[Lenmad]

Hi kate
can I ask what you filled it it with, I am looking at topsoil and farmyard manure for mine  , when I can get almost son-in-law to help me get to the garden centre.  

[Ice]

According to Dr Hessayon on raised beds "the yield per plant is less than you would expect by the traditional system, but surprisingly, the yield per square foot is often higher"

He suggests planting dwarf and early maturing varieties in raised beds, planting closer together and leaving an equal distance between plants.

For soil, he recommends 2 parts topsoil to one part organic matter.

[Kate and her Ducks]

I filled them with compost from my bins, soil from digging a pond and spent grow bags etc. When they first started the level was really quite low but its gradually increasing over the last couple of years.

[Ice]

I filled them with compost from my bins, soil from digging a pond and spent grow bags etc. When they first started the level was really quite low but its gradually increasing over the last couple of years.

That's roughly how I did mine except for the pond bit.

[Kate and her Ducks]

Cheaper than buying it all although takes longer .
Have to confess didn't do all the digging myself. When my friends asked what I wanted for my birthday I said "Absolutly nothing. And I want the nothing to be 'so' big, over there and filled with water

[Ice]

Cheaper than buying it all although takes longer .
Have to confess didn't do all the digging myself. When my friends asked what I wanted for my birthday I said "Absolutly nothing. And I want the nothing to be 'so' big, over there and filled with water

Nice one.

[Lenmad]

According to Dr Hessayon on raised beds "the yield per plant is less than you would expect by the traditional system, but surprisingly, the yield per square foot is often higher"

He suggests planting dwarf and early maturing varieties in raised beds, planting closer together and leaving an equal distance between plants.

For soil, he recommends 2 parts topsoil to one part organic matter.

Thanks for that Ice, I was abit worried about putting in too much farmyard manure and making it too rich? is that possible?

[Knight Family]

Thats m,y next trick is looking for wood for the raised beds but I do have a load of block paving stones that were left at the house when we moved in, not sure how secure they would be wish I had more bricks!!

With freecycle had no luck with that so far. Just realy want some old scafolding planks realy!

[Kate and her Ducks]

I bought the first one and used bricks scavenged from a friend for the second.

On the look out for more bricks for a third now. Had seen skips of them everywhere untill I decided it was time for another raised bed and now nothing!

Isn't it always the way :roll:

[Knight Family]

yep that it is, do you cement them in or leave free standing ~?

[Kate and her Ducks]

Left them free standing. They've done a grand job this year and I think cementing might be a little beyond me!

[merlinrail]

Hi all.
i have raised beds by the ton and they didnt cost me a penny, i found that my friend who is involved in the running of a factory has lubricating oil delivered in these big 4 foot cube plastic contaners inside a wire mesh cage .
They are supported on a fixed pallet type base . Once he has emptied the oil out he has to "PAY" to get rid of the container . So i got two from him sawed them in 1/2 accross the middle horizontaly and low and behold you have two 4 ft sq plant pots, supported by a wire cage around the outside . I then drilled drainage holes in them with a battery drill filled them with a mix of 50/50 council compost and old grow bags. they are about 18 inches high by the time you have cleaned the side up and are just perfect . I grow early corrots in one and late carrots in another . as they are 18 inches off the ground i dont get carrot root fly at all .Oh mix a bit of sand in the mix if you intend to grow carrots
You can put them end to end to make 4,8,12 ft lengths as required .
cheers all
Roy

[CHRISDONOHUE]

Just to add a little balance to the debate, seemingly all the new entrants to my allotment start with both deep begs and raised beds.

At a price of surrounding these 6=9 inch beds with paths to walk up and down around the beds and the cost of construction, in my view, they gain virtually no advantage over the gardener who uses all his land at spacings to give maximum yield.
Protection is important to increase soil temperatures, but 6-9 inches is virtually no depth at all = Rosemoor use 3-4 foot beds - and the tendency to plant too closely is clearly par for the course, thus reducing yields from the optimum spacing.

Gardening is a science and I have yet to hear a scientific explanation to justify deep beds or "low" raised beds.    You don't have to dig soil every year nor walk on it if you mulch it appropriately so that few weeds result.
I am extremely sceptical of the argument that a light tread next to plants to remove the few weeds that survive good mulching has enormous consequence in reducing yields over the growing season.   Especially if you use a board to do so.  Slugs and snails are noit thwarted by 6-9 inches.   I suspect the claimed advantages of deep or raised beds relates to the heavy manuring or composting they receive which is also very beneficial to normal soil.

Is there a scientist in the house or is it simply "flavour of the month" for "tidy" people?

[Ice]

Just to add a little balance to the debate, seemingly all the new entrants to my allotment start with both deep begs and raised beds.

At a price of surrounding these 6=9 inch beds with paths to walk up and down around the beds and the cost of construction, in my view, they gain virtually no advantage over the gardener who uses all his land at spacings to give maximum yield.
Protection is important to increase soil temperatures, but 6-9 inches is virtually no depth at all = Rosemoor use 3-4 foot beds - and the tendency to plant too closely is clearly par for the course, thus reducing yields from the optimum spacing.

Gardening is a science and I have yet to hear a scientific explanation to justify deep beds or "low" raised beds.    You don't have to dig soil every year nor walk on it if you mulch it appropriately so that few weeds result.
I am extremely sceptical of the argument that a light tread next to plants to remove the few weeds that survive good mulching has enormous consequence in reducing yields over the growing season.   Especially if you use a board to do so.  Slugs and snails are noit thwarted by 6-9 inches.   I suspect the claimed advantages of deep or raised beds relates to the heavy manuring or composting they receive which is also very beneficial to normal soil.

Is there a scientist in the house or is it simply "flavour of the month" for "tidy" people?

You're post seemed a little aggressive Chris.  Surely there is nothing wrong in having different opinions and preferences.  Personally, I like my raised beds because I have a dodgy back and have had huge success with them.  I would never berate someone for disagreeing or wanting to try something a bit different.

[Snap Dragon]

I'm seriously looking into putting a few raised beds on my plot as the plot next to mine is grassed over and used for parking. It slopes gently towards my plot and so I end up with far more water than I need!!!

My plot is clay and took forever to drain this spring and delayed a lot of digging!!  :evil:

I would like to raise the levels and see if it makes life easier for me - I already have grass pathways and so would not be losing too much planting area. The problem I have is all this talk of chemicals leaching out into the soil... I have no idea what wood to avoid! Are scaffold planks treated? Are some treatments worse than others? Should I just spend a fortune on the plastic stuff?  :?  :shock:

I'm not at all bothered about the science of growing... I just want an easy life.