Backyard Raised Bed Garden Transformation
Supporting Rochelle’s dream of sharing a garden abundance with her family and friends
Rochelle and her family came to Harvested Gardens with a clear goal: to expand their backyard garden into a beautiful, highly productive space where they could harvest fresh, high-quality ingredients just steps from their kitchen. As a passionate home cook and self-described foodie, Rochelle wanted a garden that supported her love of cooking, maximized harvests, and functioned as an inviting outdoor gathering space for her family and friends.
Assessing the Existing Garden
Before working with Harvested Gardens, the family had been growing food in fabric grow bags and a single fenced raised bed built by her husband. While Rochelle had done extensive research and was successfully using the square foot gardening method, several design limitations became clear after a full growing season.
The raised bed was too low, causing strain on her back and knees, and its square shape made it difficult to reach plants in the center. Another major concern was the plants were underperforming, indicating that the soil wasn’t providing optimal structure, drainage, or nutrients.
Our role was to take Rochelle’s strong gardening knowledge and passion and support it with intentional design and professional infrastructure.
Before
Designing a More Functional and Productive Space
To address accessibility, durability, and layout, Harvested Gardens installed three oval corrugated steel raised beds from Vego Garden. These beds offered increased height for comfortable gardening and an efficient shape that allowed easy access to every plant. The steel construction ensures long-term durability while maintaining a clean, modern aesthetic.
Each bed was filled with a custom high-quality soil blend, specifically mixed to support intensive vegetable production. This blend provided excellent drainage, strong moisture retention, and a rich nutrient profile—dramatically improving plant performance and overall yields compared to the original soil.
Vertical Growing
To further maximize growing potential, we connected the raised beds with arched trellises, a signature element in many Harvested Gardens designs. Trellises add visual interest while allowing crops such as tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers, sweet peas, and flowering vines to grow vertically. This not only increases harvests but also improves airflow, plant health, and ease of harvesting.
On the opposite side of the fire pit, Harvested Gardens constructed two custom pine raised beds, also connected with a matching arch trellis. This created balance across the space and expanded the garden without sacrificing openness or usability.
Custom Drip Irrigation for Low-Maintenance Success
Consistent watering is essential for a thriving vegetable garden, so we designed and installed a custom drip irrigation system for every bed. Each zone was tailored to the specific water needs of the plants it supported and connected to an automatic timer for hands-off operation.
All main irrigation lines were buried underground, and plumbing within the beds was concealed to maintain a polished, uncluttered appearance. This system allowed Rochelle to enjoy the garden without the daily stress of manual watering—an important step in making the space sustainable long-term.
A Garden That Supports the Whole Family
Harvested Gardens also created a detailed planting plan for each raised bed, taking into account sunlight, plant compatibility, and Rochelle’s favorite crops. With this guidance, Rochelle confidently planted her garden and achieved impressive harvests throughout the season.
The garden quickly became a shared family space. Rochelle starts seeds indoors each year to extend the growing season, and her daughter eagerly participated in the installation and continues to spend time harvesting ground cherries, picking flowers, and connecting with nature.
Results
This project is a perfect example of how Harvested Gardens helps clients move from gardening with effort to gardening with ease. By improving soil quality, ergonomics, layout, and infrastructure, we helped Rochelle achieve her vision of a garden that is:
Highly productive
Beautiful and intentional
Easy to maintain
Designed for long-term success
A meaningful space for family connection
We are honored to have worked with this family and to have created a garden that will continue to grow alongside them for years to come.