There was plenty of room to add a productive kitchen garden, thanks to the abundance of space in this garden. Previously, this area was a grassy field with full sun all day making it perfect for growing all sorts of plants and produce.
Steve wanted to totally transform this area into a productive, low maintenance growing space in a way that was in keeping with the rest of the gardens.
The garden before ---->
Planning the kitchen garden
Steve created the kitchen garden design himself working out the measurements and layout. The large greenhouse would be the main focal point, with the central path running through the centre.
He opted for standard shapes and therefore didn't need to use our Free Design Service, instead he used a combination of our raised bed calculator and our pre-designed kits to select the sizes and planned to create a layout featuring 2 octagonal and 14 rectangular raised beds.
Preparation and building
Steve used a crushed aggregate to cover the existing grass and flatten the area ready for adding pathways and planters.
Before building each raised bed, Steve made sure the surface was level by using some sand and a spirit level to work it out. He built up each raised bed using the layer-by-layer instructions provided. He found this process extremely straightforward and also arranged the BlocX by size to help him easily locate the component he needed for each step.
Each raised bed was lined with a DPM liner to protect the wood. The bases were filled with 10mm of gravel, then a layer of wood chip, then a mix of top soil, compost & well rotted manure to fill beds.
The finished design
Steve's planning and preparation has produced a wonderful and productive kitchen garden that is now used to grow lots of varieties of vegetable and herb and also cut flowers. His pathways were created using self-binding gravel and with block pavers edging the walkways.
The large growing space is relatively low maintenance thanks to the gravel pathways and raised growing spaces, this will make access at all times of the year easy and mess-free.
The almost-symmetrical layout of the garden with the greenhouse in the centre makes this a really good example of a large kitchen garden which could easily be replicated on a smaller scale if needed.
Take a walk through the garden
Create a beautiful kitchen garden using WoodBlocX
Whether you've got lots of space or a small area of the garden that you would like to dedicate to growing, there is a WoodBlocX raised bed that will fit your space. Choose from 100s of raised bed kit designs, input your own sizes into our Raised Bed Calculator, or use our Free Design Service to get something that is completely unique.