Any Special Requests?

We’ve worked hard to offer a high-quality line of cedar garden products, and Charlotte area gardeners do seem to like what we build.

Cedar-framed greenhouses and chicken coops. Cedar garden beds. Cedar compost bins. Cedar arbors, trellises, and outdoor furniture.

And sometimes, we’re asked if we can ‘make something special’ - something that’s ‘not on the menu’. 

Could duplicate or modify a unique raised bed design that a customer found on online?

Would we consider building cedar arbor or pergola designs that were inspired from photos or drawings discovered in all those little nooks and crannies on the internet?

Whimsical cedar trellis. 

Cedar potting bench, with lots of extra features. 

 

Cedar Rose Arbor.

 

Cedar Obelisks.

 

Cedar Orangerie boxes.

 

Cedar storage sheds.

 

Kids’ Tree house.

 

Cedar tiki bar.

 

Cedar dart board cabinet

 

Cedar hexagonal-shaped planters.

 

Even a Japanese-Style Tea House, made with red cedar.

And our answer to special requests like these?

It’s ( almost ) always:

“Sure, we can! And we’ll be delighted to build that for you, too!”

 

Now, our Kitchen Garden raised bed design has a sleek look, with 1”x6” red cedar boards glued and screwed to a 4”x4” red cedar post in each corner. The 1”x6” red cedar cap board gives the gardener a comfortable, sturdy place to sit - and it gives the raised bed more visual appeal, too. 

 

Because of the 19’ height of the Kitchen Garden raised bed design, 2”x4” cedar reinforcing stakes are installed on any span on a cedar garden bed that’s longer than four feet. So a 4’x8’ Kitchen Garden raised bed, for example, would require two reinforcing stakes - one stake placed at the center of each of the 8’-long sides of the cedar planter.

 

These stakes help anchor the raised bed in place, and they also keep the long sides of the Kitchen Garden cedar garden beds from bowing out when the planter is filled with organic soil. The soil in a 19”-tall, 4’x8’ Kitchen Garden raised bed, for example, weighs well over 1000 pounds, and would easily push out the 8’-long sides of the raised bed, if these reinforcing stakes weren’t installed before adding the soil.

But in the standard Kitchen Garden raised bed design, these  2”x4” cedar reinforcing stakes are typically placed inside the planter, giving the exterior of the cedar garden bed a sleek appearance - and creating a little more room to walk around the planter, when space in the garden site is limited.

 

When Jennifer Robin called us, she already knew that she wanted three Kitchen Garden raised beds in her Charlotte backyard. But, before she called, Jennifer had prudently perused our Flickr photo gallery to see examples of cedar garden bed designs, and other Microfarm projects. 

In our series of garden project photo albums, Jennifer saw a modified version of the Kitchen Garden raised bed design that caught her eye. 

This adaptation of the Kitchen Garden design features 2”x4” cedar reinforcing stakes placed on the exterior of the cedar raised beds, and also includes a touch more overhang on the 1”x6” cedar seating cap board.

 

Otherwise, this modified version of the Kitchen Garden raised bed design is the same as the standard version ; made with rough sawn red cedar to a height of about 19”, and filled with a premium organic soil blend.

Now, Jennifer’s organic garden site gets practically all-day sunlight exposure, making an automated drip irrigation system for her raised beds essential for her organic garden to thrive during the summer months. So we fitted all three cedar garden beds with drip irrigation grids, routing the water supply to a single watering zone at the home’s primary landscape irrigation control panel.

This convenient set-up will allow all three cedar garden beds to be watered simultaneously on an automated watering schedule, whether the family is inside having breakfast, or away on a month-long summer vacation.

With the two 4’x8’ Kitchen Garden raised beds and one 4’x10’ Kitchen Garden raised bed leveled, staked down, and filled with organic soil, and with the drip irrigation grids carefully placed in each raised bed, just two final tasks remained : place a border of steel edging and decorative pea pebbles around Jennifer’s organic garden, and build a 4’-tall garden fence with red cedar frame clad with 1/2” galvanized hardware cloth to keep out rabbits - and the family dog.

Done deal. Another special request delivered, and another happy customer. 

Do you have a special garden project in mind? Something you’ve seen that inspires you? 

A garden design that dares you to dream big? 

Or just dream differently?

Drop us a line. 

There’s a pretty good chance that we’ll delight in another opportunity to say, “yes!”