I have never been a big fan of raised beds but can see there value in certain circumstances. I am going to make one to plant some blueberries and cranberries and put in ericacious compost as my soil is not acid.
I want it to be a permanent feature Are there alternatives to wood (that will rot) to make them and if so how does one join them together?
Plastic fascia boards will fit the bill!
Expensive initially but will last!
I have come across discarded plastic road barrier boards with red and white stripes, which would do.
Bricks ?
(http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae294/Kleftiwallah/IMG_3256.jpg)
http://i981.photobucket.com/albums/ae294/Kleftiwallah/IMG_3256.jpg
Here is a corner of one of mine, made from paving slabs (flags) on edge and held in position with an angle iron rim,edge or collar. A lot thinner than sleepers, no nasty chemicals and easy to weed and pick crops. :o Cheers, Tony.
In the past there have been many alternatives to wood. One that comes to mind is the old kerbings from when they used to change them. and you just stack them like dry stone walls.
Kleftiwallah That looks like a great design, we used concrete gravel boards (6'x1'), two high in slotted shortened concrete posts, beds are 12' x 6' , they are lasting well (5yrs) expensive but we had lottery money help.
If you don't mind having a battered bed (sloping about 60deg to horizontal) then lots of things can be used:
1) Stapled magazines will consolidate into something like artificial slates after being damp for a few days. Better used 2 or 3 thick. Glossies work best, newspapers take a lot longer to consolidate, though a 'palisade' of sticks can be pushed into the soil behind them to keep them in place while this happens.
2) Old slates or tiles are even better of course.
3) 2L PET bottles filled with water and placed upright (and sloping) side by side (I use these mainly for ends of beds when I run out of 4ft planks).
Hope this helps (reuse, recycle, re-think).
Cheers.
I like the look of your raised bed George Kleftiwallah but how are your shins? I think I would bump into it too often.
We opted for wood as we've just pulled down an old pigeon loft which left loads of wood to be reused. Last night we built our first raised bed, and I have to admit it was a doddle. Dug 8 holes for the supports, and sunk them in, and then just nailed the planks onto the posts. Took us about an hour to build one bed, and I'm chuffed with the outcome. Hardest part is going to be obtaining the top soil to fill it!
Pics can be seen at my blog in my sig.
Something that is used a lot here, but maybe harder to find in the UK are old roller blinds! All flats here have them, they are PVC and usually come apart into wide planks about 20 cm high. I use them to edge some of the plot and the rest is done with old roof tiles! I don't have raised beds but I like to section parts off to make it neater and aid rotation.
''Easy Enviro Raised Beds'', Sounds like what can help you, It is long lasting heavy duty plastic board that is flexible- comes as a roll.
you can and it is easy to shape it to any shape you like, screw it to wooden or plastic stakes.
Fantastic
Start from 19.99 only for 5.2metreX 22cm
but avaliable at several sizes.
look at best4garden.co.uk , the chap there is very helpful.