Making a raised bed question

[Jardack]

Am full of questions tonight aren't I ;D

Have been out in the garden with my offcuts of wood planning how I want my raised bed to look.

I have some gravel boards which I was going to use for one side but they are "treated" although I am not sure what with, will they be ok to use?

Also, they are about 15cm high - will this give sufficient depth? The raised bed is going on the same site as my old veg patch so isn't rock or anything underneath.

Thank you again!

Jardack
(who has far too man questions tonight!)

[Weeterrier]

By jings, when I saw your name Jardack, I thought "Her head has been buzzing tonight" ;D
I'll leave the answer to someone else this time, I have never had raised beds.
You are enjoying your garden, aren't you? It's lovely to read.

[Jardack]

Hi WeeT

I am enjoying it, I never thought I would and I never thought I would love my veg patch so much either (especially as I don't eat veg <ashamedsmiley> )

AM going to go for it with the gravel boards, if people can use railway sleepers I am sure they will have been treated...

Jardack
BTW - I have so many more questions I haven't yet posted - do you want some more

[Chuckles]

Hi Jardack, some of my raised beds were made from decking boards some from hardwood planks I scrounged off OH. I think most wood you buy these days has been treated with something or other.

The decking boards are about 6" and I went 3 high with them and the other boards were about 12" high and I went 2 high with those. The others I used were wooden sections like Karen has just posted on her allotment thread. I'm doubting myself now on those measurements so will just look at my pics and will be back in a mo to let you know ;D OK I've looked and I was right, shouldn't have doubted myself

Some people only use one board high, it depends how you want it to look really and how you want to work the area. I was able to line mine with black poly as they are deep beds. You could always do that if you are worried about what the wood has been treated with even if you only go one high, tack the poly to the inside. Shout up if you want to know anything else.

And keep us posted on your progress won't you, it's fab to see what others do on their patch

[Deleted]

Jardack my raised beds at home were made from plywood and were coated with wood preserver that you use for fences, i lined the inside with plastic, i used the decorators plastic for covering furniture floors etc.
This was staoled on the inside with a staple gun, ive had lots of veg, onions carrots parsnips peas and beans, with no ill effects.

Hope this has helped

Karen.

PS the raised beds on my Allotment are not treated so not sure how long they will last.

[Shrubrose]

Hi jardack. Agree with what Chuckles and karen have said about lining the inside of the wood if you're not sure what it's been treated with as the 'treatment' does leach into the soil. I have a raised bed made from timber planks which we treated with an eco-friendly preserver (we still lined it though). It's on sloping ground so is deeper (about 2') at one end than the other (about 8''). I've grown surface veg. and salads at the shallower end, also beetroot which have all done really well (though not this year!!!).

I intend to add more soil to it and have left enough height to do this. I suppose you could build up as much as you want so as to get the depth you'd be happy with?

Try to make sure that you've got rid of any weeds before you go for it or they'll be a real pain over time.

Good luck and post some pics when you're done ;D

[Jardack]

Thanks all

I will get something to line them with, just got to find out when MrJardack is around to help me with them (and my mum to take the girls out for a couple of hours or they'll be "helping" me too...)

Jardack

[Chuckles]

jardack said:

Thanks all

I will get something to line them with, just got to find out when MrJardack is around to help me with them (and my mum to take the girls out for a couple of hours or they'll be "helping" me too...)

Jardack

Good luck JD. I tried to line mine with one long length of poly not easy to handle. Sometimes the simplist things don't always pop into my head straight away Found it better if you cut it to length as in 2 ends and 2 side pieces then just overlap at the joins and tack it to the wood.

[Chuckles]

jardack said:

Thanks all

I will get something to line them with, just got to find out when MrJardack is around to help me with them (and my mum to take the girls out for a couple of hours or they'll be "helping" me too...)

Jardack

Did you manage to get anything sorted with your raised beds Jardack

[Jardack]

ahem not yet!

It is planned for the next few weeks tho, assuming mum can have the girls for me. Need to get it in place pretty soon so we can get going on the new year planting!

Jardack

[Chuckles]

Goodo Jardack, hope you get a day sorted. I know these things are time consuming and not alway easy to pull in when you have little helping hands about

[Jardack]

thats very true, they love to "help" usually by running away with whatever I need

It is all marked out, just need to give it another dig over and collect the wood and we'll be off!! Have my list of plants all ready too

Jardack

[Chuckles]

Although I've not had kids Jardack, my neice used to stay with me regularly. From being a toddler I used to let her have a small area of garden to potter in she'd have a couple of plant pots and a seaside bucket and spade. I'd tell her it was her bit of garden and she would be happy pottering for ages, and yes she would be covered from head to foot in soil ;D An alternative was a bucket of sand with a washing up bowl with small plant pots, bucket and spade ;D She is almost 19 yrs old now and still recalls her special times playing in the garden

[Dutchy]

;D Chuck, you soppy person

I don't have raised beds but remember from GW that Monty (or Carol ) did something with newspaper snippings and cardboard in the deep to help contain moisture.
Maybe someone more knowledgable will be able to tell if you should do that.

[Chuckles]

dutchy said:

;D Chuck, you soppy person

I don't have raised beds but remember from GW that Monty (or Carol ) did something with newspaper snippings and cardboard in the deep to help contain moisture.
Maybe someone more knowledgable will be able to tell if you should do that.

Thats me Dutchy a great big soppy sod person ;D

I've not had a problem with beds drying out, mind you we did have more than our share of wet last year and it was my 1st year Lots of manure would help hold moisture. When I filled the beds that I knew I was growing Beans in I used part composted material in the bottom half and put compo and soil on the top 8 inches.

[Deleted]

sunset.com has a comprehensive explanation, personally i think anything you come up with has to be better than non organic food
offered in the super market. we made our raised beds with treated half round pine, about 40cm deep, definitely fill them to the top
add lots of leaves in the winter and lots of local organic poo. plastics can not bio-degrade between 100 & 1000 years! better to
replace the wood every 2 or 3yrs. it is possible to make deep beds with fat bamboo or if you have a roofer friend he can perhaps
supply beams etc. speaking of friends who work in the trade or a local double glazing person.... there is a huge wealth of old windows
that can be converted into small hot houses and mini greenhouses, if you need to know angles let me know
thanx to you