Garden Boxes Make Springtime Planting Easy

Forty years ago, Warren Knox of Scotts Valley built his first garden box. It was a gift for his grandfather, an avid gardener who was having trouble kneeling and bending down to tend to his garden beds. Now Knox Garden Box sells boxes of all sizes as a way of bringing the garden closer to those who need it.

Built from insect- and rot-resistant redwood, the elevated garden box provides a way for people—whether they have trouble bending over for long periods, are in a wheelchair or just have a small yard area—to get back into the garden. They also provide a good medium for teaching people of all ages how to garden, a skill that seems to be becoming more and more useful these days.

“With the price of food going up, I think we’re going to see an upswing in home gardening,” Knox says.

The raised beds also make it easier for children to watch, look and feel the plants as they grow from seeds to seedlings to full grown plants, Knox says.

Having your garden raised off the ground has a few other benefits besides reducing the need to bend over and kneel. The boxes provide exceptional soil drainage and solve the problem of gophers, which can destroy a whole garden in a day.

And there's more, Knox says.

“Plants germinate a little faster in the garden box, because the soil is warmer than the hard-packed earth.”

He installs cold frame covers, which are great for tomato plants that die if they are exposed to the cold and rain of the last leg of winter.

Knox, an expert gardener himself, often gives educational presentations to garden clubs along the Central Coast. 

"The No. 1 secret to gardening is knowing the soil," he says. "Know your dirt before you plant. Chicken manure, bat guano and compost are all good additives to give your soil a nutrient boost. Now is the perfect time to begin planting lettuce, beets, roots vegetables, peas and any other plants that don’t mind a few more cold days.” 

Starter plants, Knox says, offer a head start and are less likely to fail, but he recommends that people teach themselves how to grow a few things from seeds, too.

 “If you were in a survival situation, you better have some good seeds around,” he says.

The smallest boxes Knox sells are 4 inches by 20 inches, and for $15, they provide an easily transportable bed for germinating seeds. The boxes range in size, going up to the King Model, which is 4-by-8 feet. Vegetables like corn and squash have no problem growing in these larger boxes.

Knox Garden Box is at 46 El Pueblo Rd., Scotts Valley. For more information, call 831.461.9430 or visit knoxgardenbox.com/.