Rockdale, NSW

A lovely couple in Rockdale wanted to grow as many vegetables as possible in their backyard, and had a suntrap along their back fence going unused.

Since the adjacent pavers were elevated, we built these two beds slightly higher than standard at 0.65m tall to avoid excess bending.

The generous size of these beds gives over 11 square metres of growing space - plenty of room for space-hungry vegetables such as corn, sweet potato, zucchini, pumpkin as well as all the other usual candidates!

Both beds are watered from below via hose fittings on the back, and will overflow neatly when full.

The beds were generously fertilised with Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus and lots of trace elements.

Rockdale sits on the warm, sandy flats near Botany Bay, where soil drains fast and the bay breeze dries gardens out quickly. That is where a self-watering raised bed shows its worth, holding water in the base against those conditions so the plants never check their growth.

Beds this large make room for the space-hungry crops that struggle elsewhere, alongside plenty of everyday salad and herbs, and a generous reservoir means watering only every few weeks. Kiln-dried and food-safe, the timber is built to last for years on the bayside flats. If a sunny fence line in Rockdale or the St George area is going to waste, we'd love to turn it into a big, productive vegetable garden.