Topic: Raised Beds

[Lizard Man]

Am just starting anew, now I have moved, and am having my allotment at the bottom of my garden. I was hoping to have raised beds (bit late for this seaon now as I have got onions, shallots and potatoes in already!).

Does anyone have any ideas for cheap edging to use in order to create the raised beds? I have only really thought of sleepers (I have seen new ones near me which sre not full of creosote) but they will work out a bit on the expensive side.

Monty Don suggests old scaffold planks - but where would you get these?

[tim]

Don't know but, meanwhile, Search''Raised Beds'?

[waggi]

Hey lizard man

if you want raiesd beds and want to use old planks from scaffold planks they are quite easy to use

as if you get your yellow pages and look for you local scaffolder he will probely give you some as any that get slighty dammaged or snapped they can not use so they have to skip them or give them to someone ;)

hope this helps

waggi

[SMP1704]

Hi Lizard Man

I agree with Waggi, try Yellow Pages - although I have found in my area at least (West London) that scaffolders are reusing by trimming off the ends and rebanding, but if you don't ask you don't get!

I have used freecycle to pick up a few pine bed frames, which have been transformed into rasied beds - I know they won't last long but it got me started.  Also keep a look out for loft conversions and see if you can have the joists.

When I did find some scaff planks, I got the OH to saw them lengthways, so that way 1 13' plank makes 1 8x4 bed.

last weekend, I got fed up scrounging and bought 5x8' 4" planks for £7.99 from Wickes, which made me 1.5 beds

[Mrs Ava]

I dismantled pallets and used the wood for edging around my plot.  Cheap as they were free!

[supersprout]

Hello lizardman
A vote for NOT edging your beds!
If you measure out your plot with string to show the beds and paths, and only tread on the paths, the paths will sink. As soon as you start digging, growing and adding organic matter, the beds will rise!
If it's your first year, you might decide as you go along to change the size, layout or orientation of your beds, and not edging them the first year will give you flexibility as you learn what suits you best. I reduced the width of my beds (to suit my arms) from 4 ft to just over 3 ft, and am experimenting with raking up the beds to face South this year for earlier crops. Not edging aves time and £, and reduces the risk of slugs making themselves at home in the wooden sides. See below, it is possible! :D

NB my plot is the nearest one ;)

[adam04]

see if theres a timber reclaimers near you.

i saw this on the boards and tried it myself and reclaimed wood works out a lot cheaper than anything else.

[John_H]

I used wooden boards for the last few years but, like Supersprout, I am now slowly replacing them with string and putting some of the wood on the paths to use as slug traps and rove beetle refuges.

Because I have clay soil and suffer from a big slug problem, this seems to have a bigger impact on the quality of what I grow, it provides somewhere the rove beetles and slow worms can hide from the badgers. Also the sloping edge means that preditors can now climb onto the beds and prevents the slugs from having so many fixed hiding places.

[jennym]

I'm with John_H and supersprout on this. I started with raised beds 6 years ago, but over time have replaced them with mounded beds. Much easier to manage.

[fozzylozzy]

We are in the process of our loft conversion and have been very lucky to be able to keep all the joists and beams that were removed. I also told the builders that the wood was for the lottie and they also saved me all the offcuts of new untreated wood which was only going to be 'dumped'  :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

After deciding I wanted raised beds, I constructed a couple of wonky ones and then decided I didn't like them and have opted for a nice solid central path with mounded beds either side. (see blog for further details..... ;D)

Good luck....!

Louisa x

[Lizard Man]

Thanks for all the advice. I will not be having any raised beds this year, due to not getting myself sorted, so will be able to decide how I want the layout for next year (hopefully). But despite the sound advice for not bothering with raised beds, I think I am still dead set on them - in an allotment then I would agree, but at the bottom of the garden in a small well defined area I want the plots to be 'tidy' and hopefully also vaguely attractive.

[bennettsleg]

not going for the tidy or attractive route, but also going for the very tight (ie: zero) budget, I've just pilfered a low bookcase from the b-i-law's garage, popped the back out and plonked that down.  Don't have time to seive the very stony ground this year and we need to get the carrots etc going soon.  I'll use them (and the knackered wardrobe which will be cut in two vertically = two raised beds) till they fall apart.

[simon404]

I'm another one who can't understand why people assume that raised beds are a good idea  ??? Why would anyone want to raise their plants another foot above the water table?

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you've got a very high water table, that alone might be a reason for wanting them! The basic idea is to build up some extra-fertile soil, which inevitably raises the level. Lots of compost worked in helps hold water, so it's not necessarily that critical, though that being said, I do find it useful having the water table not too far down.

[MikeB]

I'm another one who can't understand why people assume that raised beds are a good idea  ??? Why would anyone want to raise their plants another foot above the water table?

From RHS,

Raised beds can provide many benefits for the gardener. As well as adding interest to the garden they allow a wider range of plants to be grown on either difficult soils or those with an inappropriate pH as you can fill them with a suitable soil mix.

Raised beds can also reduce or even eliminate bending, and the improved drainage ensures the soil warms more rapidly in the spring, allowing the vegetable growing season to start earlier. :o :o :o

[mokanoo]

In my garden I've got raised beds simply because it looks better but in the allotment I won't be having any simply for the reasons stated by Supersprout...and as it's my first year in the plot I'm not sure where everything will end up so it's better to be flexible.
Good luck with whatever you decide anyway.

[simon404]

I'm still not convinced. The soil may warm up quicker but will also dry out quicker, meaning you will spend all summer lugging watering cans around. By gardening on the flat I never need to water.

Raised beds seems to be a fad started by television gardeners about 10 years ago so that now, judging by recent posts, newcomers assume that it's "the done thing".

I see that in the new extension to the vegatable garden on Gardeners World they have gone back to gardening on the flat in the traditional way.

[supersprout]

Loved this post, it made me go back and think why I decided on beds. Then I twigged - the beds I have are BEDS, not 'raised beds'. John H's description is 'mounded' and that's exactly what they look like.

The paths sink because they are trodden on and compacted, and the bed areas gradually rise because they are (sometimes) dug and receive compost and mulch.

You pays your money and you takes your choice. If I grew oodles of spuds or grain crops, I'd use the traditional system. If I had the skill, I might want to build raised beds for e.g. blueberries or parsnips. Or if the soil was stony or difficult. Or if it simply worked better than beds for the way I like to garden.

Didn't John Seymour call them 'deep beds'? I wonder if Simon is right - has 'raised beds' crept into the language as the catch-all for any bed system?

[MikeB]

Didn't John Seymour call them 'deep beds'? I wonder if Simon is right - has 'raised beds' crept into the language as the catch-all for any bed system?

I have a vegetable book called ' Home grown vegetables ' printed in 1925 that mentions the use of beds, so hardly a modern fad.  To me the greatest advantages of a bed system, whether raised or not, has to be the higher yield per square foot over the traditional method, since the use of rows is abolished, planting distances can be closer.  It is generally agreed that the use of rows as stated on the seed packet comes from the farming community, who need rows to allow harvesting machinery to operate.  Me, I harvest by hand so why would I want to grow crops in such a way as to allow machinery which I don't have, to operate?  I'm growing for me not for someone else.  But at the end of the day we garden in a way that we are happy with, that we enjoy, so good luck and happy gardening, (even if you are doing it wrong ;D ;D ;D)

MikeB

[supersprout]

hardly a modern fad. 

According to Pauline Pears, growers in Asia have been using beds for more than 2,000 years! :o Pictures of some Asian growers (in California) show them mounded, with trodden paths between and no fixed edges.