Raised bed question - cardboard and hardware cloth

[Mockingbird]

@RoK I have groundhogs in my yard, as well as chipmunks, skunks, and any other small creature you might expect, what I did with the raised beds was first landscape cloth, then I did two brick layers like a table, then I put the frame on that, used the landscape cloth again and filled with my soil and planted. I have never had a problem and the worms find their way in somehow. About the only consideration is if it is to dry to long then I have to water.

Along the sides of the raised bed I put down landscape cloth about a tile wide out, and then alternated tile and pea stones. I set pots on the tiles. I figured in the future I will do another raised bed, I saw I neighbor that has an arched trellis between two beds for peas and I think it is brilliant. Such a wise use of space.

last winter came on so fast I did not have time to prep the beds, we went from nice to 7 feet of snow in less then a week. regardless the effect was minimal, but I do usually fertilize well and try to add something to cover some of the herbs that return. Even though I did not I had all the herbs back, collard greens, and a small area of green lettuce which surprised me. To date the creatures have left the bed alone although they did get the lower parts of the blackberry's this year.

 

[Chuck]

Shade cloth comes in different percentages of how much light is allowed through also. The lower the percentage the less light to the plant and vice versa.