled the area this year and my back yard neighbor and fellow gardener is doing the same!
It’s quite a deep raised bed, so after putting the weed barrier down why not put old logs sticks and leaves down, things that will compost over a couple years or more, to use less soil you’ve had to buy since that can get spendy, or anything to use less soil that won’t hurt what you’re growing, especially if the roots won’t grow deep. It’s what I’ve done and it sure helps just to use less soil but still have plenty of growing room. Just curious from some ol lady that’s grown a garden for years! Thanks and your garden looks beautiful!
Thanks. I went the carboard route and am now fighting tree and grape vine roots in the raised beds and even some of my containers. I will have to deconstuct my beds and add the weed barrierr. I wish I had this info last fall.
@TheMillennialGardener I know I understood that part I was only commenting about the part were you said it's only good for snuffing out grass I have heavy clay and it's not even good for my grass I would have to triple mine I for get what the weed I have is called but it is hard to keep out of my beds and paths and I used cardboard the wrong way and not enough wood chips cardboard doesn't last more than 3 months if that but it most certainly helps me with worms I have a trillion worms in my yard surprisingly .thanks for reaching out love the show thanks for the tips and tricks
This was great. I have a 4 X 16 bed that has been invaded by fine tree roots. I am still using this season (and cleaning out sections as I plant) but in the fall, I plan to take it apart, clean out the roots, and reset. I will definitely try your weed barrier tip. Oh and bonus - the grooved dog bowl. Thanks so much!
I had this exact problem myself, I used two layers of weed barrier, a thick layer of leafs, a layer of logs, and another layer of leafs. It didn't last me long, I was actually very surprised just how quickly the tree roots took over the bottom of the raised bed. The thought of roots overtaking the bed never crossed my mind, I mainly wanted a barrier to prevent the soil from washing out over time, I did rescess the bed a few inches into the ground but I also wanted something which wouldn't pool water either. My weed barrier was a cheap fabric version I found at Lowes*
Great video. So happy you went over all the options to planting among tree roots. That has been a huge problem for me to maximize my food growing space.
Good idea , but to point out a couple options. My veggies don’t like growing in shade! The roots of my veggies penetrate through my mesh wire mole stop bottom to get moisture in dry spells, barrier cloth would prevent goin deep for moisture, plus tree roots likely zapped up water in dry spell already. Trick I usr is inside raises bed on top of cloth ( or instead of cloth use a liner like old pool liner or blue tarp style or heavy clear poly sheet. It to fit with a 2 inch oversized all around, out in bottom edge curl up , 2 inch water bowl to hold rain or irrigation , put some gravel in if u wish, now a 16” raised bed has a 2 inch water reserve to hold in drought. It will overflow to tree roots below, preventing harm to plants. I use variations of this water pan in large pots on deck and more. Good ideal on roots. In my raised beds been done 8 years and 6 ft. 20 foot each, bars to undo!😀👍🌽
Good luck. Lawn under my weed barrier without any water and summer heat.The lawn grew to 5 inches tall. Had take out lawn and soil before putting weed barrier and 4 inch mulch ( not in raised beds).
@@TheMillennialGardener yes I bought 3 so far and have hung one up. Today we finally reached triple digits so when the sun goes down I’m going to put up the rest. I do have a quick question though, can you link a video to combat gnats and ants?
I have a raised bed I'm installing now and while tree roots are much of an issue because there isn't one close enough to have surface roots there, I do have an issue with a vine growing on the other side of a fence for which this one bed will be close to. I have to say this was a VERY well timed video for me because I was only giving it minor thought and this makes the decision easy and thanks for the links!
We just put the weed barrier in our 11 raised bed garden, we absolutely love it! We have a weed here and there pop up but easy enough to pull as you’re walking by or if there’s quite a few due to the rain here in South Carolina lately my son trimmed..zip zip..zip zip..done in minutes..not hours. Now we can concentrate more on doing what we love! Thank you for all the help you give us!
I can tell you from experience here in NC, the tree roots will invade. Even when doubled up, after 2years those feeder roots went through the weed barrier in my raised bed and was sucking the water and nutrients.. My container garden wasn’t affected, difference is raise bed is bottomless…it will find a way in. I have pine trees around my property and my raise bed was over 25 feet away. Solution long term is cement blocks or blocks elevation at least 4 inches off ground
I have a mature enormous fig tree plus an willow aok that had gone into all my beds. No matter what. Last year i tried sheet metal in some 12inch deep wooden raised beds and ppl said the heat will cook the roots. Let me tell you all my veggies did better that before, at least they kept nutrients and water (tomatoes were on the ground) This year I'm getting metal raised beds so I am looking for a long term solution.
@@eloisachittick8869 can you do the same with the metal beds? Just as lace the metal beds on top of the sheet metal making sure it's not flashed ( so drainage) in essence it would make it like those metal water trough
@@kayb2758 I am actually doing the same since pouring concrete is not an option. Drainage has never been an issue since the sheet metal is corrugated and and water runs out through the the grooves on one side I just simply use double weed barrier to contain the soil in. I got a little concerned about the different types of metals but I think they are both galvanized so it should be good.
You explain everything so well. I did look at your Amazon store. If we're ever going to do the raised bed, I'll be back to your store. We are currently using the clear totes to grow sweet potatoes. We started in March this week we took the lids off and are letting the incredible growth from all the sweet potatoes we put in acclimate. My question is to plant the slips in other clear totes instead of in the ground or in planters around my house?
Michelle, you may wish to paint the exterior of your totes with a light colored exterior house paint (I tint mine light green) so that the UV from the sun doesn't break it down in a short time. They get brittle pretty fast. Or, you can wrap some inexpensive aluminum foil around it for the same purpose. Happy Gardening.
We're using the clear totes in our Florida room because in the sweet potato video that's how he told us to do it. They performed exceedingly well growing a wonderful amount of sweet potato slips. I thought if it worked out well maybe it would grow new sweet potatoes that will too. When I put the sweet potatoes outside to grow the critters eat them and the squirrels like to plant the peanuts in the dirt!
I put garden fending and pet repellent powered in the bottom of mine. It’s a mix of blood meal/ cayenne pepper. Remember there sense of smell is their best ability since they can’t see. One sniff of that stuff and they will be gone!
Curious why you didn't plant through the weed barrier instead? Wouldn't that eliminate the need for mulch all together, and you can just place the raised bed on top of the weed sheet running along the 'tree run'?
The purpose of mulch is to retain moisture, prevent weeds and cool the soil. Weed barrier will actually heat the soil, because it will attract sun, leading to higher temperatures. Mulch also breaks down and adds organic matter to the soil. Weed barrier will not contribute positively to your soil's health.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you! I actually just watched your other video explaining this! I randomly placed beds and put wood chips on the paths without a weed barrier, and now I wish I watched your videos first and made a plan.
For groundhogs, if they are literally tunneling under your beds, you'll need something more robust. You'd at least want to use hardware cloth as the first layer, then add 3 layers of weed barrier on top of that. Then, fence in the area.
@@TheMillennialGardener mainly tunneling under my fence. I have a 200 foot border with a forest. Once they're in anything not netted or chicken wired is doomed
I recently got a fantastic 2 1/2 gallon stainless steel cooking pot. It`s very thick and heavy and has a high quality lid. I needed it for blanching garden vegetables, cooking large packs of chicken to debone and freeze for later, and boiling berries. The cheapest rice cookers are the ones with stainless steel inner pots because people are lazy and don`t like the slightly harder cleaning. I love them for cooking with solar because they`re very low wattage and even small portable battery packs can be used with them. Great for power outages or cooking outside or when camping. Very very useful! I try to use solar for my cooking.
I’ve used metal screening and the black mesh wildlife fencing as a bottom to keep out moles, voles, and shrews. It works great. They had eaten 90% of my hosta. Two years in after replanting in a trench lined with the wildlife netting, I haven’t lost any hosta to the critters.
So far, it works really well! The plastic bowls are the most effective, because they have the most intricate and confusing puzzle designs, but this slows him down 80% as much and it's probably healthier in the long-run. Plus, it's beautiful and heavy duty.
I wasn't looking forward to watching this and finding out i messed up when I put beds near my trees for asparagus and thornless blackberry. But I settled on double weed fabric too. Whew!
I love your videos and have learned a lot from you. I live in southern CA., and had a ground squirrel dig a hole through my newly laid weed barrier! In my raise beds, I have to put hardware cloth under my weed barrier. I just don't trust the ground squirrels!
Looks great! Do you have any trouble with water just exiting around the perimeter of the bed instead of penetrating into the bed area? I've dealt with trees in large containers that have dried out and the soil got hydrophobic; it was a bear to get those rewetted again!
I found a solution to my nibbling bunny friend...red pepper on my baby plants. And for armadillos I coat my mulch around my plants and the mounds where I plant melons/winter squash. One armadillo left my garden with a melting face. Ha!
I’ve never seen armadillos, wanna see them badly🙃 my neighbor said she saw him in my garden. That’s why I’m patient about all these holes in woodchips 😅 I’m in NE PA and this is probably the northern edge of their habitat
@@ponytaclub5539 They`re odd animals. I cussed out the old granddaddy armadillo in my yard last year. He stood there listening and then came over and sniffed my foot! He`s old, huge, and covered in scars and I met him several times before all my problems with them started. I saw him again a few days ago and tried to chase him away. He`d run two feet then stand on his hind legs looking around like, "WHAT WAS THAT?" They can`t see very well. It took me a couple of minutes to get him to run into the woods. I certainly didn`t want him anywhere near my garden. But the pepper seems to be working. I have over 3 pounds of it. I`ll need it if we have a dry period this summer because they can smell my wet garden and all the worms.
@@ponytaclub5539 Get a driveway alarm. It will alert you when the armadillo shows up. Just put the sensor on the ground where he walks or digs the most. I used five of them in my garden last year.
I find all of that talk to be nonsense. If it were harmful, the plants would be unhealthy. It's just internet fear-mongering. I've been growing on weed barrier and in plastic containers for most of my life and there has never been a single instance of any plant being harmed, and if it can't harm a plant, it certainly can't harm a 150lb adult human with an organ system constantly scrubbing our bodies.
There is no substitute for weed barrier. Weed barrier is its own unique thing that the marvel of plastic allows for creating. Plastic has to be one of the most unreasonably derided things out there. All of modern society is a product of plastic. We'd have nothing without it - no transportation, no electricity, no running water, no refrigeration, no HVAC, no medicine, no sterile surgery, no computers, no telecommunications, etc. Remember when they used to make all the water pipes pipes out of metal and everyone was getting poisoned? Plastic is very safe. If it were harmful, you wouldn't be able to grow plants in plastic containers, but of course, every nursery container is made out of plastic and there is no harm to the plants. If it can't hurt a plant, it certainly can't hurt a human with hundreds of times the mass and an organ system constantly scrubbing our bodies. If you don't want to use weed barrier because it's made of plastic, you'll have to create an entirely different solution, like using metal sheeting underneath, which would cause all sorts of harmful effects. I considered many different options, but this was the best in terms of function, cost, ease and minimal side effects.
They are pretty large. I would recommend adding a layer of steel hardware cloth in addition to the weed barrier. Between the hardware cloth and weed barrier, you have a better chance of success.
You would probably have to line the sides and the bottom with a double layer. Create a basket of weed barrier. I imagine if you only lined the bottom, the raspberries would squeeze through the cracks between the bed and the liner eventually.
Thank you for this video, I just added some of the metal beds and wasn't sure if the 12" depth would be sufficient. I was thinking if I cut the weed barrier larger than the bed I can pull it up over the sides and clip onto the bed so the dirt won't come out the bottom. Maybe not an issue?
I have a mole and vole problem, but not in my raised beds. I've been using the same woven landscape fabric for a year, and no critters in my beds. I went crazy and lined the bottom, up the sides, and down the outside to create a tub lining. Overkill because my garden is also lined in fabric, but it lets me sleep at night. Freakin' moles.
But why? It's not going to harm anything. I've been growing food in nursery pots and on top of weed barrier for most of my life. There's no evidence that this is harmful to the plants. If it were, the plants would be getting sick. Since the plants are thriving and completely healthy, then the substance can't be toxic by definition, and if it can't even harm a little plant, it certainly can't harm a 150-200lb human being with an organ system constantly scrubbing its body from toxins. I just don't buy it. Save your money and use the weed barrier. Otherwise, you'll be spending a lot more pouring a concrete slab or buying steel plates.
@TheMillennialGardener first, please don't tell me what to do, i wasn't telling you what to do. I was asking for a plastic free option. Second plastic never fully breaks down so when we make plastic therea just more plastic, its usually not recycled if you put it in the recycling and when it is its lower quality plastic and it either ends up in the landfill so we need more landfills or it ends up in the ocean. Plastic breaks down into microplastic which is harmful to many organisms including humans. Also I don't think many of us want to live in a world full of plastic trash. I went to college for environmental studies, not that you need a college degree to understand this.
@@HazMatt_Hamburgerstill an other option would be good because concrete contains cement and extracting cement creats a lot of greenhouse gas emissions
This is very confusing to me because when I was looking for geotextile weed fabric to put under rock so it would be water permeable but not weed permeable, I was told to get non-woven fabric. I was told the woven was somewhat water permeable, but not enough for normal saturation of rain. The only company that said to get woven fabric was Vevor. I went through Sandbaggy. Huh. I hope I got the right stuff since it was $325 (4oz weight 15' wide x 100' long).
Are the weed barriers you use truly water permeable? I've seen some that are heavy duty but water runs off. I am currently using a product called weedblock on my raised beds but it breaks down after a year or so. But I don't want to use something in my raised beds that doesn't allow water to permeate. Thoughts?
Yes. They are completely permeable. They never pond. The stuff that ponds would be tarps. If they're a tarping material, they're designed to block water from seeping through. The product I linked in the video description will drain just fine.
Do you have any suggestions for fire ants? I put down heavy duty landscape fabric then positioned my new raised beds on top of it. I have been thrilled until after the recent rains here in SE NC and a huge fire ant mound surfaced on the border then they started going across the fabric to the beds. It will break my heart and ruin everything if they infiltrate my beds and rubs.
Yes. My yard used to be a giant fire ant farm when I moved here. Now, there are none. It's taken time, but I've eliminated them with this process: th-cam.com/video/pr521FO4sMY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=DGdFXfF5sOP_XTff For the first step, don't treat the garden area itself, but treat in a perimeter around it. That way, the ants can't make it to your garden and you can keep your garden area free of any products. After you get the problem under control, it's really easy to just maintain things by spot-treating the odd anthill here and there.
Place a layer of hardware cloth down, then a few layers of weed barrier on top of that. Between the steel mesh and the weed barrier, that should keep them out of the bottoms. If they're getting in overtop, you need a fence. Plain and simple, fences are mandatory for gardens in my opinion.
I don’t understand how this may work. Roots of eggplants are penetrating bottoms of my fabric grow bags within a season. For tree roots weed barrier is a joke. The only reason why weed barrier works on a surface is air pruning and you don’t have it underground. Pond liner may work but it will remove drainage. For digging critters wire mesh, 1/4” opening is all you need.
That’s why I used 3 layers. This is heavy weed barrier, not fabric from a grow bag. That is more like landscaping fabric, which is cheap. Woven weed barrier is more like a tarp, let alone 3 layers of it.
@@TheMillennialGardener Not with the tree roots I have to deal with. And if you don't believe me, just Google "does weed barrier block tree roots?" to see what others say about it.
@@jayduplessis7698 you will always find negative reviews for products that are not used correctly. If all that is used is a single layer of 3oz weed barrier, or if the user fails to seal the edges, then yes, roots may be able to get in. If 2-3 layers of 5oz weed barrier are used, it is a different story. Human error is the #1 cause of negative reviews on the internet. If tree roots are getting in, then either it was not sealed properly or not enough layers was used. There will be a threshold where roots cannot get through.
@@TheMillennialGardener 1) I'm not talking about inexperienced gardeners' reviews, I'm talking about the statements of experts (which you will find if you Google that question)... 2) The problem is not roots finding gaps between the fabric, it is trees with hair-like roots growing straight through this seemingly impervious material... and 3) using multiple layers is pointless, because if a root is thin enough to get through 1 layer it can get through the next one and the next one and the next one... understand? I'm speaking from experience, because I've been struggling with tree roots for years. And weed barrier does not work with invasive roots.
Why the hate on plastic? 🤷Without plastic, we'd be living in caves. There would be no modern science without it. It's literally the reason why we have sterile surgery, medicine and the entire transportation industry. The three most important inventions in human history are the wheel, the printing press and plastic. Those three things are the foundation of modern society.
why not just call it good? share the bed with the trees and if they end up sending feeder roots, no big deal. Their's plenty of nutrition to go around.
If roots from my persimmon or fig trees get into my beds, they will be useless. There is no sharing. Annual vegetable gardens cannot compete with tree roots. They have to be kept out, or the tree roots will take everything for themselves.
@@TheMillennialGardener i mean, maybe its not ideal, but I’ve planted lots of veggies/fruits at base of a tree with good results. Nature does it everywhere you look
![4 Flowers That REPEL INSECT PESTS I'm Planting NOW [And 1 To Avoid]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hjoQUpdMads/mqdefault.jpg)
![4 Flowers That REPEL INSECT PESTS I'm Planting NOW [And 1 To Avoid]](/img/tr.png)
If you enjoyed this video, please “Like” and share it to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching😊TIMESTAMPS here:
0:00 The Problem With Raised Bed Gardening
1:41 These Garden Bed Liners Just Won't Work
4:20 The Perfect Garden Bed Lining Material
5:46 How To Line A Raised Bed Garden
7:49 How To Fill A Raised Garden Bed
9:54 Adventures With Dale
Lots of good info here but I feel like there are better uses for the area than the raised bed tucked in between trees. In situations like this I grow plants that have small root balls and prefer some shade. It’s perfect for herbs and annuals and gives it a more food forest vibe!
I did this under top weed barrier layer I put hardware cloth, sandwich in between layers. Keeps all digging creatures out of beds.
Great little video. I double up on my syrup tubs as planters. Use one as a wicking source. I use to have raised bed without bottom and you're right, the roots would come right up in them. the biggest problem thou was the moles. During the summer time they would come up through the bottom and tunnel around. You would be watering then all of a sudden a big hole would open up as the water drained out. So I went to tubs and doubled them up. I also had them on my newly planted figs. Killed several of them. So what I did was take hail screen. 1/2" square and line the holes with it. Roots can still grow through it and it would keep the plant safe until the figs got established.
Spent the day working in the garden, got very hoy today so came in and caught your video. It’s been a good day!
Glad to hear it 😀
Any advice for mole crickets? We moved to Myrtle Beach two years ago from NY. We woke up to tunneled holes in our backyard. We removed four mole crickets from the pool. They look like a crab mated with a cricket! We had to get educated pretty quick about palmetto bugs, giant wolf spiders, venomous snakes and now there is some fat foot long brown slimy lizard thing that ate one of our little birds! Yeah, so my neighbors hear me scream a lot. Like daily lol Someone HELP! - Kristin
ROFLMBO 😂😂...Oh that's funny! Good luck ❤😊
Thank you again for posting videos it helps so much. You have one lucky dog he's spoiled. Please don't stop adding him at the end I don't know which I like best your garden videos or adventures with Dale.
Thank you for making a video about getting rid of these critters especially the voles which have a field day in my front flower bed 👏☺️
You're welcome!
Someone did this in 2020 in their mini polytunnel and the rats tore through it. The tree roots also still came though.
I always get meres/horse tail through our weed fabric. I also am not keen on the breakdown of it.
Wish i had taken notes/pictures of my late Step FIL mole traps in buckets. It looked medieval but did work. I would prefer a humane trap and take them somewhere.
It just needs more layers. You can also place a piece of hardware cloth underneath, which will be almost impossible for an animal to chew through. If I had an issue with rats, I'd put the hardware cloth on the bottom, then 3 layers of 5oz or thicker weed barrier on top of that. The hardware cloth will block the rats, and then 3 layers of the weed barrier will block the overwhelming majority of possible roots.
I’m anxious to hear about this as I too need a solution for these pests !
Yes. Me too!
Last year I followed your recommendation and used that weed barrier to grow my watermelon over. It worked so well I’ve tripled the area this year and my back yard neighbor and fellow gardener is doing the same!
It’s quite a deep raised bed, so after putting the weed barrier down why not put old logs sticks and leaves down, things that will compost over a couple years or more, to use less soil you’ve had to buy since that can get spendy, or anything to use less soil that won’t hurt what you’re growing, especially if the roots won’t grow deep. It’s what I’ve done and it sure helps just to use less soil but still have plenty of growing room. Just curious from some ol lady that’s grown a garden for years! Thanks and your garden looks beautiful!
Fab idea...we have gophers...Thank you!!!
You're welcome!
Thanks. I went the carboard route and am now fighting tree and grape vine roots in the raised beds and even some of my containers. I will have to deconstuct my beds and add the weed barrierr. I wish I had this info last fall.
Cardboard is great for snuffing out grasses, but it turns to mush in a few months, so it's effect is short lived 😕
Actually the card board brings worms too they love it
But it won't block critters, though. That's the problem. Somehow, worms always seem to find their way into my soil.
@TheMillennialGardener I know I understood that part I was only commenting about the part were you said it's only good for snuffing out grass I have heavy clay and it's not even good for my grass I would have to triple mine I for get what the weed I have is called but it is hard to keep out of my beds and paths and I used cardboard the wrong way and not enough wood chips cardboard doesn't last more than 3 months if that but it most certainly helps me with worms I have a trillion worms in my yard surprisingly .thanks for reaching out love the show thanks for the tips and tricks
This was great. I have a 4 X 16 bed that has been invaded by fine tree roots. I am still using this season (and cleaning out sections as I plant) but in the fall, I plan to take it apart, clean out the roots, and reset. I will definitely try your weed barrier tip. Oh and bonus - the grooved dog bowl. Thanks so much!
Oh hi Dale ❤😊 WOW never knew this. Thank you so much for teaching us all 😊❤
I had this exact problem myself, I used two layers of weed barrier, a thick layer of leafs, a layer of logs, and another layer of leafs.
It didn't last me long, I was actually very surprised just how quickly the tree roots took over the bottom of the raised bed. The thought of roots overtaking the bed never crossed my mind, I mainly wanted a barrier to prevent the soil from washing out over time, I did rescess the bed a few inches into the ground but I also wanted something which wouldn't pool water either.
My weed barrier was a cheap fabric version I found at Lowes*
Great video. So happy you went over all the options to planting among tree roots. That has been a huge problem for me to maximize my food growing space.
"..... 🎶 orange, you're not a joke to me. You're one of my favorite fruits, and, you've got a whole song dedicated just to you..."
Good idea , but to point out a couple options. My veggies don’t like growing in shade! The roots of my veggies penetrate through my mesh wire mole stop bottom to get moisture in dry spells, barrier cloth would prevent goin deep for moisture, plus tree roots likely zapped up water in dry spell already. Trick I usr is inside raises bed on top of cloth ( or instead of cloth use a liner like old pool liner or blue tarp style or heavy clear poly sheet. It to fit with a 2 inch oversized all around, out in bottom edge curl up , 2 inch water bowl to hold rain or irrigation , put some gravel in if u wish, now a 16” raised bed has a 2 inch water reserve to hold in drought. It will overflow to tree roots below, preventing harm to plants.
I use variations of this water pan in large pots on deck and more.
Good ideal on roots. In my raised beds been done 8 years and 6 ft. 20 foot each, bars to undo!😀👍🌽
Good luck. Lawn under my weed barrier without any water and summer heat.The lawn grew to 5 inches tall. Had take out lawn and soil before putting weed barrier and 4 inch mulch ( not in raised beds).
Great information Anthony 😊❤ GOD BLESS YOU BROTHER 😊❤
Love the videos! I learned a lot! So far my veggies are flourishing here in Southern Arizona!
Excellent! I hope you have shade cloth on-hand for the June sun ☀
@@TheMillennialGardener yes I bought 3 so far and have hung one up. Today we finally reached triple digits so when the sun goes down I’m going to put up the rest. I do have a quick question though, can you link a video to combat gnats and ants?
I have a raised bed I'm installing now and while tree roots are much of an issue because there isn't one close enough to have surface roots there, I do have an issue with a vine growing on the other side of a fence for which this one bed will be close to.
I have to say this was a VERY well timed video for me because I was only giving it minor thought and this makes the decision easy and thanks for the links!
Glad I could be timely 😀
We just put the weed barrier in our 11 raised bed garden, we absolutely love it! We have a weed here and there pop up but easy enough to pull as you’re walking by or if there’s quite a few due to the rain here in South Carolina lately my son trimmed..zip zip..zip zip..done in minutes..not hours. Now we can concentrate more on doing what we love! Thank you for all the help you give us!
Very interesting video. Thanks for the information.
You're welcome!
Dude your videos are GOLD!!! Love them and have sent them to so many people. Great
advice that WORKS! Keep it up!
I can tell you from experience here in NC, the tree roots will invade. Even when doubled up, after 2years those feeder roots went through the weed barrier in my raised bed and was sucking the water and nutrients.. My container garden wasn’t affected, difference is raise bed is bottomless…it will find a way in. I have pine trees around my property and my raise bed was over 25 feet away. Solution long term is cement blocks or blocks elevation at least 4 inches off ground
Yes! Finally did the same near a Cedar tree with great success.
I have a mature enormous fig tree plus an willow aok that had gone into all my beds. No matter what. Last year i tried sheet metal in some 12inch deep wooden raised beds and ppl said the heat will cook the roots. Let me tell you all my veggies did better that before, at least they kept nutrients and water (tomatoes were on the ground) This year I'm getting metal raised beds so I am looking for a long term solution.
@@eloisachittick8869 can you do the same with the metal beds? Just as lace the metal beds on top of the sheet metal making sure it's not flashed ( so drainage) in essence it would make it like those metal water trough
@@kayb2758 I am actually doing the same since pouring concrete is not an option. Drainage has never been an issue since the sheet metal is corrugated and and water runs out through the the grooves on one side I just simply use double weed barrier to contain the soil in. I got a little concerned about the different types of metals but I think they are both galvanized so it should be good.
You explain everything so well. I did look at your Amazon store. If we're ever going to do the raised bed, I'll be back to your store. We are currently using the clear totes to grow sweet potatoes. We started in March this week we took the lids off and are letting the incredible growth from all the sweet potatoes we put in acclimate. My question is to plant the slips in other clear totes instead of in the ground or in planters around my house?
Michelle, you may wish to paint the exterior of your totes with a light colored exterior house paint (I tint mine light green) so that the UV from the sun doesn't break it down in a short time. They get brittle pretty fast. Or, you can wrap some inexpensive aluminum foil around it for the same purpose. Happy Gardening.
We're using the clear totes in our Florida room because in the sweet potato video that's how he told us to do it. They performed exceedingly well growing a wonderful amount of sweet potato slips. I thought if it worked out well maybe it would grow new sweet potatoes that will too. When I put the sweet potatoes outside to grow the critters eat them and the squirrels like to plant the peanuts in the dirt!
@@michellewilliams1294 That's neat. He's great at his 'show and tell'. Explains things so even I can understand it!
I think that should hold up pretty well for a long while.
I put garden fending and pet repellent powered in the bottom of mine. It’s a mix of blood meal/ cayenne pepper. Remember there sense of smell is their best ability since they can’t see. One sniff of that stuff and they will be gone!
I tried cayenne pepper it doesn't work. The chipmunks are thorn in my ASS!!!
Curious why you didn't plant through the weed barrier instead? Wouldn't that eliminate the need for mulch all together, and you can just place the raised bed on top of the weed sheet running along the 'tree run'?
The purpose of mulch is to retain moisture, prevent weeds and cool the soil. Weed barrier will actually heat the soil, because it will attract sun, leading to higher temperatures. Mulch also breaks down and adds organic matter to the soil. Weed barrier will not contribute positively to your soil's health.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you! I actually just watched your other video explaining this!
I randomly placed beds and put wood chips on the paths without a weed barrier, and now I wish I watched your videos first and made a plan.
So very helpful! Thank you MG!😊👍👍
You're welcome!
I was going with cement and barbed wire as my first guess. My main threats are surface level, ground hogs, beetles, etc...
For groundhogs, if they are literally tunneling under your beds, you'll need something more robust. You'd at least want to use hardware cloth as the first layer, then add 3 layers of weed barrier on top of that. Then, fence in the area.
@@TheMillennialGardener mainly tunneling under my fence. I have a 200 foot border with a forest. Once they're in anything not netted or chicken wired is doomed
I recently got a fantastic 2 1/2 gallon stainless steel cooking pot. It`s very thick and heavy and has a high quality lid. I needed it for blanching garden vegetables, cooking large packs of chicken to debone and freeze for later, and boiling berries. The cheapest rice cookers are the ones with stainless steel inner pots because people are lazy and don`t like the slightly harder cleaning. I love them for cooking with solar because they`re very low wattage and even small portable battery packs can be used with them. Great for power outages or cooking outside or when camping. Very very useful! I try to use solar for my cooking.
I’ve used metal screening and the black mesh wildlife fencing as a bottom to keep out moles, voles, and shrews. It works great. They had eaten 90% of my hosta. Two years in after replanting in a trench lined with the wildlife netting, I haven’t lost any hosta to the critters.
Hardware cloth will keep out most tunneling pests. But, it won't work for tree roots. They'll climb right through. I tried to find a unified solution.
The money I could have made years ago with all these tips..🙃 thank for helping this new Generation of gardeners🎉
Gotta love the free flow of information!
Thanks for the slow feeder bowl idea! We were looking for alternatives to plastic.
So far, it works really well! The plastic bowls are the most effective, because they have the most intricate and confusing puzzle designs, but this slows him down 80% as much and it's probably healthier in the long-run. Plus, it's beautiful and heavy duty.
I have 2 beds that the tree roots keep getting in the way. Thanks for the info. I will double it as you did so I can continue planting
If roots are already an issue, you may want to triple layer it. it's better to be cautious.
I wasn't looking forward to watching this and finding out i messed up when I put beds near my trees for asparagus and thornless blackberry. But I settled on double weed fabric too. Whew!
what about a layer of gravel or rocks
Roots and pests will dig right through that in no-time. You'd have to pour a concrete slab or something like that to block them.
Thanks!
You're welcome!
I love your videos and have learned a lot from you. I live in southern CA., and had a ground squirrel dig a hole through my newly laid weed barrier! In my raise beds, I have to put hardware cloth under my weed barrier. I just don't trust the ground squirrels!
Always wondered about Dales bowl and now I know lol
Good idea!
Thanks!
Essa ideia é genial. Parabéns
It takes tenacity to deal with voles in an in-ground garden🤣🥲
The best stuff in life is earned 😆 We earn it here in the Southeast for sure.
Looks great! Do you have any trouble with water just exiting around the perimeter of the bed instead of penetrating into the bed area? I've dealt with trees in large containers that have dried out and the soil got hydrophobic; it was a bear to get those rewetted again!
I found a solution to my nibbling bunny friend...red pepper on my baby plants. And for armadillos I coat my mulch around my plants and the mounds where I plant melons/winter squash. One armadillo left my garden with a melting face. Ha!
I’ve never seen armadillos, wanna see them badly🙃 my neighbor said she saw him in my garden. That’s why I’m patient about all these holes in woodchips 😅
I’m in NE PA and this is probably the northern edge of their habitat
@@ponytaclub5539 They`re odd animals. I cussed out the old granddaddy armadillo in my yard last year. He stood there listening and then came over and sniffed my foot! He`s old, huge, and covered in scars and I met him several times before all my problems with them started. I saw him again a few days ago and tried to chase him away. He`d run two feet then stand on his hind legs looking around like, "WHAT WAS THAT?" They can`t see very well. It took me a couple of minutes to get him to run into the woods. I certainly didn`t want him anywhere near my garden. But the pepper seems to be working. I have over 3 pounds of it. I`ll need it if we have a dry period this summer because they can smell my wet garden and all the worms.
@@ponytaclub5539 Get a driveway alarm. It will alert you when the armadillo shows up. Just put the sensor on the ground where he walks or digs the most. I used five of them in my garden last year.
I discovered vole tunnels in a tiny raised bed made from pieces of sticks and small logs/limbs as the border. Aren`t they venomous?
No
What about the micro plastics issue? What chemicals are in the weed barrier that will get into our otherwise organic gardens/produce?
I find all of that talk to be nonsense. If it were harmful, the plants would be unhealthy. It's just internet fear-mongering. I've been growing on weed barrier and in plastic containers for most of my life and there has never been a single instance of any plant being harmed, and if it can't harm a plant, it certainly can't harm a 150lb adult human with an organ system constantly scrubbing our bodies.
I try to avoid using plastic in my garden. What is a good substitute for this black plastic weed barrier? TY
There is no substitute for weed barrier. Weed barrier is its own unique thing that the marvel of plastic allows for creating. Plastic has to be one of the most unreasonably derided things out there. All of modern society is a product of plastic. We'd have nothing without it - no transportation, no electricity, no running water, no refrigeration, no HVAC, no medicine, no sterile surgery, no computers, no telecommunications, etc. Remember when they used to make all the water pipes pipes out of metal and everyone was getting poisoned? Plastic is very safe. If it were harmful, you wouldn't be able to grow plants in plastic containers, but of course, every nursery container is made out of plastic and there is no harm to the plants. If it can't hurt a plant, it certainly can't hurt a human with hundreds of times the mass and an organ system constantly scrubbing our bodies. If you don't want to use weed barrier because it's made of plastic, you'll have to create an entirely different solution, like using metal sheeting underneath, which would cause all sorts of harmful effects. I considered many different options, but this was the best in terms of function, cost, ease and minimal side effects.
Wonder is this would work for gophers. Hate the suckers
They are pretty large. I would recommend adding a layer of steel hardware cloth in addition to the weed barrier. Between the hardware cloth and weed barrier, you have a better chance of success.
I've been wondering for a while now if weed barrier at the bottom would stop Raspberry runners from escaping out into the yard
You would probably have to line the sides and the bottom with a double layer. Create a basket of weed barrier. I imagine if you only lined the bottom, the raspberries would squeeze through the cracks between the bed and the liner eventually.
Thank you for this video, I just added some of the metal beds and wasn't sure if the 12" depth would be sufficient. I was thinking if I cut the weed barrier larger than the bed I can pull it up over the sides and clip onto the bed so the dirt won't come out the bottom. Maybe not an issue?
Great video
Thank you!
so I'm getting the Chipmunks in my beds ,I'm getting the netting.
But any tips before the netting comes?
I used your Amazon store site
Would like know if and when you sell some of your fig cuttings? If you do. Do you sell them rooted or fresh cut?
Everything I have is on top of landscape fabric.. 🍻
I love the stuff!
What would happen if i tucked the weed barrier inside the raised bed? To hold the dirt.....
I have a mole and vole problem, but not in my raised beds. I've been using the same woven landscape fabric for a year, and no critters in my beds. I went crazy and lined the bottom, up the sides, and down the outside to create a tub lining. Overkill because my garden is also lined in fabric, but it lets me sleep at night. Freakin' moles.
Weed barrier is good stuff!
What is the white powder at the base of your fig tree please?
very nice
Thank you!
I think this should have been 2 videos
Plastic free option?
Poured concrete. Would be rough if you ever need to remove it though. A lot more expensive. No plastic though! I’m using the plastic however.
But why? It's not going to harm anything. I've been growing food in nursery pots and on top of weed barrier for most of my life. There's no evidence that this is harmful to the plants. If it were, the plants would be getting sick. Since the plants are thriving and completely healthy, then the substance can't be toxic by definition, and if it can't even harm a little plant, it certainly can't harm a 150-200lb human being with an organ system constantly scrubbing its body from toxins. I just don't buy it. Save your money and use the weed barrier. Otherwise, you'll be spending a lot more pouring a concrete slab or buying steel plates.
@@HazMatt_Hamburgerthanks
@TheMillennialGardener first, please don't tell me what to do, i wasn't telling you what to do. I was asking for a plastic free option. Second plastic never fully breaks down so when we make plastic therea just more plastic, its usually not recycled if you put it in the recycling and when it is its lower quality plastic and it either ends up in the landfill so we need more landfills or it ends up in the ocean. Plastic breaks down into microplastic which is harmful to many organisms including humans. Also I don't think many of us want to live in a world full of plastic trash. I went to college for environmental studies, not that you need a college degree to understand this.
@@HazMatt_Hamburgerstill an other option would be good because concrete contains cement and extracting cement creats a lot of greenhouse gas emissions
Sangat sederhana
This is very confusing to me because when I was looking for geotextile weed fabric to put under rock so it would be water permeable but not weed permeable, I was told to get non-woven fabric. I was told the woven was somewhat water permeable, but not enough for normal saturation of rain. The only company that said to get woven fabric was Vevor. I went through Sandbaggy. Huh. I hope I got the right stuff since it was $325 (4oz weight 15' wide x 100' long).
brilliant🤔
Thank you!
I didn't realized how much of your soil is covered by plastic
Didn’t work for me, I put 3 layers of that barrier and still got roots come through
Where did I miss it? I thought you were moving to N. Florida? Did you change your mind? Love from East Coast Fl 9b.
I bought property in Florida, but I won't be moving there for a very long time. At least 5-10 years. It's a semi-retirement property.
Are the weed barriers you use truly water permeable? I've seen some that are heavy duty but water runs off. I am currently using a product called weedblock on my raised beds but it breaks down after a year or so. But I don't want to use something in my raised beds that doesn't allow water to permeate. Thoughts?
Yes. They are completely permeable. They never pond. The stuff that ponds would be tarps. If they're a tarping material, they're designed to block water from seeping through. The product I linked in the video description will drain just fine.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you!
Do you have any suggestions for fire ants? I put down heavy duty landscape fabric then positioned my new raised beds on top of it. I have been thrilled until after the recent rains here in SE NC and a huge fire ant mound surfaced on the border then they started going across the fabric to the beds. It will break my heart and ruin everything if they infiltrate my beds and rubs.
Yes. My yard used to be a giant fire ant farm when I moved here. Now, there are none. It's taken time, but I've eliminated them with this process: th-cam.com/video/pr521FO4sMY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=DGdFXfF5sOP_XTff
For the first step, don't treat the garden area itself, but treat in a perimeter around it. That way, the ants can't make it to your garden and you can keep your garden area free of any products. After you get the problem under control, it's really easy to just maintain things by spot-treating the odd anthill here and there.
@@TheMillennialGardener thanks. I’ll watch it now!
Where is the water going to drain? I did not see a hole to that raise bed.
Weed barrier is permeable. Drainage was the point of the design. I spend a lot of time discussing drainage and weed barrier.
I have been getting chipmunks digging in my container gardens, I bought pinwheels, but it doesn't work!
Place a layer of hardware cloth down, then a few layers of weed barrier on top of that. Between the steel mesh and the weed barrier, that should keep them out of the bottoms. If they're getting in overtop, you need a fence. Plain and simple, fences are mandatory for gardens in my opinion.
Thank you ❤
I don’t understand how this may work. Roots of eggplants are penetrating bottoms of my fabric grow bags within a season. For tree roots weed barrier is a joke. The only reason why weed barrier works on a surface is air pruning and you don’t have it underground.
Pond liner may work but it will remove drainage.
For digging critters wire mesh, 1/4” opening is all you need.
That’s why I used 3 layers. This is heavy weed barrier, not fabric from a grow bag. That is more like landscaping fabric, which is cheap. Woven weed barrier is more like a tarp, let alone 3 layers of it.
Weed barrier does not stop tree roots.
Sure it does. I’ve been using it for many years. You’re just not using a thick enough layer.
@@TheMillennialGardener Not with the tree roots I have to deal with. And if you don't believe me, just Google "does weed barrier block tree roots?" to see what others say about it.
@@jayduplessis7698 you will always find negative reviews for products that are not used correctly. If all that is used is a single layer of 3oz weed barrier, or if the user fails to seal the edges, then yes, roots may be able to get in. If 2-3 layers of 5oz weed barrier are used, it is a different story. Human error is the #1 cause of negative reviews on the internet. If tree roots are getting in, then either it was not sealed properly or not enough layers was used. There will be a threshold where roots cannot get through.
@@TheMillennialGardener 1) I'm not talking about inexperienced gardeners' reviews, I'm talking about the statements of experts (which you will find if you Google that question)... 2) The problem is not roots finding gaps between the fabric, it is trees with hair-like roots growing straight through this seemingly impervious material... and 3) using multiple layers is pointless, because if a root is thin enough to get through 1 layer it can get through the next one and the next one and the next one... understand?
I'm speaking from experience, because I've been struggling with tree roots for years. And weed barrier does not work with invasive roots.
Ugh. Plastic
Why the hate on plastic? 🤷Without plastic, we'd be living in caves. There would be no modern science without it. It's literally the reason why we have sterile surgery, medicine and the entire transportation industry. The three most important inventions in human history are the wheel, the printing press and plastic. Those three things are the foundation of modern society.
Voles are so damn annoying.
why not just call it good? share the bed with the trees and if they end up sending feeder roots, no big deal. Their's plenty of nutrition to go around.
If roots from my persimmon or fig trees get into my beds, they will be useless. There is no sharing. Annual vegetable gardens cannot compete with tree roots. They have to be kept out, or the tree roots will take everything for themselves.
@@TheMillennialGardener i mean, maybe its not ideal, but I’ve planted lots of veggies/fruits at base of a tree with good results. Nature does it everywhere you look