New cedar planting beds

 Another project we tackled this past weekend was the addition of three raised planting beds outside the main garden.

The area selected had been the site of a large Maple that we removed two years ago and had the stump taken out last summer.

The ground was pretty poor due to the amount of sawdust and debris from the stump removal. I decided that rather then spend time and money amending the soil for grass, I would build planting beds instead.

The bed frames are built from Michigan cedar that my wife's father had harvested and milled from the cedar swamps in Northern Michigan. Since he passed away, we have been thinking of how best to use some of the wonderful wood that we got from him.

Part of the materials we did receive consisted of 1" x 4" x 50" planks. They are a touch to small for the shed we intend to build, but perfect for this application.

The beds were simple to assemble and place. I added some good amended topsoil with additional compost from our bin and now we have added an additional 48 sq.ft. of planting area at StonePath.

The cedar should resist rot for many years to come, and are a wonderful reminder of Shelley's dad every time we work in them.