Topic: raised beds

[aggie]

I have been given 10 12ft scaffold boards to make raised beds. Can anyone give me advise on the best way to use them. what is the most economical way to fill them?

I inherited 3 made out of railway sleepers which were already in place. 

Advise would be most welcome.

[gridgardener]

with 2 boards you can 4ft x 8 ft bed x5
As for filling them bulk compost is you best bet.
I add bit manure about 40 lb per 4ft x4 ft area but make sure the manure is not contaminated
with the weed killer that has killing many peoples garden.
also make sure to break the ground at least 1 ft below soil level where plan on placing the beds so they drain properly.

[Vinlander]

The soil in the beds is much dryer so don't embed the planks in the path - they will rot 10x faster in the undrained soil than if you rely on stakes to hold them upright. Even better put lines of bricks etc. in contact with the undrained soil with the planks on top. Old UPVC door and window jamb sections are also good rot-proof spacers.

Two apparently trivial tips will reduce the number of times you trip up:

Always make the paths at least 2cm wider than the length of your boot (and anyone else's you don't want to trip).

Put the supporting stakes inside the beds - a good way to do this is to use heavy galvanised or copper wire or aluminium can metal to tie the boards to them. Wire is easiest, make a long U, lay the ends across the path, put the stake (cast iron or galvanised tube is best) through the bottom of the U, put down the plank in position on top, pull the ends up the path side of the plank and around the top of the stake and twist together to fix. Then tap the stake as far as it will go without going through the top loop. Galvanised coathanger wire is good for several years but you can also use plastic ropes if you're good with knots and don't mind some of the ropes failing in 2012 without much warning. I also prefer using cast iron or galvanised pipe as the stakes.

Also:

If your stakes are long  ~3x the width of the plank - they will hold while you dig out the path onto the bed and replace it with bark or fibrous/woody compost or woodchip (or leaves - though soft ones can go messy - you can add single-sheet balls of newspaper for stability).

These mixtures will improve drainage and also break down while providing a non-slip surface - and they can be dug out onto the bed in later years when ready. Branches and twigs etc. need to be chopped smaller than 2-4cm not only to speed up decomposition but also because anything bigger is a nightmare to dig out.

You can do the same with whole newspapers provided you put something very nitrogenous between every one and you don't try to dig it until it is properly disintegrated.

I'm sure there are other equally good ways but hope this helps.

Cheers.

[asbean]

Don't expect too long a life from scaffold boards - they are not designed for longterm outside use, propping up a raised bed.  After a few years they will rot.  Even if you paint them with preservative.

We filled ours with manure, it took a while, just autumn mulch which we forked in the following year.  We never dig our beds, just lightly fork over.  Don't make the beds too wide (you need to be able to reach into the middle easily), probably not more than 4 1/2 ft.  And the path between the beds should be at least 18 inches, but you need to think not just about the size of your feet, but will youy be kneeling down between the beds, or pushing a wheelbarrow.

Good luck,   :) :) :) :)

[landimad]

Aggie,

My raised beds have done me proud this year, I have had all manner of crops to eat.

My only down fall with them is the mower wont go between the beds so I have to strim the grass down.

Next year I am thinking of putting down some bark chippings so I do not need to clip the grass so much.

[Vinlander]

Sorry, I forgot one important thing about paths - if you have perennial weeds anywhere in range then never put anything into the path you can't dig out straight away. This applies to big sticks etc. and any significant quantity of newspaper.

It goes double for carpets - unless you put plastic or landscape textile under them to prevent weeds anchoring themselves in what's below - and even if you do isolate them in this way it's still not advisable to put them anywhere near couch grass etc.

I'm not as worried by carpets as some people (the original more serious problem with them was lead tracked in from the street and from coal fires) but I've gradually come to the conclusion that they are not worth the trouble in the long run. They are OK as a very temporary fix if you really believe you will have the strength of mind to move them every month....

Cheers.

[aggie]

Thankyou for the advise. Well there's a lot to take into consideration, I certainly take the point on width between beds. I've got some old paving slabs which could go between, the old 24"x24" do you think they would be ok? anything to cut the weeding in between. I shall also put the landscape textile at the bottom. When you said put newspaper then a layer of nitrogenous sorry to be a bit dim but what exactly did you mean? Will this all rot down by the spring so I can use the raised beds?

I shall put a plinth of concrete to put the boards on as i already have a bag of cement. A bit adventitious for me as I'm a lady on my own but I have inherited my husbands level :o :o

[manicscousers]

aggie, our raised beds were built on rotten, waterlogged, soil..we put down thick cardboard then soil, leaves, well rotted muck and what ever we could find, by spring, the soil was lovely, just right to sow/plant into..some pics in our gallery if it helps, ours are made from old pallet planks with 2x18" paths :)

[aggie]

Wow manicscousers, just viewed your gallery very impressed. I shall  take pictures of my raised beds as i go along and put them in my gallery. What do you think of the idea of the slabs?

[asbean]

I think the idea of slabs is good - I started off putting some between beds, but decided in the end to have a slab path all the way round the poly tunnel.  So we have some paths bark chips and the otehrs are grass which we strim.

[knottygal]

Hiya aggie,

I'm new here and new to allotmenting, finally got my plot beginning of August and am doing exactly what you are proposing.
I intended having mown paths but was offered 130 (!!!) free 3'x2' flags provided we lifted and transported them ourselves! Took us a couple of weeks as my little trailer could only cope with 5 or 6 at a time.
You don't have to do the paving all at once, but remenber to use a flag / paver as a spacer between your beds! This is what my plot looks like so far;



My plot is heavy clay that gets severely waterlogged, so raised beds seem to be the way to go...These are 8' x 4' beds, though I have since doubled them to 2 scaffold boards high to give sufficient depth to allow me to layer my planting medium materials up.

I have researched lasagna gardening, no dig gardening and Ruth Stout's ideas and at this time of year have access to endless amounts of fallen leaves and grass cuttings, which were laid in alternate layers over newspaper straight on top of the sod then topped with about 4-6" of riddled top soil. Hopefully by next spring I should have a nice planting medium...

Look for flags / paving stones on Freecycle, also consider calling paving contractors and asking them to give you a ring when they have old pavers to dispose of - most break them up and skip them as it costs less to do this than to pay a couple of men to lift them, load them and then transport them etc. If you can move fast to shift them when they call you can get them for free...

The allotment on allaboutliverpool.com has been my inspiration, just hope I don't end up with a soggy mess next year... ::)

[allaboutliverpool]

Well done Knottygal your plot is looking superb.

I have found it easy despite all this rain to nip to the allotment at lunchtime in my suit etc and collect vegetable without getting my feet wet as not only have I got slabs like yours but from the car park to my plot.

best of luck with the crops next year.

http://allaboutallotments.com/index.html

[aggie]

Hello knottygal your plot look great. Mine is not nearly as large as yours enough room for 4 8x4 beds, I already have 3 which were already in place so I'm looking forward to starting the new ones.

[Alimo]

allaboutliverpool - your youtube video is brilliant.. don't know how I've missed it before.  How did you do in the competition? I would say you're a winner!

Knottygal - your plot looks excellent, well done you!

Hmm it gives me food for thought for my veg plot for next year - only a small space in my back garden, but there's always room for improvement isn't there?

Regards

Alison

[Vinlander]

Hi  Aggie,

I can see I'm a bit more stingy than most - I'm short of compost and too mean to buy it in bed-filling quantities - I was talking about making the beds more raised up by taking topsoil from where the paths would be (topsoil that is otherwise wasted and becomes more and more compacted).

This means the path becomes a trench that can be turned back into a path by filling it with stuff that is too raw and fibrous or woody to put on the bed (for a year or more). So if you used newspapers (though it's not the best of these options - woodchip is best) then that would be what you walk on.

But anything thicker than 4 or 5 sheets of newspaper lasts for a very long time unless you make a lasagna structure with rich stuff like manure, grass cuttings, kitchen waste or say, ordinary-weedy-stuff-plus-urine. If you don't do this they will get colonised by weeds and become a problem before they become broken up enough to turn with a fork - a nightmare - and this is long before they are broken up enough to put on a well-tilled bed (though when newspaper breaks into palm-sized pieces it is fine for big plants like potatoes, runner beans etc.).

Sorry - I tend to go for the cheapest way possible to achieve good results - but then you have to be extra careful not to make a rod for your own back.

Cheers.

PS. some books recommend putting several inches of stones between the beds as a path - my advice is don't - I had to deal with one of these - it had become hardcore infested with bindweed and took days of work with a pickaxe to dig out...

[aggie]

Thanks Vinlander, I'm all for the cheaper option when possible, as I don't have a bottomless purse. The idea of taking the earth from round the edge where the path will be is a great idea as i said I'm putting old slabs round the edge and they are 2" thick and i don't want them overlapping the boards. Thanks again.

[Psi (Pronounced 'Si'!)]

aggie, our raised beds were built on rotten, waterlogged, soil..we put down thick cardboard then soil, leaves, well rotted muck and what ever we could find, by spring, the soil was lovely, just right to sow/plant into..some pics in our gallery if it helps, ours are made from old pallet planks with 2x18" paths :)

Totally agree I did some tall salad beds in the spring and at the bottom chucked in loads of cardboard, then leaves/unrotted material and then compost/manure/soil.  It was a great success as it essentially acted like a large hot bed with heat generated from the rotting below the topsoil and the salads went ballistic!  Also, now I am beginning to clear it and the soil is just fantastic stuff - the best soil I have on the plot.  I'm going to extend the raised salad beds this spring and follow what I did before.

Hope this helps.

[aggie]

Hi Psi, It's nice to hear of the success rate on the beds I'm collecting newspaper already and the beds are not even built yet! I'm going to mark them out this weekend weather permitting.

[sunloving]

You know that you can get the council compst in mega loads?

I got 7 tonnes for 80 delivered it filled my raised beds a treat, mixed with a bit of paper cardboard, grass clippings anything. If you need a fine tilth just put good compost on the top.

It can be a bit sticky but brilliant by the end of the first season.

Just phone the council and ask for thier contractors number.
x sunloving

[aggie]

Thanks sunloving I'll give my local council a ring see if mine do the same.