[Armleywhite]

Whats the point of raised beds?  Not the waist height ones that make life easier for those unable to bend or find it difficult to make use of much lower space.

However, I see that on a plot there are deffinite marked areas with the use of planks etc raised a few inches higher than the surrounding plot?  Is it just to make it a cleaner looking area?

Sorry If i'm missing the whole point of smoething much more important. 

 

[Sparkyrog]

The idea of raised beds is you never walk on them ! it is better for the soil avoiding compaction .

[mumofstig]

If you mark out areas and never walk on them and only add manure/compost to those areas they will eventually raise by a few inches each year - you don't have to have wood around them, though this obviously keeps the edges neater 

[Armleywhite]

Cheers chaps / chapessess (?) That makes perfect sense.  I’m new to this lotty lark and some things go a bit over mi ed.

I’ve just started my planned areas with a little walkway around each sub plot, which for me is ok as I don't plan to keep the same area for growing each year.  Is that acceptable or better to use wood / planking to mark out? 

[Sparkyrog]

I would keep the same area it improves with time , leave enough width in your pathways to be able to kneel down and get up easily 

[mumofstig]

as long as you know which bits to walk on that's fine  

[Chrysalis]

The advantage is that the soil is loose all the time (weather pemitting) and you can, if they're deep enough, grow things closer together.
Our 'beds' vary from 10cms to 50cms deep, depending on what we're growing in them.  We use polypropolene bags with drainage holes, encased in pretty wicker baskets.... we have a huge number of them and can grow most things for two in a small area. 

However, we do have to refresh and replace a lot of soil/compost every season, but as we have lots of compost and a few hens it's easy to manage.

I suppose gardening's a bit like a creme egg - "How do you eat yours?" !   We all do it differently and with varying results.  The things for us is to make it accessible and easy to manage.

[Lulu]

If you have clay soil they can help as the soil improves over the years and helps with drainage, so I have them on my big lottie but not on the little lottie with its sandy soil. My raised beds have definitely been an advantage in the wet year we had last year but as Chrysalis says - it all depends on your individual situation.  I really appreciate mine

[The Golden Heap]

I find beds set out with timber edge easier to plan work and manage, I have five beds 2.4m x 5.4m.

[surbie100]

One other major advantage is improved drainage through the raised bed. My plot's on heavy clay, on a slope and the water goes nowhere at the bottom. At the moment it's an informal pond...

Raising my beds higher is my way of saving my dinners from drowning if this weather keeps up.

[Trillium]

snap, Surbie  I've noticed that people on pond allotments are the only ones with workable soil because the raised beds are usually above the water level in the pathways. In heavy rain years, this makes a huge difference aside from the benefits of non-compacted, richer soil.

[Chrysalis]

Note: Don't forget that they dry out in warm weather and will need lots of water.  Even last year the potato bags needed water...... though we seemed to get off pretty lightly in all other respects. 

[surbie100]

They need organic material and looking after, but then so do any other beds.  I didn't find mine more thirsty, compared to the people further up the slope who don't have raised beds - we seemed to water about the same.

[Armleywhite]

Cheers for all the replies.  My initial idea was to just mark out sub plots for the various produce and then dig the entire area once harvested and re-plan the sub plots next year.  Might make digging a tad difficult in the pathways, but, as far as I can make out thats the only hard bit?

[mumofstig]

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me - Good Luck