Abstract:
Gardening system includes a raised garden bed, the raised garden bed including a garden box having a soil retaining area for plantings. Garden box includes side walls detachably attached together at adjacent free ends forming a corner. A weed barrier provided which extends between the front, back, left, and right side walls of the garden box, and is located at a lower portion of garden box below the soil-retaining area, and weed barrier extends up the side walls up to the height of the side walls. A sprinkler system with sprinklers is provided and can be coupled to a garden hose. Rods are provided having a length the same as the height of the side walls, for holding the garden box together and so that the garden system can be placed on a non-soil surface, such as a deck or the gardener&#39;s roof.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a raised garden bed system. More particularly, the invention relates to a raised garden bed system including a watering system. Even more particularly, the invention relates to a raised garden bed system made of synthetic materials, and which can be substantially assembled without the use tools, and which includes a sprinkler system. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Raised garden beds are known, such as wooden garden beds made of pieces of wood nailed together. There are likewise known raised garden beds made of treated lumber that have an increased useful life as compared to untreated wooden raised garden beds. 
     There are likewise known raised garden beds that are made of synthetic materials, such as plastic side walls. 
     One known garden bed includes four plastic sides that are secured together by an elongated stake which has a length greater than the height of the sides of the raised garden bed. That stake extends through the corners of the plastic walls of the raised garden bed, past the bottom of the garden bed, and is inserted into the ground in order to prevent that known garden bed from moving, such as when struck sideways, in use. 
     There is likewise a known raised garden bed having four plastic sides, and which sides are held together by a tongue-and-groove connector at each corner. That is, one of the walls at each corner has a triangular male fastener, and the tongue-and-groove fastener on an adjacent side wall of that known plastic raised garden bed is a triangular female fastener which mates with the adjacent triangular male fastener. 
     There are many drawbacks of the prior art devices. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a raised garden bed system which is environmentally friendly, easy to assemble, may be provided as an all-in-one system, may be assembled substantially without tools, and which may be disassembled and shipped in a substantially flat, compact manner, such as in one box. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a raised garden bed system including a watering system which is particularly suited for a suburban and urban lifestyle; that is, for use in limited spaces, on relatively hard surfaces, such as patios, on pervious and impervious surfaces such as brick and concrete patios, and on rooftop gardens, for example. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a raised garden bed system including a watering system that can be assembled without the use of tools, is sufficiently strong to support large volumes of gardening soil, is sufficiently strong to resist the bending and breaking of side walls of the raised garden owing to the relatively large volume of dirt enclosed, and the relatively large torsional, bending, and breaking forces applied to the side walls of the raised garden, and which may be provided with any additional devices suitable for use with the raised garden bed, such as trellises, watering systems, and additional gardening tools and fixtures. 
     These and other objects have been achieved by the invention as set forth herein. 
     In sum, the invention is directed to a gardening system one of which comprises, includes, consists of, and consists essentially of a raised garden bed, the raised garden bed including a garden box having a soil retaining area for plantings. The garden box includes side walls detachably attached together at adjacent free ends forming a corner. A weed barrier is provided which extends between the front, back, left, and right side walls of the garden box, and is located at a lower portion of garden box below the soil-retaining area, and weed barrier extends up the side walls up to the height of the side walls. A sprinkler system with sprinklers is provided and can be coupled to a garden hose. One or more rods are provided having a length the same as the height of the side walls, for holding the garden box together and so that the garden system can be placed on a non-soil surface, such as a deck or a user&#39;s roof. 
     The invention is likewise directed to a gardening system, including:
         a) A raised garden bed, the raised garden bed including:
           i) a garden box, the garden box defining a soil retaining area inside the box, and the garden box including a front, back, left, and right side wall, each side wall having two free ends, each free end having an attachment configured for being detachably attached to an attachment on the adjacent free end of an adjacent one of the respective front, back, left, and right side walls;   ii) each attachment being configured for being detachably attached to another attachment without tools;   iii) each free end including a hole configured for aligning with a respective hole on an adjacent free end of an adjacent side wall;   iv) each side wall including an aperture therein for receiving a waterline therethrough;   v) a weed barrier being provided, the weed barrier being configured for extending between the front, back, left, and right side walls of the garden box, and the weed barrier being located at a lower portion of the garden box below the soil-retaining area, the weed barrier being substantially pervious to water and impervious to plants, and the weed barrier being secured and configured for extending along the respective front, back, left, and right side walls between the soil retaining area and inside of the respective side walls, the weed barrier including side walls extending substantially as high as the height of the front, back, left, and right side walls;   vi) a sprinkler system provided on the raised garden bed, the sprinkler system including a water line extending through one of the respective apertures provided in each one of the front, back, left, and right side wall;   vii) a coupling provided on the water line, the coupling being configured for connecting to a garden hose;   viii) a plurality of sprinklers provided on the water line, the plurality of sprinklers being spaced apart sufficiently for directing a water spray onto a respective portion of the soil retaining area of the garden box, the plurality of sprinklers collectively directing a collective water spray over substantially the entire soil retaining area.   ix) a tool pocket provided on at least one of the side walls of the garden bed, the tool pocket being detachably attached to the side wall without the use of tools, and the tool pocket including a water drain hole in a lower portion thereof;   x) the attachment on the free end of each side wall including a hole; and   xi) at least one rod being provided, each one of the at least one rod being configured for extending through the aligned respective holes aligned at the adjacent free ends of the adjacent side walls, the at least one rod having a length substantially the same as the height of the side walls, and the respective one of the at least one rod being detachably attached and secured in the respective holes without the use of tools for restricting movement of the respective holes and respective side walls for retaining each of the free ends in position for maintaining the raised garden bed in a desired configuration defining the garden box soil retaining area.   
               

     The gardening system likewise includes that the at least one rod includes four rods. 
     The gardening system likewise includes that the plurality of sprinklers includes at least six sprinklers. 
     The gardening system likewise includes that the plurality of sprinklers includes at least nine sprinklers. 
     The gardening system likewise includes that a plurality of spaced apart notches is provided in an upper portion of each of the respective side walls of the garden box, each of the notches in the upper portion is configured for receiving a part of a trellis therein, and at least one trellis is provided and detachably secured in respective spaced opposed notches in the upper portion of the spaced opposed side walls. 
     The gardening system likewise includes the use of the gardening system on a hard surface, such as a roof, a patio, and a deck. 
     Relative terms, such as up, down, left, and right are for convenience only and should not be interpreted as being limiting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top front perspective view of a raised garden bed system including a watering system, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross sectional side view taken along line  2 - 2  of the embodiment of the raised garden bed system of  FIG. 1  according to the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded, top rear perspective view of the embodiment of the raised garden bed system of  FIG. 1  according to the invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a top front perspective view of the embodiment of the raised garden bed system of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  according the invention in a disassembled substantially flat position, such as for shipping. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Turning to  FIGS. 1-4 , an embodiment of a garden system  10  in accordance with the invention will now be described, in particular in connection with the assembled gardening system  10  shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . 
     Gardening system  10  according to the invention may include a raised bed  20 , a sprinkler system  30 , and a trellis system  40 , as shown. 
     Trellis system  40  may include a right trellis  42  and a left trellis  44 . Right trellis  44  may be provided with cross members  46 , and  48 , as shown. Likewise, left trellis  44  may include one or more cross members  52  and  56 , spaced apart, and substantially horizontal relative to upright extending left trellis  44 , depending on the intended use. Further, one or more of the inventive trellises, such as right trellis  42  may include a rear upright  62  and a front upright  64 . In order to maintain the desired orientation and securing of trellis  42  relative to raised bed  20 , one or more notches, such as the illustrated front notch  72  and rear notch  74  may be provided in front side wall  22  and rear side wall  24 , respectively. 
     In use, right trellis  42  and left trellis  44  may be both used, as shown in  FIG. 1 , spaced apart, as shown, or placed in adjacent notches, respectively, or only one, or indeed, none need be used, depending on the intended use. As schematically shown, in use, there may be soil S, and in the soil a user, such as a gardener, may form peaks P and valleys V, as schematically shown in broken line, for planting seeds and plants as will be readily understood by a person having ordinary skill in the gardening art. 
     Further, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the inventive trellises  42 ,  44 , may be located in raised bed  20  so that only two of the cross members  52  and  56  of left trellis  44  extend above the soil S; likewise, trellis  44  may be provided so that four of cross members  46  and  48 , for example, as shown, may be provided and located above the level of soil S, depending on the type of plants which the gardener is growing, as will be readily appreciated. 
     Gardening system  10  may likewise include one or more tool pockets  82 ,  84 , such as shown on the front left and front right of  FIG. 1 . Each tool pocket  82 ,  84  may include a snap-fit attachment, such as provided by the illustrated flexible, resilient fastener  86 , as best seen in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4 , in which fastener  86  is easiest to appreciate. There may be one or two snap-fit fasteners  86 , which will engage with an upper edge  92  of an upper wall  92  of rear wall  24 , such as shown in  FIG. 1 , and in section in  FIG. 2 , as will be readily appreciated. Thanks to the provision of snap-fit fastener  86  engaging with an upper wall  92  of a respective side wall, the tool pockets, such as  82  and  84  may be securely installed by the gardener during assembly without the use of additional fasteners or tools, such as by pressing tool pocket  82  downwardly until fastener  86  has engaged with upper wall  92 . 
     To further enhance the functionality of tool pocket  82 , a drain hole  102 , such as best seen in  FIG. 2 , may be provided so that, in use in an outdoor environment, or, indeed, when water may have been applied to the plants growing in raised bed  20 , in use, so that water may drain from tool pocket  82  through drain hole  102 , thanks to gravity, and there will be little or no water or other liquid buildup in a lower portion of tool pocket  82 . 
     In order to enhance and simplify assembly, each of side walls  22 ,  24 ,  26 , and  28  according to the invention may be provided with one or more through holes for receiving a water line  108  of sprinkler system  30  therethrough, such as the illustrated lower through hole  118  and upper through hole  122  in front side wall  22  of  FIG. 1 . Indeed, each of side walls may be provided with such so that the sprinkler system  30  may be connected at an upper or lower portion of raised bed  20 , depending on the intended use. 
     Still further, as to sprinkler system  30 , water line  118  may include one or more additional lines  122 ,  124 , and  126 , as may be seen in  FIG. 3 , for example. One or more sprinklers  132  and  134  may be fluidly connected to water lines  122 ,  124 , and  126 , as shown. The fluid connection may be achieved in a manner as will be readily apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art. 
     In addition, as will be readily understood, a coupling  138  may be provided on water line  108 . It is contemplated that coupling  138  be configured for mating with a conventional residential garden hose. 
     Still further, one or more of sprinklers  132 ,  134  may be provided with an extension  144 . Extension  144  may be provided to assist in stabilizing the positioning and tilting, that is, the orientation of a sprinkler  134  relative to raised bed  20 . For example, in use, sprinkler  134  may be oriented so that its water spray is spread substantially horizontally as the water spray falls onto the surface of soil S, as will be readily appreciated. By use of extensions  144 , sprinklers  134  may be positioned at different angles, depending on the intended use; and, indeed, when not in use sprinklers  134  may be rotated so that sprinklers  134  and extensions  144  all lie substantially in a plane containing water lines  122 ,  124 , and  126 , such as shown in the disassembled state of  FIG. 4 , so that the inventive gardening system  10  may be shipped, or stored, substantially flat, as shown. 
     It is contemplated that sprinkler system  10  may include a drip irrigation system without sprinklers  132 ,  134 , for use in different climates and for different crops. In that case, sprinklers  132 ,  134  would be used with drip lines, or omitted entirely, depending on the intended use. 
     Still further in accordance with the invention, a weed barrier  160  may be provided, such as best seen in the exploded view of  FIG. 3 . 
     Weed barrier  160  may include one or more sides  162  and  166  that are configured for extending upwardly away from a lower substantially horizontal portion  168  of weed barrier  160 . Weed barrier  160  may be made of a conventional material which is pervious to water and impervious to plant growth, such as plant stalks and roots, as will be readily understood. 
     Thanks to the provision of sides  162 ,  166 , in use when soil is provided in assembled raised bed  20  with weed barrier  160  in place, the soil may press sides  162  of the weed barrier into the insets  182 ,  184  provided in each of side walls  22  and  26  as shown. In that manner, not only are weeds prevented from growing into the soil S retained by raised bed  20 , but weed barrier  160  is held securely in place. 
     In order to assemble the inventive gardening system  10 , one may open a box B, such as shown in  FIG. 4 , and remove the substantially compactly and flatly stored elements of gardening system  10 . For example, sprinkler system  30  may be removed and assembled as in the configuration shown in  FIG. 3 . Weed barrier  160  may likewise be removed and set aside until raised bed  20  has been assembled. Trellises  64  are removed, as well as each of the illustrated side walls  22 ,  24 . Still further, tool pocket  82 , for example, may be removed for installation after raised bed  20  has been assembled by securing each of sides  22 ,  24 ,  26 , and  28  together. Additional components are provided in the unassembled shipping or storage configuration shown in  FIG. 4 , and are not visible in the drawing. A gardening tool kit  190  may be provided, the contents of which will be determined by the climate and the intended use, for example. Typical tools not visible in  FIG. 4  that may be provided in tool kit  190  may include a trowel, fork, weeding tool, and the like, as will be readily understood. 
     Turning to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , assembly of gardening system  10  may be readily understood, with reference to the exploded view of  FIG. 3  and the assembled perspective view of  FIG. 1 . After front side  22  and rear side  24  have been freely, detachably engaged with left side  26  and right side  28 , the user may detachably attach the four sides together as follows. An upper hole  222  may be provided and spaced apart from a lower hole  224  on rear side  24 , for example, as well as at the spaced apart end thereof. Like upper and lower through holes may be provided at each free end. Likewise, upper and lower holes, only upper hole  232  of which may be seen in  FIG. 3 , may be provided at corresponding locations on the free ends of side wall  26 , for example. During assembly, upper hole  232  will be substantially aligned with upper hole  222  of front side  22 . Then, a male fastener, such as the illustrated rod  242  may be inserted through the respective four holes which have been aligned; i.e. the three visible holes  222 ,  232 ,  224 , and the fourth unnumbered hole not visible in  FIG. 3 . Then, an upper clip  252  and a lower clip  256  may be engaged with respective mating elements  262  and  266  at respective free ends of rod  242 . 
     In that manner, rod  242  may be secured within and hold in place aligned holes  222 ,  224 , and  232 , as shown, and as readily understandable, rod  242  will have a vertical length which is substantially the same as the height of a side wall height of sides  24  and  26 , for example. In that manner, little, if any of post  242  will extend past a lower portion of raised bed  20 , as may be appreciated from considering  FIGS. 1 and 2 . That is desirable in the case where the gardener wants to place his or her gardening system  10  on a patio, wooden deck, or indeed on the gardener&#39;s roof in the case of an urban garden setting. That avoids the problem of the prior art raised bed which included stakes extending past the lower face of the raised bed, and, hence, was unsuitable for use on a patio, deck, or roof, as those prior art stake extensions were intended for engaging with the ground, as the raised bed was intended for use on the lawn in a suburban backyard or in the country. Such extensions engaged the known prior art bed with the soil underneath the gardener&#39;s lawn, for example, but was unsuited for use on a roof, as such stakes might make holes in the case of use on a roof; and, such prior art stake extensions led to instability on the patio, instability on the deck, or scratching of the deck. 
     Still further, it is contemplated that additional through holes may be provided at the corner, such as a through hole  228  inside wall  22  to make an even more secure connection. As shown, additional optional unnumbered through holes may be provided. 
     Various moldable and extrudable materials may be used for the manufacturing of one or more of the above-described components of the gardening system  10 , as will be readily appreciated, and the materials described herein are not intended to be limiting. 
     While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, it is understood that it is capable of further modifications, and uses and/or adaptations of the invention and following in general the principle of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within the known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains, and as may be applied to the central features hereinbefore set forth, and fall within the scope of the invention.