Clark Pampanga Philippines: Raised Bed Gardens
How to Make a Raised Bed Garden
Raised bed gardens are the saviors of gardeners with poor soil everywhere. The basic idea of a raised bed is that instead of battling against poor soil conditions, you build above ground, where you have absolute control over the soil texture and ingredients.
What is a Raised Bed Garden?
A raised bed garden is a garden built on top of your native soil, sometimes incorporating native soil, sometimes not. Raised bed gardens can be contained, such as when you build a wood or stone structure to keep the bed intact, or they can be more free form, with soil and amendments merely piled several inches high. You can plant anything from herbs and vegetables to perennials and shrubs in a raised bed.
Advantages of a Raised Bed Garden
Aside from avoiding the issue of gardening in poor soil, raised bed gardens offer several advantages:
• Raised beds warm more quickly in spring, allowing you to work the soil and plant earlier.
• Raised beds drain better.
• The soil in raised beds doesn’t get compacted, because they are constructed with accessibility in mind.
• It’s easy to tailor the soil for your raised bed to the plants you plan to grow there.
• After the initial construction process, raised beds require less maintenance than conventional garden beds.
How to Make a Raised Bed Garden
Contained raised beds are the most popular type of raised beds, and they’re great for vegetable and herb gardens, as well as flower gardens. Fruits, such as strawberries, grapes, blueberries, and raspberries, also do very well in a contained raised bed.
You can choose from a variety of materials to construct your raised bed. Wood is a very popular choice, because it is easy to work with and it is inexpensive. Concrete blocks, natural stone, or brick are also nice options, but there is definitely an added expense and labor to consider in using them. Some gardeners go the ultra-simple route, and simply place bales of hay or straw in whatever configuration they desire, then fill it with good soil and compost and plant it up. This solution will only give you a year of use, because the straw will decompose, but it’s worth trying if you don’t mind replacing the bales yearly, or if you’re still developing a more permanent solution.
Since most contained raised beds are constructed from wood, here are instructions for building your own wood raised bed garden.
Step One: Select your site. If you know that you’ll be growing vegetables or herbs, or sun-loving flowers in your new garden, select a site that gets at least eight hours of sun per day. A flat, level area is important, and you should also make sure that the area has easy access to water sources as well as room for you to work.
Step Two: Determine the size and shape of your garden. Make sure that you can access all parts of the garden without stepping into the bed. One of the main advantages of a raised bed is that the soil doesn’t get compacted the way it might in a conventional bed because they are planned for accessibility. It is a good idea to keep the garden to around four feet wide, because this way you can access the middle of the bed from either side. If you’re placing your bed against a wall or fence, it should be no more than three feet wide. Any length you like will work, as long as you keep the width in control. In terms of depth, six inches is a good start, and many vegetables grow well in a bed that is six inches deep. As with many things, though, if you can do more, more is better! Ten to twelve inches would be ideal. If you have decent subsoil (not too clayey or rocky) you can simply loosen the soil with a garden fork and build a six to eight inch deep bed. If your soil is bad, or you are planning to grow crops like carrots or parsnips that need a deeper soil, your bed should be at least ten inches deep.
Step Three: Prep Your Site. Once you know the size and shape of your bed, you can get to work prepping the site. How much prep you will have to do is determined by the depth of the bed you’re planning, as well as the plants you’re planning to grow there. If you are planning a vegetable or herb garden, a six-inch deep bed is perfect. To save yourself some labor, you can use newspaper, landscape fabric, or cardboard to cover and smother it, then put your soil and amendments right on top. However, to ensure that your plant’s roots have plenty of room to grow, it is a good idea to dig out the existing sod and loosen the soil with a shovel or garden fork to a depth of eight to twelve inches.
Step Four: Construct the Bed. Using rot-resistant lumber such as cedar or one of the newer composite lumbers, construct your bed. Two by six lumber is perfect, as it is easy to work with and will give you six inches of depth. Cut your pieces to the desired size, then attach them together to make a simple frame. You can attach them in a variety of ways. You can make a simple butt joint at each corner, pre-drilling and then screwing the corners together with galvanized screws. You can use a small piece of wood in the corner,and attach each side to it.
Step Five: Level Your Frames. Using a level, make sure your frame is level in all directions. This is a necessary step because if your bed is not level, you will have a situation where water runs off of one part of the garden and sits in another. If part of your frame is high, just remove some of the soil beneath it until you have a level frame.
Step Six: Fill Your Garden. The whole point of a raised bed garden is that it gives you the opportunity to garden in perfect soil. Take this opportunity to fill your bed with a good mixture of quality topsoil, compost, and rotted manure. Once they’re filled and raked level, you’re ready to plant or sow seeds.
Maintaining a Raised Bed Garden
Happily, raised bed gardens require very little maintenance. Each spring or fall, it’s a good idea to top dress with fresh compost and manure, or, if your bed only holds plants for part of the year, go ahead and dig the compost or manure into the top several inches of soil. As with any garden, mulching the top of the soil will help retain moisture and keep weeds down. Moisture retention is important, because raised beds tend to drain faster than conventional beds.
Source: http://organicgardening.about.com/od/startinganorganicgarden/a/raisedbed.htm
Manila is fast becoming a city of luxurious fine dining accompanied by fine vintage wine. Not only must a 5-star Italian, French or Continental restaurant offer good food, nice ambience and immaculate service the restaurant wine list must be equally exciting to make the evening of wine and dine a memorable one. One top rated restaurant in Clark Pampanga has been paying special attention to this aspect of fine dining.
This 5-star fine dining restaurant in Pampanga Philippines is highly recommended by food critics and frequent diners in Manila as a place to wine and dine in Subic Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone. Although it is a famous fine dining restaurant in Clark Pampanga with an award winning 3000-line restaurant wine list, Yats Restaurant is also a popular restaurant for family with children. Aside from French Mediterranean haute cuisine, this restaurant also serves healthy food and the best vegetarian cuisines in the Philippines. Private dining rooms are also available in this restaurant for business and personal meetings of 4 to 20 people.
Favorites of frequent diners visiting this popular resto bar in Clark Pampanga are steaks, Wagyu, Foie Gras, seafood, lobsters, venison, kangaroo loin, osso buco, veal chops, Kurabuto pork, escargots and a good selection of cheeses to enjoy with fine Vintage port and Sauternes. Clark Pampanga’s highly recommended restaurant also offers Cuban cigars such as Monte Cristo, Cohiba, Upmann, Partagas, Romeo Julieta and Trinidad. Many fine cigars are enjoyed in the Magnum Room of this cozy and romantic restaurant in Clark Pampanga which is a wine bar and lounge for before and after dinner relaxation. A good selection of Armagnac, Cognac, Single Malt, Vodka and other liquor is served in addition to the wine vintage wines some served by the glass.
Built in 2000 by Hong Kong-based Yats International, a developer and operator of hospitality and residential projects in the Philippines, fine dining Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar has served not only as Pampanga’s highly recommended restaurant and wine lounge, but also as a place where business executives meet to finalize business deals over a nice meal with some fine vintage wine.
For comments, inquiries and reservations click on Click here for inquiry and reservations
Restaurant@Yats-International.com
(045) 599-5600
0922-870-5178
0917-520-4401
Ask for Pedro and Rechel
Getting to this fine dining restaurant of Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Pampanga Philippines
How to get to this fine-dining restaurant in Clark Pampanga? Once you get to Clark Freeport, go straight until you hit Mimosa. After you enter Mimosa, stay on the left on Mimosa Drive, go past the Holiday Inn and Yats Restaurant (green top, independent 1-storey structure) is on your left. Just past the Yats Restaurant is the London Pub.
Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar
Mimosa Drive past Holiday Inn, Mimosa Leisure Estate,
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, Philippines 2023
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 Rea or Chay
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For assistance in hotel and resort bookings in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines, log on to
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To buy wine in Manila, Pampanga, Angeles City, Clark or Subic please log on to http://www. ClarkWineCenter.com
To inquire with the highly recommended beach resort hotel in Clark Pampanga visit http://www.ClearwaterPhililippines.com
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