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Hello everyone. I'm new to gardening. I've read a bit about it, but never actually put trowel to dirt, as it were. Part of this is because that I'm a very unlikely gardener. I don't fit the mold of what I've always thought a gardener to be, but persuasion from both my therapist and my wife has put me into the shoes of a would-be gardener.

That said, I would like to make a raised garden box to start. I'm thinking 3' x 8' and build it out of 12" tall red cedar. I'd like to divide the garden half and half between flowering plants and vegetables.

I know *nothing* about how to choose flowers. The wife demands something pretty and that smells nice. I just want them to grow and provide the kind of challenging tranquility that gardening is supposed to bring.

As for the vegetable side, I'm going with different kinds of peppers, two tomato plants, a cucumber plant and some green onions.

So, my questions...

1. From what I've said so far, is there any flaw in my logic?

2. What kind of soil/compost/nutrient-rich material should I use in my raised bed?

3. What kind of watering schedule would you suggest I keep?

4. In keeping with my wife's idea of putting in pretty flowers, what would you suggest for a newbie that will look nice and be relatively easy to care for?

5. Should I go with seeds, bulbs or starter plants that are already growing?

Thanks and I look forward to your replies...

Denis

denisbaldwin wrote: As for the vegetable side, I'm going with different kinds of peppers, two tomato plants, a cucumber plant and some green onions.



So, my questions...

1. From what I've said so far, is there any flaw in my logic?

Seems a good choice in plants and of course there is nothing wrong with getting your hands a little dirty. You may find that you greatly appreciate the time you spend out with nature, even if it just be in your back yard.

denisbaldwin wrote: 2. What kind of soil/compost/nutrient-rich material should I use in my raised bed?

I'm assuming you will be having soil brought in to fill your raised bed. If you order it from a landscaping company they should be able to tell you what soil is sold for gardening as opposed to just filling a hole. After you get the soil you can then enrichen it with some composted materials (cow/horse poop) bought from Home Depot or Lowe’s

denisbaldwin wrote: 3. What kind of watering schedule would you suggest I keep?

For your location I would recommend an early watering or late evening water. You don't want to get your plants wet during the sunny part of the day as it will "burn" the leaves.

denisbaldwin wrote: 4. In keeping with my wife's idea of putting in pretty flowers, what would you suggest for a newbie that will look nice and be relatively easy to care for?

Also going by your location I would think there are a myriad of flower types you can choose from. Just go to Home Depot and look around. You should be able to find something you like. One I would recommend is Nasturtium. It is a flowering edible herb but they are still nice to look at.

denisbaldwin wrote: 5. Should I go with seeds, bulbs or starter plants that are already growing?

As you are a first time gardener and to save you allot of headaches and grief I would recommend you start with some "already growing" vegetable plants such as the tomatoes and peppers, especially the peppers. Again, these can be found at almost any home improvement store. The cucumber plants should grow pretty readily just by planting the seeds in the ground. After you have had more time to see and think about what YOU want to grow and how to grow it, then you can order seeds for next years crop.


Here is one last recomendation. [url=https://www.amazon.com/Vegetables-DK-Publishing/dp/0756628903/?tag=thehelpfulgar-20]Grow Vegetables[/url]. This is a decent book you can either get from the local book store, Barne's And Noble, or from Amazon. It is a pretty easy read but it give allot of good info for a new gardenter.

Lots of great advise there! (I suck at advice. For it sounds great in my head, but once turned loose )
BUT... May I add?
1. From what I've said so far, is there any flaw in my logic
For me... there is no logic in MY gardening. I do what I like. If I like it... I get it... then figger out where to plant it AFTER I get it home.
If you try getting TOO logical about it all... then there is no more fun in it. And you will need your tharipist even more.
Just go out... dig in... get dirty.... and ENJOY!!!!

Great advice, QA. There are different approaches to gardening, some more formal than others, but the actual enjoyment of the activity is at the heart of all of the approaches.

Only sixteen posts in nearly a year? For goodness sake, I'd like to hear more from you.

To the above fine advice, I would also add that there appear to be a lot of [url=https://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGIC_enUS260US260&um=1&q=nursery&near=Lakeland,+FL&fb=1&view=text&sa=X&oi=local_group&resnum=1&ct=more-results&cd=2]nursery and gardening centers in Lakeland, Florida[/url]so I would suggest visiting some of those as well. The thing about a quality plant nursery and garden center is that the plants tend to be in healthier condition than from a store that may not specialize in those.

Also, you may want to check out what the native species are for your area, as this will help your garden work with the local bugs and other critters, which in turn will work with you to help your garden grow better. Here's some information from a division of the [url=https://www.fl-dof.com/forest_management/fh_invasives_index.html]Florida Department of Forestry[/url] that explains the harm non-native species do. And here is some good information about the benefits of [url=https://www.fnps.org/pages/plants/natives.php]gardening with native plants in Florida[/url].

A way to approach your garden is to take a look at how the plants interact with each other and the critters in the environment, kind of like adding a theme or purpose to the garden. We have an introduction to creating a [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/design/2003/butterfly.html]Butterfly Garden[/url], [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/design/2003/bird.html]how to attract birds to your garden[/url], and also an article about [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/design/2003/]Companion Gardening[/url], which introduces the garden design concept of contrasts and complements in shape, color, and texture. And to get you started, here's an article about the [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/design/2003/landscape.html]Basics of Landscape Design[/url]. All those articles were written by the original Helpful Gardener, Scott Reil, who has moved on to other projects, one of them over at ExpertVillage. [url=https://www.expertvillage.com/video-series/1194_tree-shrub-maintenance.htm]Check him out at ExpertVillage[/url] and be sure to give him a good rating!

Denis,I read your question about getting started and I recalled how overwhelmed I was in the beginning. I started with herbs as they seemed easier and required less care then vegetables. It took a year or two for me to graduate to vegetables.
They first thing I would suggest is make sure all products you use are suitable for organic gardening. I wouldn't want to eat any of the vegetables produced in chemically treated soils or with fertilizers with chemical additives. Most of the big box stores and popular name brand products have chemical additives. Take a look at a [url=https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/105-6648213-5752459?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Organic+Gardening+rodale]Rodales book on Organic Gardening[/url].
Compost and seaweed and fish emulsion are good "fertilizers".

When you mark out your vegetable/flower bed lay down a thick layer of newspaper(black and white only) 10 layers thick along the bottom. This will suppress the weeds and eventually decompose adding to the health of the soil.
If you like you can investigate "lasagna gardening". This is a great way to layer nutrients into your soil but you'll have to wait a season for it to break down.

Tomatoes grow large and need support. If you buy tomato cages get the
largest available. Cucumbers vine also need support.

Adding a few herbs as a border along the edges of the raised bed can deter harmful insects and can attract beneficial ones to the flowers. They can also serve as a living mulch to suppress weeds and keep the soil covered. Nature fills in with weeds any area you don't plant so you need to mulch the soil with something (hay. salt hay) and also to preserve moisture.
I've used a variety of thymes and chamomile and oregano as low growing edgers that can spill over your wood form making it pretty. They also smell good.

Instead of dividing the bed in half- I would plant the taller vegetables down the center of the bed (tomatoes,peppers,cukes) and plant the flowers around the border between the herbs. The bed is only 3 feet wide and you should easily be able to reach in and pick the vegetables. The green onions would be in the border toward the front since they are low growing.

I definitely agree with previous posts and would purchase plants for most plants the first year.
As to what pretty nice smelling flowers to pick, bring your wife to the garden center and let her pick what she likes as long as it's a sun lover it's fine. Petunias have a very pretty spicy smell and would look pretty and come in many colors, Marigolds are frequently used in the vegetable garden because they deter some pests but they have a strong scent so you have to like that one.
The nasturtiums mentioned are a wonderful flower with a spicy taste you can add to salads. That one is easy from seeds if you want to try some seed.
Last year I planted Thai basil for the flowers in my vegetable/herb garden.

webmaster..... If I posted more often, I'd need to change my name to "JabberJaws"

Everyone has given such good advise. I love my raised beds and would only add a couple of things to the previous posts..

If you are limiting your growing space to 3 by 8 feet...
Tomatoes..... two types of growing styles

Determinant - grow to a bushy form- usually benefit from staking or a tomato "cage".
Indeterminant- keep growing all season and definitely need tall staking ( tying as they grow onto 6' poles above ground)

To maximize your growing, try to set up your bed so the 8' length faces south. You will then plant along the back "row" of the 8 foot length, your tallest plants. ( from what you are interested in, probably the tomatoes)

Tomatoes will fill out and produce fruit in direct proportion to amount of sun each plant can get. One will typically get the same number of tomatoes in a small space with just a few plants as when one overcrowds many .

Some suggested raised bed spacing
Tomatoes , determinate- with cages - 36" between plants
Tomatoes, indeterminate - with cages and poles 48" between plants

This would suggest you could fit 2- 4 tomatoes in your bed
you could try to squeeze some smaller plants in front of the tomatoes --NOTE: you should plant the next row of shorter plants at least 2 FEET in front of the tomatoes.
Peppers- 24" spacing in row spacing
Eggplant 8" to 12" in row spacing

You should probably start with pregrown seedlings for the above mentioned "warm season" crops.

You could tuck some bedding plants ( annual flowers purchased in little packs of 3, 4 or 6) at the very front or corners of your bed- consider smaller spaced types or types that would "spill over " the edge and not use up bed space for your veggies... like Petunia "wave" varieties but there are MANY options.. just pay attention to the plants label which should have spacing requirements printed on it.

OR you may wish to try some easy to grow herbs - again.. tucked away in the very front or corner of the bed.. annual herbs- basils, cilantro
Perennial herbs- garlic, garlic chives

You may want to consider a bigger bed or two thinner beds to include greater numbers of plants than mentioned.... but, hey... it is completely up to you. Better to start small and have fun

GOOD LUCK!