Bed Sizes advice

The other day I looked along our ancient allotment paths and discovered just how out of true they are! 

Some lovely curves and some look as if they might have been ploughed by a team of oxen... all reverse sigmoidal curves and not a straight line in sight. 

No wonder (my excuse) my straight rows are often at a slight slant to the edging paths. 

None of the corners to my plot are right angles......so I couldn't do perfect lines either.

It's a good job I don't care 

Best attitude.... after all no one is arriving from Ofsted Ofplot with a clipboard, a list of requirements and a score sheet.  Satisfactory isn't satisfactory!!

Perfeck!!! 

I have grass around the edge( it is garden not allotment though) However I have not been able to keep on top of it so it is all coming up to be replaced by gravel and edged with wood ( chopped down tree branches )  then to seperate te beds I plan to make some wooden slat type paths that I can remove each year to rotovate the plot over and then create the size beds I want for whatever I decide to grow - Hope the idea will work!

But edging does give you something to strim against. You don't need to use scaffold boards, lighter wood will do fine. I can't think just now what the wood is that we use, but I'll find out.

Cheap as chips, 22 x 150 mm tanalised boards, known as sarking in Scotland with 2 x 2 cut into pegs and driven in every 4 foot or so to prevent bowing. This size of board may not be available in England but you will get 22 x 100 tanalised timber known as gravel boards, also cheap as chips (around £5.00/4.8 metre length).

I think the "peg" wood is something like 47 mm, so its commonly known as 2 x 2 (50 mm) as its easier for peoples heads! 

I used gravel boards and they have lasted 4 years. They are a bit rotten and I'm taking them apart and double digging, They are covered in slugs - that's where they've been hiding!

Not sure what to do for next year, perhaps some wood chip paths, or is that another des res for slugs??

x Dumps

Did you use tanalised wood?

Hmm not sure, it was treated with something, probably dipped in preservative.