How many of you have gardens that are long, flat rectangular beds? This seems to be the typical given garden shape. It is natural, it fits most yards, is easy to plant and maintain. And it is probably the first garden shape we encounter and work with. Indeed, we can get a lot of flowers or vegetables into it in either clumps or neat long rows. But it can appear commonplace. Here is a way to give that rectangle, since it fits so nicely into virtually any yard, big or small, a bit of pizzazz to make it stand out from the crowd.

Last summer I was standing on my deck looking down on my 6 ft. by 25 ft. long rectangular flower bed in the garden. It was the first bed I put in when we moved to this property several years ago. It seemed like a natural idea at the time. It was between the house and at the edge of a small stream that runs through the property and is parallel to them both. Somehow, with its fading end-of-the-season plants, it appeared to be more of a barrier than a focal point. Even cleaned up and mulched for the winter it wasn’t very attractive. My eye just fell on this dark rectangle in the middle of the yard. In fact, the dark blob stood in the way and detracted from the pleasant sight of the stream and wetland beyond.

An idea I had seen in a click4garden projects book i bought came to mind. The projects book had presented plans for a simple raised herb or strawberry garden with some extra products/furniture to make the garden presentable.

The design was simple and the price was right – cheap. And the project would give me a chance to play with more tools, saws, and sanders, and drills: I got a warm, tingly feeling all over. I would get a chance to exercise my rudimentary carpentry skills. So i went to click4garden and purchased decking and log rolls to begin, i even managed to get free delivery. I went to bandq to get my cedar boards..

It wasn’t long before I had put together the squares according to the drawings and measurements in the click4garden project book. The idea was to assemble the first large square, to act as the base. A second square and a third square, on a side, would then be set on top of the soil. The top and bottom end squares fit to these. I then raised behind this using decking and created another square, then did the same behind this. The squares were the with of my garden and the last square was about 3 foot off the ground with a sort of decked shelf which i then created decking steps to get up to and further more purchased a small pagola to go on top of, again from http://www.click4garden.co.uk.The plans worked perfectly!

But, needless to say, it needed futher work, i added log roll edging around the front flower bed and placed a small pond in there with a couple of fish, this looked spectacular... Once everything was set out i worked on the flower beds themselves, i carefully filled them with soil and i had vegetables in the top one, herbs in the second tier, and plants for summer and winter in the third tier so it would look great all year long!

What a difference! New cedar created variously turned diamond patterns against the rich dark soil within and around them. I realized I had accomplished many things at one time. Not only did I do away with the flat garden that had been there by giving it a vertical dimension, but also I had created an interesting series of patterns. The cedar gave a woody texture that could be handled either formally or informally.

Over time it will age to a silver-gray color that will give a patina of long life, a kind of authenticity, if you will. What’s more, I had created a number of diamonds and triangular shapes. They would give the empty garden some interest over the winter. They would also make it easier to plan what would go in the garden when it came time to plant in the spring. Strategically located stepping-stones, fieldstones, brick pavers, garden arches, solar lighting added color and an earthy feel to the whole. But my favourite tool has to be my masonry garden barbecue, wow! Also bought from click4garden website, it goes so well with the theme of my garden and cooks some great burgers!