Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: linsdownoptimist on December 16, 2003, 03:02:34
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The problem i am having is whether to make raised beds (the type surrounded by planks of wood) or whether to have just flat soil. :-[
I am not very good at DIY but the raised beds look easier to tend and weed etc...
Anyone tried both??? Any ideas of the advantages or disadvantages.
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I think that with the space you have on a lottie, raised beds have great advantages: one's able to get round them without treading on/compacting the soil; easy to manure some and not others; and makes crop rotation easier.
In my garden, tho, where space is tighter, I've not gone that way...one main plot gets manured & all the veggies which benefit get grown there - the other main plot takes the things, like carrots, which don't. Each year, then, I make scraped earth paths which adapt to the size of crop for each veg. I'm growing that season.
I'm still looking at the link-a-board raised beds stuff, tho. Worth a look if you're not confident of DIY or you can't get wood?...and I suppose that the height of the raised beds has to be factored in? Might make picking runner beans a bit difficult if you go too high - unless you're a beanpole yourself, of course.. ;D - Lish
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I am going to work on a raised bed system, BUT I am not going to make them permenent (ie wood edges) until I have worked the ground for a couple of seasons, this way I will not put them in "the wrong place" and have to dismantle them later.
Ten x
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Good idea Ten, I have an area on my new bit that I don't think I could get into with a pick axe! So was thinking raised beds.trouble is, the slugs do like to hide in the wood around the edges :( and it is the cost of the wood) Always have my eyes open for wood for raised beds, but so far nada.
Was also wondering , can fruit trees be grown in them?
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I can't see any reason why you couldn't grow fruit trees and bushes in raised beds, after all, once the edging is aourn you treat them pretty much the same as any other bed. All I would say, and I think this has been covered before yonks back, enclosing your plot really does make a cosy feeding hole for the slugs and snails. Once they are enclosed they can't really get out, and don't want to as you have supplied them with masses of lovely grub! :-/
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I swear EJ I have slugs the size of hippo's! They sneak out at night when I am not looking ;D (i think you are right, it has been covered before)
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I'm sure I read somewhere that somebody put copper tape around the top of the wood on their raised beds, to keep slugs away.
I guess it will be a few night time trips with a torch and a large bucket of salt then...
Oooh those naughty slugs!
ten x
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Hi linsdownoptimist,
I have raised beds, without any edging. Three big advantages on my plot
- raised beds
- slug control - partly because I have no ***** hotels for them (big problem?), and partly because
- I edge the beds perhaps twice a year - which controls the couch grass, gives me compost material, and lets me find the slugs and their eggs (and very short-lived they are!)
All best - Gavin
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Have you tried them grilled Dottie p yum yum the biggest are quite crunchy.
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Hiya
We have two allotments of approx size 100x50 ft. We aquired our first one October 2002 and our second August 2003.
When planning our first plot we decided to do raised beds because they are easier to maintain, the soil warms quicker and produces greater yields. Also you don't compact the earth by walking on it whilst weeding or planting. However on our second plot we thought we'd try it without raised beds to see if there really is a benefit but found the earth to be extremley shallow on one side (slight slope) and therefore had to do beds one side leaving the other side alone.
We bought tanilised gravel boards from local DIY shop and did find this to be quite expensive. It has since been suggested to us to contact any local scaffolding companies to see if they will be getting rid of old boards (although possibly at a small cost).
Only just joined this forum so hope to get some good tips from you lot ;D
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Gavin,
With your non-edged raised beds, do you have permanent paths in between? If so, what are they made of?
And when you say you "edge" them twice a year, do you mean with a lawn edger?
How do you stop all the soil falling out of the bed onto the path?
Ten x
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Me thinks piccies would be good here, I can't visualise what you're all explaining. Anyone know of any sites that might help with this?
And a note on loverly slugs. I had a lovely walled raised garden, and planted it lovingly - slugs the size of small mountains could be seen every night scoffing said plants - I wouldnt advise that you use bricks or stones for raised beds.....
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BB, I prefer them marinaded in a bucket of salt ;D
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welcome colinandyvonne!
i am just trampling paths between permanentish beds at the moment, don't know how best to go forward with it. i would like to edge some of them at least with wood on some days and then on other days i don't even want to grow stuff in rows!!
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so it looks like the advantages of raised are:-
easier to weed
easier to manure
easier to rotate
doesn't compact the soil
Versus Disadvantages:
raised beds
encourage slugs
Looks like there are more advantages ???
I still have a while to decide though.
P.S. I liked your site Gavin ;D
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For Tenuse
Yes, my paths are permanent - but I've left them as couch grass.
I just edge the beds with a spade, to chop the couch grass as it extends into the bed. I trim the grass a few days after a wet spell, and catch all the lsugs hiding under it.
There's a photo on http://www.keirg.freeserve.co.uk/diary/diary2001/novphoto.htm of beds in November - although it's not clear that the bed surface is anything from 4 to 10 inches above path level.
All best - Gavin
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hi there,
raised beds or flat beds? hmmn, no contest for me - i would go for raised beds every time. mine are 1.4m x 3m and i used tanalised gravel boards for the edging. a tip...do NOT go to a DIY place or even a builders merchants - timber will cost a fortune. look in your yellow pages for fencing companies - my nearest is universal in madingley, just outside of cambridge. you should be able to get lengths of 150mm x 25mm x 3m gravel boards. i got enough wood to make 13 beds of varying sizes, large as above, smaller ones are 1.5m x 1.5m. for £100- not that cheap i know but they should last for many years.
Our plot was a dreadful mess when we started but as we cleared each small area, we built a bed. it all started to seem very doable when broken down into smaller bits.
However, there is a drawback - on our site, soil was really sparse - i guess it had been worked, dug and planted a number of times without any additions because all the paths were much higher then the planting areas. This meant that we had to bring in topsoil - about 5 tonnes and a truckful of manure.
anyhow, our beds are now wonderfully fluffy and lush - look really like BEDS. Can't wait to start sowing.
Good luck and have fun
cheers, suzy
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Went to various places today..can get scaffold planks 13 feet wide 9 inch height for £8. (sorry I work in old money) Friend has found some tanalised timber, 6 feet wide by 6 inches high being chucked away for a mere £1 per plank! Or my other route was 12"by 12" paving slabs at £12 each. Wish I could figure out an effective Heath Robinson way to hold em all together as no decomposition there! (Jethro!!) Have an 18" bank/edge of bed to hold back :(
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be a skip scavenger!
we have raised beds in our home garden and only had to buy something to use as stakes/ small posts to screw our boards into. The rest of our boards are rough sawn timber rescued from skips and builders etc. we did ask if we could take them though, we're not too brave!
perhaps we could try building walls from stones taken from the soil and sticking them together with extra slimy slugs, they must have some use!
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Am I the only one on 4All who goes to my bed before midnight?? = Tim
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Tim! You suggesting that the rest of us climb into each other's beds after midnight, and that you're feeling a little left out, perhaps? After the party-panto, we'll organise a sleep-in at your place, OK? :-* Lishka
slugs & raised beds - I've one raised bed, made with the blue bricks that were lifted when I had a path relaid (remember them, oldies?) but haven't had any special probs with snails at all - possibly cos the bed gets controlled watering, and snails prefer the naturally wetter patches of the garden elsewhere? And to deter them - try the coffee trick - Hugh did a test last season & he'd perhaps post the results if one was interested?
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Muddygirl I asked yesterday at one place and he said he has to pay £10 per pallett!! (I think that was a ruse to try and get me to pay personally!) Apparently it ensures the manufacturers get them back! (Says he!) Anyhow I was just saying yesterday that a little skip scavenging ,with permission of course, is required! Trouble is, when you need one, they are not around!!
Tim, I was in bed before midnight!! 11.45pm to be precise ;D ;D ;D
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Thanks Gavin, your picture illustrated exactly what I wanted to know.
Ten x
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If you look at the pictures of my veg patch in 'The Gallery' you will see how I've got my raised beds set up.
Generally it works well, and i dont have too much trouble with Slugs and snails (not in the veg garden, just a big problem in the garden full stop!).
In fact I am about to expand the system and build two more beds this winter, as well as renovating the paths.
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Do you have enough room to kneel between them Richard?
Ten x
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Hi Campanula - good tips re going to fencing suppliers, but what is gravel board?
M xx
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Ten - to pray?? = Tim
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Tim,
Having watched the exchange between R-F and H-J, I think both of them should ensure there's enough prayer room by the bed(s).
Ten x
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hi ms.mystical,
gravel board is a long strip of timber which goes along the bottom of closeboarding - fencing which is madeof two horizontal (arris) rails with 6 inch, featheredged planks attached so that there are no gaps between wooden boards. It literally stops gravel from creeping under the fence and is usually 6inches (150mm) wide and varying lengths, usually 3metres.
suzy