Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Design and Construction => Topic started by: fatgit on March 15, 2007, 10:51
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I want to expand the varieties of veg I grow this year, but the problem I have is that my allotment is actually made up of a number of old garage plots, and under the soil is a layer of concrete or hardcore (dependig on location), and in some places, the soil layer is only 6inches deep, and at most 18inches.
According to a calculator, I would need 6.5 tons of topsoil to raise the growing area by 6inches alone, which would cost in excess of £350.
The best solution for me would be raised beds - but as money is tight, they need to be low cost.
The idea I had was, would pine cladding, treated with a couple of layers of fence paint, be strong enough to hold the soil on a 12inch high bed ?
I know the wood might not last too long before it rots, but it's a temporary solution until I can afford better materials - there's a DIY store doing buy 2 get one free on 2.4m packs of cladding. If I use 2*2 posts at regular lengths, I think it would be strong enough.
Am I being too cheap here, and if so, what are the alternatives on a low budget ?
I tried the local pallet yard, and to be honest, I can buy decent wood from the timber yard for only a small amount more than they want for old knackered pallets.
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Pallets can normally be got for free. See this thread for info.
http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?p=28349#28349
If you drink a lot of milk, you might want to prototype this idea for parsnip etc
http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?p=26465#26465
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Cheers for the reply,
We do drink a lot of milk, just not fast enough for the timescale :D
It's definitely worth doing for the ones we do have though.
Will give the scrounging from industrial estates a try, I'm just not very good at that kind of thing, never have been :)
One of my problems is, one pallet on the roof rack of my Daewoo, and it struggles to move
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use pallets for bordering ..dig soil out to one side .put 2 tonne manure raise the bed by a foot .18 inches .add the soil back on top plant then next year add more manure and or soil as you get it
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350.00 for 6.5 tonne :shock:
You need to ring a few other places try turf suppliers you will get it for 20.00 a tonne no probs i pay 15.00 but buy a eck of a lot but know for sure joe public gets it for 20.00 that way it will be as cheap as making raised beds.
cheers
jr
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Well, it's a case of who you know, not what you know :)
it turns out that a friend of ours knows the guy that runs the local pallet yard, and I've managed to get a load of pallet tops for 75p each - I bought 20 for now, which I think will do me, and he threw in a dozen 4ft lengths of 3*2 for supports
I did go round the industrial estates, but the * have a long standing deal with the pallet yards who collect them regularly, and the only ones I could get were too big to fit on my motorised toaster :)
The pallet yard owner also knows the local builders merchant, so put in a word for me, and I can now get the top soil at £32 a ton delivered, a lot less than the original price.
So, the plan now, is to do a number of square raised beds using pallets, with the gaps filled in, I've been promised "as much well rotted horse manure as I can shovel into the car", and then whatever else I need, I'll order some topsoil.
Cheers for the suggestions.
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Fatgit, with all the dosh you've saved, I'd get yourself a towbar and a small trailer for your toaster! Then you can go round collecting as much manure, pallets etc as you like!
I made a right divvy of myself yeaterday afternoon by proving just how rubbish I am at reversing a trailer right outside the village school at playtime - a bloke by the school gate is having an extension done, and had a load of blocks delivered on nice heavy weight pallets, whoch I said I could help myself to. Turned up at school at lunchtime (I help out there on a Tuesday pm), and ended up blocking the road totally with the Land Rover and jack-knifed trailer, which I had to unhitch, park up - then shift the Landy into a space, and to top it off, I nearly lost the trailer down the hill....
And then all the mums keep asking me why I've been bin-diving pallets out of skips :oops: They seem to think I'm quite bonkers...
Still, I've got another two very sturdy compost bins!
So it's always worth trying for free pallets from people who are having work done. I usually keep a jar or two of homemade jam or pickle in the landy to say thanks - works a treat!
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Tow bars weigh more than the car does (come to think of it, the pallets probably do!)
It struggles uphill as it is, it only has a 3 cylinder 796cc engine, I think a trailer would kill it, I think I've seen Rotavators with bigger engines.
I am still trying to grab some freebies, but I'm also not adverse to paying a little for a bargain either.
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I guess we are lucky here at my Derby allotment. Some kind guy delivers a fork lift truck lot of pallets every now and again (about once per month so far). But the allotments are in the middle of a trading estate! It's first come first served. I am in the middle of stripping them down to make a fence. I have also made my first raised bed for the strawberry plants. It is also the right size for 3 window frames to sit on the top to provide shelter and warmth during these arrly months. Click on the link on my sig and check out the pics.
cheers
Alan
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Anyone thought of using old wardrobes? I've been wondering how to make a raised bed for the kids to grow stuff in and had an old wardrobe to get rid of. Unfortunatley, when I dismantled it I found it was only teak veneer on chipboard (as it is an old wardrobe was hoping it to be solid wood). Might just try it anyway and paint it with fence paint to keep it going for a season. Anyway, someone on freecycle if offering a solid oak wardrobe which is already dimantled so I'm thinking of trying to use that if I get it. What do you think?
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dont think about using chip board for raised beds they would last about a week and become a pile of mush n soil,on second thoughts i cant see the point in raised beds :?
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I was wandering around the lottie looking at folks raised beds and they do finish an edge nicely but I was still left wondering if they are really needed. didnt stop me saying no to a few old scaffing planks though :shock: :?
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Raised beds can help a bit if you've a bad back shaun!
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Raised beds can help a bit if you've a bad back shaun!
thats correct grannie if there 3' of the ground they would help with your back but it would also give you a bad back filling it with soil :wink:,i just cant see the benefit of a raised bed when its only about 6" high unless your a pixie :wink:
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I think they are just a fashion Shaun. The next fashion will be taking the boards away to make more planting space :roll:
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There's a few of them on our site- at least it looks like it. Most of the old blokes are very sceptical - they like to see a lot of bare earth, followed by rows of peppers and toms a month or so later.
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I thought the advantage was because you don't walk on it and therefore don't need to dig as often, as long as it is not more than 4 foot wide. Hope that's true because I have just built a 12 by 4 foot raised bed because I'm not getting any younger and my back hurts like hell.
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You don't need to raise the beds not to walk on the soil. I am putting in some stepping stone paths and also use boards if I need to step on the soil.
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I want to make a raised bed for the kids so they have a defined area to plant in. It will encourage them and make it easier to look after if they have their own bit that they can manage. Weed management might be easier too if it has lots of good soil/compost in it and isn't compacted too much. I don't intend on building more than one although other allotments do look nice and tidy and organised if they just use raised beds. Don't be so negative. By the way, how do you insert those smiley face things? I can't seem to get them to go into my messages it just does this: :wink: !?
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Oh, I just looked at my last message and I see how the smiley things work now-just don't appear until message is posted ha-ha!
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I think they are just a fashion Shaun. The next fashion will be taking the boards away to make more planting space :roll:
Not at all, if you had seen how heavy our clay soil is you would agree that raised beds was the only way.
We have around 3-4" of heavy clay topsoil, then in to pure grey/blue clay.
Yes, i tried all the suggestions for conditioning clay, but after 3 years I gave up.
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Good point penance. That is a good reason to have raised beds. Disability is another, but lots of people want them just to be funky at present.
Did you have to buy your soil to fill them by the (several) lorry load(s) :?:
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Unfortunatly I did have to buy in topsoil.
It isn't cheap for good stuff, but as i had decided to get away from the heavy clay it seemed right to get good soil.
I bought one tonne from Rowlawn, lovely stuff but cost around £80. I got the next lot from turfonline for about £50, wish i had bought more from Rowlawn :roll:
I should mention, this is in our rear garden, lotties are to far away for me to bother with.
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:shock: Expensive isn't it. And I'm sure a ton of soil doesn't go far. Hope you get good results from it :D
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My beds are 2.5m x 1m 6 of, 1 tonne filled 2 beds with enough space to add around 150L of compost/muck.
Great results from the Rowlawn stuff last year