[donald.cape]

I'm already making plans for next season, one of them is to change from growing in rows across the full width of the allotment to growing in beds about three metres square. The main reason being I will be able to get at all parts of the plot from the paving slab paths I intend to lay between the beds. Apart from losing some growing land thoughts  on advantages and/or disadvantages would be welcome.

[crowndale]

I think it's as much personal preference as anything.  I have wooden beds (9x3 foot) for permanent crops and salad crops (and a small seed bed) but more flexible beds for other stuff as I grow bigger quantities of brassica spuds and roots than I do of salad etc. My only concern if it was me is that I would be unable to reach across 3 metres without waling on the bed, I can manage around 4 foot comfortably, but am quite short and have poor balance!

[little sweetpeas]

Apart from losing some growing land thoughts  on advantages and/or disadvantages would be welcome.

I grow in beds some are raised beds are some are not.  The only veg I have in rows are the potatoes, due to the needs to earth up and the squashes. Beds are 12 feet by 4 feet.

THe old guy next plot too me grows in rows but were compared actual growing space and i have slightly more. Our plots are the same size but I have been able to plant closer together.

Idon't actually think it makes much difference in terms of space but the appearance of it all works for me.

[David.]

beds about three metres square.

I grow in beds 4 metres wide x the width of the plot because a roll of heavy duty black polythene is 4 metres wide.

[richyrich7]

I started to put in beds on mine but have now decided against it, only because the paths seem to harbour a lot of weeds and now having a rotavator it's easier just to go up and down.

[little sweetpeas]

I started to put in beds on mine but have now decided against it, only because the paths seem to harbour a lot of weeds and now having a rotavator it's easier just to go up and down.

I must admit my beds are not set in stone, I just use batons either side of the wooden boards so thet can be removed and placed in another area of the plot. I'm just about to take on part of the plot next door and i don't intend to use beds, I can then compare the two.

For me it is more important the all the beds however large are deep

[WG.]

You need paths no matter what, so you are only making them permanent.   Some folks think of them as a loss of planting space but really they needn't be since many crops will overhang.  It is photosynthesis space which matters most.

For the record, my system is ...
I don't use raised beds or permanent paths but try not to walk on the beds.  I use strips of timber (4 or 5" wide, bark on) which I leave in place every yard or so.  They keep the weeds down between drills, they can be lifted to pick off slugs and they can be walked on to help weeding.

As they are temporary, they do not harbour perennials in the way that your slabs might.

[Aidy]

The one advantage with beds is they tend to heat up quicker in the spring and you can cover them in winter, I am a row man with one path going up the middle, the disadvantge I believe (according to my neighbour) is in hot weather they they need more water, pehaps some here will advise, and like Richy I have obtained a rotovator which is now making very short work of the weeds.

[Trillium]

I have raised beds, but mine are simply mounded up, not boxed in. I do this because there is barely a spade's depth of reasonably useable soil on top of super heavy yellow clay with stone. The soil was trucked in by the previous owner who assumed it was adequate for gardening, and promptly left it to weeds. Since I couldn't go down, I have to go up. Every year I add loads of organic matter and the mounds are getting progressively taller. In between the rows, I've been laying strips of weed barrier fabric then some free bark chippings to control path weeds. Once the plants in the beds show themselves, they get thick mulches of shredded leaves (a free source for me) and that controls the bed weeds and keeps the soil moist. Hope to post a pic soon but I'm still learning how to work the camera computer program, etc.

[Sam K.]

Hi,

This is my first season on beds; I have 16 1.2*2.6m beds with a .8m border all around the outside. There is a lager path in an x intersecting the plot along with key hole access (the paths don’t divide the beds totally)

Comments I have so far:

•   Making the beds are blooming hard work (though I was double digging  mostly virgin soil)
•   Plant in blocks of crops that are all to be harvested at the same time so that you can re use the space quickly
•   Even though you are using raised beds its hard to not plant in rows
•   Advice is to plant using the plant spacing advice on seed packets (not the row spacing) to space the rows.
•   Using the plant spacing between rows I cannot use a very small onion hoe between rows
•   They do dry out quickly, especially in the dry spell we had.
•   You need allot of row markers for every row (I don’t bother)
•   Set out the longest ends of the beds south so that you can reach up the rows
•   You can still ridge potatoes if you want to.., I have also grown under poly to compare
•   Shading can be a problem depending on the layout of your plot
•   Weeding is easy…. I don’t think it is, though you can easily clear a whole bed and feel like you have accomplished some thing.
•   Weeding is easy… maybe once the plants drown them out we will see.
•   Using machinery is no longer practical… a small mantis may help but my merry tiller is overkill.
•   Make the bed with stakes fixed then hammer them home, not hammer in the stakes them screw the boards to them.
•   Use thick enough wood or frequent stakes along the length of the longer sections
•   Do not think this is better for a bad back as you have to reach to get to the middle of the bed, with rows you can kneel right beside plants when thinning/planting.
•   You don’t ever get muddy feet
•   You always have muddy hands
•   Planting closer and in blocks encourages pests to proliferate
•   You can pick off the pests more easily
•   Make sure the paths are level with the bottom of the boards… if you do not the soil at the edges dries very quickly and the drains out like a sand timer.
•   Make all the beds exactly the same size so that any cloches, nets, covers etc you make fit all of them.

Sorry about the rant (I could probably keep going) hope this helps

Sam

[WG.]

Excellent posting Sam.  Well done.

[donald.cape]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll compromise and put a path down the middle of the plot, I'll still be planting in rows but they will be only half the length and hopefully easier to manage.