[steve n gillian]

any tips on raised beds eg: size, height, maintaining . we feel its the way to go for many reasons,any advice or tips :?:

[muntjac]

welcome to the gang  ,,,you need to say what you mean by raised beds and why you need them .ie wheelchair users need them 28-30 inches high for a comfy working hieght etc

[SnooziSuzi]

Hi Steve? Gillian?

Welcome to the forums  

I suppose it depends on your soil type; the lighter the soil, the shallower the beds, depending on whether you intend on filling them with horse poo, of course!!

heavy clay soil would really need a deep bed to allow the moisture to drain away more easilly, whereas a sandy bed would need a shallower bed to retain the water.

I'm sure someone else will have a contrary opinion on this... watch this space!!  

[richyrich7]

Hi both welcome to the forums  

Try the search facility there's quite a few threads on it in here somewhere.

[noshed]

If you've got reasonably heavy soil fixed beds are better - you don't need all the wood which snails  lurk in but you don't walk on the beds and you can plant a bit closer together because you don't need paths.
Having said that I planted everything too close this year.
1.3m wide with 400m paths.

[milkman]

1.3m wide with 400m paths.

that's quite some gap between your beds - are you trying to keep fit as well!  

[upthetump]

Hi both and welcome. As I've posted on here before, I have a chronic weed and couch grass problem. I cleared my plot about 10 times this year and its still back to mountain conditions ie covered in grass and weeds. I picked up the timber for my 1st raised bed yesterday. 8'x4' made from 4"x1" sawn, treated timber. cost? £8.50. I plan to line paths with polythene/chipped bark and wrap the polythene around the inside of the wood to prevent chemicals leeching into the soil. I also plan to make the paths between the beds 18" wide. hope this helps.

Happy gardening.

[Scribbler]

Try costing gravel board from building suppliers. These are pressure treated so will last longer, but nothing nasty as far as I'm aware. Mine comes in 3m lengths and is metric equivalent of about 1" x 6" - this length will just fit in the car.  My local garden centre has a fencing company on site, and they also sell 2 x 2 pressure treated timber which is cut up and made into pointed stakes.

Easy. All I've got to do is dig where the beds are going to be, hammer the stakes in, screw it all together, find some topsoil and muck - and of course find the time to do it! Hope to make some progress this weekend though.

I think I'll have that on my bl**dy gravestone!!!

[gobs]

1.3m wide with 400m paths.

that's quite some gap between your beds - are you trying to keep fit as well!  

Not a surprise, that planted everything too close, then. :roll: