RAISED BEDS

[margyf]

Hi

I am in the process of tidying up a new plot I have taken on.

I have seen a few peole on my allotment who have raised beds they look fantastic and im guessing a little easier to maintain.

At the moment im getting so fustrated digging and digging and the plot still looks tatty.

The idea of beds would make it all nice and tidy.

Does anyone have any ideas how to make them step by step and where one should get the materials from.

Im hoping to start on this over the weekend

:D

[margyf]

[star]

Hiya Margyf,


Have a look in 'Edible plants' at the top of the home page under Raised Beds.

Im sure all the answers you want are in there ;) :D

[Mr Smith]

Hi Margy,
              I had some old gravel boards from a fencing job I did which are 9'' wide,  I cut them to 6' long and two more  by 3' so I have 18 sq feet of raised bed when they are fix together, they are simple to fix at the corners either by nails or screws, what you want to get old of is some old plaster board pallets which are ideal for making raised beds. :)

[Blue Bird]

Hi Margy
I have raised beds and find them so much better as I can do a little bit each visit and I feel that I have done a lot.  My ground is heavy clay and have filled my beds with mole hill soil that I collect.  Added compost from my bins has helped me get a really good soil structure which helps, have made mine from any spare wood I have been able to get my hands on.

My paths are made from shredded tree bark that we have had delivered free from the local tree surgeon, looks the part now !

good luck with your plot  ;D

[helsbels_89]

Hi Margy

If like me you have just started out and don't have any wood laying around the garden centres have some reasonable wooded borders/ edging. I managed to find some dolis wood 9 inches high and 4ft long. These were also ready staked at each end so really stable. They should have been £10 each but there was some old ones that had weathered a bit and i got them half price.

Enjoy yout new plot, if your like me your desparate for the sun to arrive!!

[manicscousers]

hiya, helsbels, nice to meet you  ;D

[Barnowl]

I have some made from scaffolding planks.

[hoonteo]

Do you have to nail them together and if so how do you do that on site? Am no good at power tools and am looking to get some scaffolding planks.

[Belinda]

When we first started making edged beds we nailed them together - can be done by one person alone, but two is better. We found though, over time, that some of the gravel boards warped and pulled apart, and eventually on almost all of the beds the nails rusted and came loose so the beds fell apart.

This year we are going round each bed as we get them ready putting in a block of wood and screwing them together. The boards are 6 inch, so we put a 4 inch length of 1x1 in the internal corner level with the bottom edge, and using a battery drill put in two pilot holes from each board and then screw them together.

In theory, as we add more manure, compost etc. to the beds over the coming years, the soil level will rise. When we need to put another board on all round a bed we will make the 1x1 in the corner of the new edging longer so that it sits on top of the block below and then screw the new block to the old boards as well, we may well add a block halfway down the longest side too. The beds are approx. 8ftx4ft, or whatever the metric equivalent is, as that is the length the gravel boards come in.

[Deb P]

In theory, as we add more manure, compost etc. to the beds over the coming years, the soil level will rise.

I am amazed how much manure, mushroom compost and compost I add to my beds and yet the level at the end of the season drops down to well below board level! I do make my raised beds work pretty hard though with beds replanted straightaway after harvesting, so a lot gets taken out of them by the plants. You can't have too much muck! ;D

[JimmyJames]

Im sure I could do a search for this answer, but im a lazy lazy man ;)

Would raised beds need more watering?

[Deb P]

Depend on your soil and what you plant.  My allotment has clay soil, and I use a lot of mulches and plant closer together than on open ground so I rarely water much once things are established.

[markfield rover]

More watering? Not that I have noticed.

[Barnowl]

Quite sandy soil so the answer is often yes for us, although some would say if you don't start plants will root deeper and find it whereas if you start watering you have to keep it up.

No problem last year but in 2006 it was so hot the plants were unhappy and we had no choice but to water.

The best way to tell is to stick your hand down into the soil.