[loosegroove]

I was thinking about putting a rectangular Unilock raised planting bed adjacent to the front of my house. I am worried because according to the plans the raised bed will cover about eight inches of the vinyl siding of my house. Can anyway recommend any ideas to protect the house from moisture or bugs?

Someone recommended that I use flashing between the backfill and the vinyl siding?

Should I not even atttempt this?

Thanks
Nick

[Bill Schwab]

If you can't get the bed below the flashing by lowering the leveling pad (foundation, just make sure you make the bed a enclosed type box, with a full wall parallel to the siding. Leave a small gap between the wall and the house.

Personally, I'm not at all in favor or a raised bed as you describe, unless in a particular style of landscape. Raised beds just to have a raised bed to me, seem out of place, and almost obtrusive. Now, if you have a grade change, say the bed runs along a side yard that is 2' lower at the driveway level than it would be on the top, a raised bed then becomes a retaining wall and appears to be more in it's proper place.

Just my opinion here.

[Bamboo]

Yep, use a P.T. Board along the house and lag it into the house using pvc spacers on the lags to keep the board/ lag from going in to deep. 1 inch is normal but i like an inch and a half to keep it clean.

[LandArts]

Unless you live in a dome the facade of your home is probably composed of lots of straight lines, boxes and rectangles. A bed design that has some flowing curves can really help integrate the home into the landscape. As far as raised beds, a planting scheme with staggered plant heights could achieve the same effect at a lower cost.
Just an opinion...

[Uncle Albert]

Things that have worked in the past! If you have enough room build your wall with enough space to backfill and feather the soil below the siding-line this only takes a small area of the back of the bed to achieve,(you'll be surprised) Do your foundation planting to the front of the down slope. Only from the side can you tell what you have done, but with the right plant selection this view will be corrected to the eye very quickly. good luck

[trees]

Let me put my $.02 in favor of NOT doing the raised bed. They can look really out of place, unless acting as a retaining wall like stone said. Curved bed lines are much more attractive.

The other issue with rectangular raised planters is that they often don't fit the scale of the house. How many homes have I seen with 2, 2 1/2 stories that have a raised planter that's only 4' wide out front??? It looks terrible. There's no room to layer plant material & the straight lines do nothing for the overall landscape. If all you were going to do after is plant a straight row of japanese holly soldiers, please think again. Makes me cringe just thinking about it!!!