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I would like to plant a garden next year.. but I would like to build it high.. so I don't have to bend over so far.. what is the easiest and cheapest way of going about this?
gardening standing up? need to save my back..
- Thread starter briansommers
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There is a book out in the USA: "Stand up and Garden" by Mary Moss-Sprague. She talks about gardening on raised beds and how to make them, setting up a watering system (both drip and sprinkler), trellises and how to make them, and so forth. I got a copy just a few months ago and so I have not had a chance to try out very much of it, but the pictures of er garden look very impressive!
For myself, a few years ago I paid one of my teenagers to drive a row of stakes into the ground. I use them when I tie up my tomatos, and that helps me out some. One year I tried training runner beans up the stakes but that year the weather was horrible and so I didn't get any beans that year at all.
I also use a spot covered with woven greenhouse flooring with holes cut every 3 feet, and each hole will take either a broccoli or four corn stalks or .a cabbage or whatever. That way I do not have to do very much weeding. I discovered that only woven greenhouse flooring is heavy enough: weed barrier is too thin, and it allowed enough light for weeds weeds to grow underneath the weed barrier. Woven greenhouse flooring is much better!. I also have a small stack of carpet pieces because if we get enough rain the weeds on top of the weed barrier will sprout, and then unless I cover them with carpet pieces to smother them I need to get onto the ground to remove them! As a result sometimes my vegetable garden looks nice and tidy but sometimes I have pieces of carpet scattered around.
I am still learning to garden without having to get down to the ground. The tall plants are relatively easy but I have not yet succeeded with raised beds with carrots and such. Maybe next year. We all are getting older, and I am trying to minimize how many times I have to get up off of the ground! It really is easier for me to stay on my feet!
For myself, a few years ago I paid one of my teenagers to drive a row of stakes into the ground. I use them when I tie up my tomatos, and that helps me out some. One year I tried training runner beans up the stakes but that year the weather was horrible and so I didn't get any beans that year at all.
I also use a spot covered with woven greenhouse flooring with holes cut every 3 feet, and each hole will take either a broccoli or four corn stalks or .a cabbage or whatever. That way I do not have to do very much weeding. I discovered that only woven greenhouse flooring is heavy enough: weed barrier is too thin, and it allowed enough light for weeds weeds to grow underneath the weed barrier. Woven greenhouse flooring is much better!. I also have a small stack of carpet pieces because if we get enough rain the weeds on top of the weed barrier will sprout, and then unless I cover them with carpet pieces to smother them I need to get onto the ground to remove them! As a result sometimes my vegetable garden looks nice and tidy but sometimes I have pieces of carpet scattered around.
I am still learning to garden without having to get down to the ground. The tall plants are relatively easy but I have not yet succeeded with raised beds with carrots and such. Maybe next year. We all are getting older, and I am trying to minimize how many times I have to get up off of the ground! It really is easier for me to stay on my feet!
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Welcome to the forum! 
I can sympathise about having a bad back, mine has been particularly troublesome this year. I agree with Kansas Terri that raised beds would be an excellent idea. There are also lots of tools around nowadays which are designed to avoid bending - eg this weed puller. Weed blowtorches are also pretty good!
I can sympathise about having a bad back, mine has been particularly troublesome this year. I agree with Kansas Terri that raised beds would be an excellent idea. There are also lots of tools around nowadays which are designed to avoid bending - eg this weed puller. Weed blowtorches are also pretty good!
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You don't say how far you would be able to bend but raised borders are definately the way to go. If you live in the UK then concrete building blocks, or even the "thermalite" interior blocks, much lighter, would be the best thing to use. Remember though, the taller you build them the greater the pressure against the blocks when you add soil and compost. Over a metre high and I would recommend using the blocks laid flat, or a double skin.
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There are several vertical gardening ideas floating around.
I have started collecting cinder blocks and have laid out a new gardening bed. With a bad knee and shoulder I am attempting to outline some of my raised beds on my sloping lot. Wish some of the vertical ideas weren't so expensive. Good luck with your gardening choices. I am sure with some creativity you'll come up with something that works for you.
I have started collecting cinder blocks and have laid out a new gardening bed. With a bad knee and shoulder I am attempting to outline some of my raised beds on my sloping lot. Wish some of the vertical ideas weren't so expensive. Good luck with your gardening choices. I am sure with some creativity you'll come up with something that works for you.
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Very clever ideas for the stand up gardener, its amazing how creative gardeners are when they want to plant things. There are so many materials available to make planters out of, much of it can be found the yard or at very little cost.
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Would kneeling on a pad help you? That would take the strain off your back. That's what I do. I kneel and garden and never bend down. So far, so good. I haven't hurt my back yet. I hope my good luck continues.
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Kneeling pads are a really good idea, I've got a memory foam one that is a big help. After a while it still hurts my knees, so I'm thinking of getting another one so that I can layer them up! Perhaps my knees are just too knobbly...
I have a milk crate that I sit on because kneeling is out of the question if I do it for any length of time. I fold an old towel and put it down on the crate which prevents my rearend from having a permanent waffle imprint. Its something that I have done for years and really can't imagine gardening without it.
A thought has occurred to me!
The company that picks up my garbage has changed what sort of garbage cans they will accept, So, I have 2 that are no longer of use to me.
I have tried to grow both carrots and potatos without digging but I have not had any luck. However! If I fill one of those garbage cans half full of soil I can plant potatos in it and then fill up the rest of the garbage cans with mulch. I have both leaves and grass clippings around the place. As the potatos grow up. I can make the mulch deeper. I would just have to shove my hand through the mulch to pick as many potatos as i want for dinner.
As for the carrots, I would want at least a foot of good soil on top but the rest of the garbage can can be full of whatever I scrounge up.
Let's see: last year i mulched the cucumbers deeply and there is still a lot of half-rotted straw on the ground. We often use a tube of sand in the trunk of the car in this area to give us more traction on ice, and the tube fabric got damaged and so I put it with the gardening things because sand is often useful to mix with soil. I have windblown leaves all around the base of the house. And, when I went to buy potting soil to start seedlings with they only had the large bags in so I bought a large bag.
As soon as the weather warms up a bit I think I will have my son help me fill those 2 garbage cans with free materials, and if I need to buy more potting soil then I wilI just need to find a place to put them because, in my opinion, using a garbage can as a planter will be practical but not necessarily attractive! Then I will drill a small drainage hole and this year I will have both potatos and carrots!
And, in the mean time I will have two garbage cans to get really, really clean!
The company that picks up my garbage has changed what sort of garbage cans they will accept, So, I have 2 that are no longer of use to me.
I have tried to grow both carrots and potatos without digging but I have not had any luck. However! If I fill one of those garbage cans half full of soil I can plant potatos in it and then fill up the rest of the garbage cans with mulch. I have both leaves and grass clippings around the place. As the potatos grow up. I can make the mulch deeper. I would just have to shove my hand through the mulch to pick as many potatos as i want for dinner.
As for the carrots, I would want at least a foot of good soil on top but the rest of the garbage can can be full of whatever I scrounge up.
Let's see: last year i mulched the cucumbers deeply and there is still a lot of half-rotted straw on the ground. We often use a tube of sand in the trunk of the car in this area to give us more traction on ice, and the tube fabric got damaged and so I put it with the gardening things because sand is often useful to mix with soil. I have windblown leaves all around the base of the house. And, when I went to buy potting soil to start seedlings with they only had the large bags in so I bought a large bag.
As soon as the weather warms up a bit I think I will have my son help me fill those 2 garbage cans with free materials, and if I need to buy more potting soil then I wilI just need to find a place to put them because, in my opinion, using a garbage can as a planter will be practical but not necessarily attractive! Then I will drill a small drainage hole and this year I will have both potatos and carrots!
And, in the mean time I will have two garbage cans to get really, really clean!
Gardening standing up is new to me but something I am sure I will be using. My knees like to give me the blues every once in awhile.
I have seen pictures of people using pots to tier the garden and hanging plants where possible.
I may not be able to get the help to make raised beds but I know I can get garbage cans to grow my garden in.
I have seen pictures of people using pots to tier the garden and hanging plants where possible.
I may not be able to get the help to make raised beds but I know I can get garbage cans to grow my garden in.