Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Chatting => Design and Construction => Topic started by: Asherweef on March 24, 2014, 10:49

Title: Raised beds construction
Post by: Asherweef on March 24, 2014, 10:49: Morning all,

I know that there are a lot of threads on raised beds, but I couldn't find any that answered all of my questions so I thought that for clarity sake I should start my own!

I'm going to be building a series of 4ft by 6ft raised beds in the back garden; now I've seen in John's book that he recommends cutting slots and then slotting them together but I'm going to go for the traditional corner post design. I also know that scaffold boards are recommended but I'm not keen on paying the price. Am I instead able to use some treated wood of slightly smaller dimensions? i.e. 1inch thick, 6 inches high? It will really be a first foray into raised bed planting so I didn't want to pay much and this happily comes in at half the price of scaffold.

In addition to this - once built would I be able to just fill them with topsoil or would I need to look at multipurpose compost instead?

Of course - any other helpful tips would be appreciated!
Title: Re: Raised beds construction
Post by: mumofstig on March 24, 2014, 11:13: This thread suggests decking boards
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=112063.msg1274260#msg1274260

This post suggests adding soil from the paths
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=112423.msg1281491#msg1281491

I just dug mine which raised the level by a few inches, and adding manure/garden compost over a few years fills them up without any initial outlay :)
Title: Re: Raised beds construction
Post by: Lardman on March 24, 2014, 11:29: I always liked this chaps stuff http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Deep_bed_building.html (http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Deep_bed_building.html) although when I did mine I just screwed some 6x1 treated together and they've been fine for 5 seasons.

I've been filling them with any spare soil / compost / manure I could get my hands on over the years.
Title: Re: Raised beds construction
Post by: Asherweef on March 24, 2014, 16:28: Quote from: Lardman on March 24, 2014, 11:29
I always liked this chaps stuff http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Deep_bed_building.html (http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Deep_bed_building.html) although when I did mine I just screwed some 6x1 treated together and they've been fine for 5 seasons.

I've been filling them with any spare soil / compost / manure I could get my hands on over the years.

Thanks Lardman - I was on that site the other day… Have you posted in in the past week or is that coincidence? That's exactly the style I'm going for though - less fiddling (I hope!).

BQ - I was more looking if it was an OK option to use the planks I've seen (i.e. the size) as opposed to alternatives; I'll price decking up though as well so thanks :)
Title: Re: Raised beds construction
Post by: Sideshoot on March 31, 2014, 04:04: If you have a surplus of empty compost bags use them to line the sides inside before you fill it to help keep the moisture in.