Home gardening with raised planter beds

Colorado's Front Range has a short and intense growing season, but planting some veggies and fruits at home increases your sustainability and self sufficiency while maximizing use of our region's most precious resource: water.

50% of the water used by local single family homes is spent outdoors, on average, according to Denver Water.

Why not grow food with that water? 
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Benefits of Home Gardening:

• It's fun and connects you with nature.
• Produces food that tastes better than store bought produce. 
• Uses outdoor water efficiently and sustainably. 
• It's one way to strengthen community resilience and self sufficiency.
• It is part of our nation's heritage, especially during challenging times (keep reading to learn about "Victory Gardens.")​

Tomatoes grown by Arterra Principal in 2021

Garden Bed ​Design Solutions For Best Results: 
If you've ever tried container gardening in individual pots or planters, you know the disappointment of seeing plants wither and sizzle in Colorado's baking summer sun as the soil dries out.

Raised planter beds are by far the superior option for successful home gardening. 

Why Raised Garden Beds: 

• Aesthetics: raised beds are far more attractive than planting directly into the ground. 
• Health & Soil Quality Control: avoid toxins, heavy metals, and dense clay in yard soil. Control soil health by filling raised garden beds with fertile, amended soil and compost derived nutrients to for a thriving garden. 
• Convenience & Ergonomics: reduce back and knee strain from stooping low, and enjoy more ergonomic accessibility for planting, weeding, and harvesting with planter boxes that are 12-24" inches tall. 
• Built In Seating: depending on your bed construction, you could enjoy added moments of nature therapy and maximize outdoor seating using sturdy, flat borders on the tops of your raised garden beds. 
• Resource Sustainability: growing some food instead of all grass or ornamental plants with the water you use outdoors is ecologically responsible in a semi-arid climate like Colorado. Also, the less we buy all of our produce from mass production sources that require extensive transportation and refrigeration to reach us, the better for the planet and local economy. 
• Increased Self Sufficiency: when you plant a few things for yourself and your family to enjoy, you rely a little less on the availability of foods and fluctuating prices at the big box grocery stores while getting a bit more connected to nature. 

Imagine if the abundance our neighborhoods could see if we all grew a few edible things like herbs, tomatoes, zucchini, berries, or fruit trees, etc." 

Interesting Food Facts: (Did You Know?) 
During World War I, facing the threat of food insecurity, President Woodrow Wilson publicly called for Americans to grow food at home. Americans responded to the call considering it a civic duty as they planted and cultivated what we history books have referred to as "Victory Gardens."​

Read more about this moment in history from the Smithsonian's online library or this 2020 article from the New York Times.

Why wait for a Presidential call to increase community resilience?
Grow food and share your abundance with friends and neighbors this year.

More Gardening Facts: 

• Plants store carbon. Growing more plants reduces your carbon footprint. 
• Home grown produce often tastes better than anything available at the store because so much of our food is grown in nutrient depleted soil by producers who embrace short term profit over regenerative practices like crop rotation to maintain soil health. At home, you control soil's health. Depending on where you live in the Denver metro, resources like Compost Colorado, Scraps, Denver Compost Collective and Wompost, make it easy to participate in resource looping for high quality composted soil amendments.
  
• Composting reduces methane gas that organic material would produce in the anaerobic conditions of a landfill, so you can feel good on many levels when you use and support a local composting service or try a DIY method at home. Explore classes from Denver Urban Gardens if you feel inspired.

Raised Garden Box Design & Construction: ​

​Our licensed landscape architect primarily uses wood to construct custom dimension raised garden beds for homeowners in the Denver metro.

Wooden Raised Planter Bed

​Other design options we recommend include: 

• Dry stacked Siloam stone creates beautiful artisan, light brown tones elegant for any front or side yard. 
• Galvanized tubs are an industrial and efficient option that we can help customize for drip irrigation. 

The materials we recommend for your project will depend on a variety of factors like your home’s style, HOA constraints, budget, and sensibilities for durability and style. 

See Design Garden Examples

Programmable drip irrigation saves time, money, and water.

Automated Watering Systems: 
Home gardening should be made as low maintenance as possible.
That's why we design and install zoned and programmable drip irrigation systems to keep plants thriving without daily hand watering needs, saving you time and often money in the long run. 

Irrigation Design & Installation Features: 

• Multi-zone and WiFi-controlled irrigation systems
• Drip irrigation tube zones
• Micro-spray features with adjustable nozzles 
• Zoned irrigation for other landscaping features with varied water needs (like lawn and trees).

Learn more about Irrigation Solutions

Green House Installation
If you really want first rate efficiency with home gardening, investing in a green house or hoop house can help extend the growing season and buffer against abrupt temperature swings and weather occurrences (like snow and hail storms) common in Colorado each  Spring and Fall. 

Consider whether you are just trying your hand at gardening or seriously investing in long term sustainability with a custom green house for garden control and outdoor winter meditation time. Ask us about pricing and options for your home's style and your budget using the link below. 

Request a complimentary consultation

Tips for What To Plant: 
A few of our favorite veggies for first time home gardeners living in the Front Range include: 

• Tomatoes (select an heirloom variety for the best flavor)
• Peppers of all varieties, especially Hatch and Chile peppers
• Hardy greens like kale and spinach
• Squash (zucchini and Delicata) and corn (note that these take up space)
• Culinary herbs (like basil, rosemary, and parsley)
• Strawberries and raspberries

If you are a bit more comfortable with gardening and want to plan for future abundance, fruit trees like apples, pears, and cherries are another great investment. Our licensed landscape architect can advise about the Espalier method for space-conscious fruit production. 

DIY Gardening Resources: 
Many local garden centers offer their expertise on plant cultivation, and there is also a plethora of online resources for gardening in High Desert Zone 5 (the Denver Metro's gardening zone). 

• Garden in a Box: the CSU extension program offers Garden in a Box annually. 
• Individual Starter Plants: Nurseries like Echter's Nursery and Garden Center, O'Toole's Garden Center, and more will also offer high quality starts for vegetables that grow well in our region. Also watch your local farmer's market for starts at the beginning of the season. 
• Soil Health Support: CSU extension also has a resource and free consultations, soil samples, etc. to help you navigate pesticide free ways to navigate pests. 

Not Ready to Try Your Green Thumb? 

Other Sustainable Ideas: 
Consider searching for a local CSA to support small local farms in community, adding resilience to the local economy and ensuring a source of income for small farmers who steward local fertile land, preserving it from development. 

You can also explore cultivating a drought tolerant pollinator garden, or xeriscape design to reduce water consumption and cultivate pollinator friendly native plants. 

Water Wise Flower Garden Designs

Explore Pollinator & Xeric Gardens

Final Thougths: ​Self Sufficiency & Clean Produce
During times of increasing uncertainty and growing environmental crises, growing some of our own veggies and fruits increases our self sufficiency, connects us to neighbors and nature, and reduces transportation emissions.

Home grown produce also gives you peace of mind knowing exactly what potentially harmful  chemicals and additives been used or avoided in the process of growing tasty treats like tomatoes and berries. 

Know What Conventional Produce Is the Most Toxic: 
Learn about the "Dirty Dozen" List of fruits and vegetables that should be eaten organic due to their absorption of pesticides and sprays. 

Let us know what questions you still have in the comments below! Will you be trying your hand at home gardening this year?