Raised Bed questions

[August44]

I now have most of my trees on benches and 2 tables in the spring summer and fall. 50% shade cloth when needed. I also have collected tree on the ground in among the landscape trees and shrubs. They get dappled shade there and do well. Some of the on the ground trees have started growing roots out of the bottom of the pot and into the ground that makes a huge difference in how they grow I am finding out. It is just amazing! I am going to remove one of the tables and replace it with a 12' X 2" X 2' metal grow bed. Questions, should I just plant them in the soil, or put them in pond pots or some other type of pot and plant them? I am thinking I would need to dig and trim roots every 2-3 years, and the growth would be probably 100%+ better than in a pot on the bench. The collected tree would stay out all winter and will be mulched a little also. Advice and thoughts appreciated.

Note: I really don't have a place to easily plant in ground

 

[penumbra]

I have about a hundred asst trees in pond baskets on mulch, on ground. I also had a bed where they were directly in the ground. I saw very little difference so I did away with most of my ground plantings in favor of the baskets. This was a four year experiment that told me what I need to know for my conditions.

 

[CaptColin]

Not sure if this is the absolute most efficient way- but, what I did was create some raised beds, filled with free mulch I got from chip drop, potted all my trees (roughly 100 JBP) in 2 gal root pouch - charcoal color, and adjust the irrigation timing as needed. Works great, leaders going bonkers, decandle when needed, never move them. NC zone 7ish. I'd imagine in a few years I'll want to replace the broken down much with more free mulch so it remains relatively free draining

 

[Tieball]

The metal grow bed 12’ x 2” x 2’. That 2” planting depth seems rather shallow for growing….assuming your substrate/soil would be slightly less than the full height, that would probably leave about 1-1/2” for planting. Might be enough…..just seems shallow and subject to weather extremes.

 

[August44]

The metal grow bed 12’ x 2” x 2’. That 2” planting depth seems rather shallow for growing….assuming your substrate/soil would be slightly less than the full height, that would probably leave about 1-1/2” for planting. Might be enough…..just seems shallow and subject to weather extremes.

Woops, that's 2' not inches so 12' X 2' X 2'

 

[Tieball]

Woops, that's 2' not inches so 12' X 2' X 2'

Much better!
And it has multiple drainage points….right?
I’ve seen people fill a lot of the bin space with sticks and even medium sized logs. The wood rots below the surface and provides numerous nutrients for growth above.

 

[Tieball]

example for above comment. Some homesteaders fill the bins like this…..

 

[August44]

example for above comment. Some homesteaders fill the bins like this…..
View attachment 558851

Interesting concept with the wood chunks stacked in the bottom. Hauling rocks, sand, and soils around back in a wheel barrel gets a little old. Here is one that I put together this winter. It is 2' deep, 30" wide, and 6' long. I actually think I will sell the 12' X 2' X 30" one that is still new in the box and buy one that is 12" long X 3' wide X 2' tall. I have the room and might just as well use it.

 

[Rodrigo]

I'm in a rental house so I didn't want to put something on the ground that would kill the grass underneath.
So I opted for a "raised, raised bed" instead. I filled it with bark chips and planted my Siberian elms and black pines from @cmeg1 in fabric bags, as well as a couple of trident clumps in colanders.
The bark chips are a little too large but I dug around a bit a few weeks ago and did see tons of roots growing into the bark so I guess it's working!
Not to mention, the trees in the grow bed are growing leaps and bounds faster than the ones I kept in terracotta pots from the same batch of seedlings


I also keep my cutting attempts under the elms shade and humidity and it seems to work well

 

[Tieball]

example for above comment. Some homesteaders fill the bins like this…..
View attachment 558851

….and then fill the bins up with soil and substrates. The logs simply break down and create a better lower level soil. I guess like a larger scale version of me adding bark chips to my substrate or a form of composting. This growing method is very organic and can help limit the volume of soil and substrate needed.