Raised beds

Cabbagepatch · Raised beds

Any advice on these please? Am reconsidering the veg garden this spring.

Nanny, I know you have link a boards, how are you getting on with them?

Kathy

When I saw the title I started thinking about beds, as in go to sleep beds, started yawning and thinking about my leccy blanket!

I did a raised bed using used breeze block, soil out of the garden and a couple of bags of compost, the lettuce and onions did well in it the first year, second year it was beetroot and lettuce. Smile

nanny-now and forever

the link-a-bords are brill but i have to say they are expensive

i dug out all the rocks - about a tonne i should think, dug over the soil that remained, planted the link-a-bords then filled the rest with compost

we have about 20 years of the stuff here so no problem

then turned it all in and planted

considering the weather i did very well out of it

make sure that whatever you use you make the plots big enough because you can't just extend them at a whim once you have put them together and levelled it all out...with the benefit of hindsight i think i could have added another metre to the width and it would have been better

we put netting round to keep the poultry and the cats out but it also helped to keep carrot fly and cabbage butterflies a bit at bay

this year i hope to make some framework for the netting so that it doesn't blow around in the wind and look so untidy

the great thing about raised beds is that they are generally easier to tend and dig

MrsWW

My raised beds are made out of decking planks, lined with damp proof course plastic. They've been good for about 5 years so far with no alterations/fixing needing doing.

Libby

I also have riased beds I used sleeper, expensive but effective. Make them wide enough but make sure you can reach the middle from both sides then you never have to stand on them! They also warm up quicker in the spring. I saw somewhere that you can use scaffolding boards and I must admit if I did them again I would use them instead!

Aqui

i currently have decking squares as my raised bed surroundings, put in vertically. but they are falling over, so i'm going to by some wooden planks cut to size and corner posts and hammer them together. i'd love those link board thingies, but can't afford them and don't want to have to resize my beds!

Lizzie

We have raised beds made from old oak door frames. They've lasted six or seven years but are starting to fall apart a bit now.

OH has made cloches with water pipe and polythene that fit over the beds to warm the soil in the spring which work brilliantly. The framework can also be used to put fleece over the whole bed which is really good at deterring the dreaded carrot fly...

Libby

Cabbagepatch

OK, looked at linkaboards, and yes nanny they do seem expensive (and as I'm angling for an extra chicken coop Cool

I'm going to go with wood I think if it works out cheaper. It will be interesting to see how costs compare.

I also like the idea of being able to net off/cover each bed especially with Saphie out there - she charges about like a complete hooligan Twisted Evil

nanny-now and forever

i did have raised beds made of old scaffold planks.....they lasted for about 7 years then started to crumble away.......that was why we went for the link-a-bords that will never have to be replaced

loads of good ideas though

Lizzie

Here's a picture of OH's cloche doodab...

The polythene comes off and can be replaced with fleece/netting whatever....

I'm not quite sure why it's over the only bed that's not getting any sun though....!

Libby

Ooo thanks for that JC, I understand now! Very Happy

Lizzie

He says he thinks the piping is called alkathene, or something like that. There are sticks poked into the ground at the edges of the bed and the piping is stuck onto those.

You can't really tell from that picture but our garden is very exposed (nearly at the top of a hill, facing the North Sea a couple of miles east...) which is why the end of the cloche is weighed down....it's never blown away yet... Laughing

Kathy

Our water is running overland in a pipe like that, wonder if a piece missing would be noticed...................

Lizzie

agapanthus

I used tanalised gravel boards for mine when I was down south....they went together really well and I'm sure they would last for years and years. Saying that I even brought some up here with us. They are obviously still waiting to go down, but I will definitely use them again when we get our garden up and running!!!

janowl

Just a thought!There s a free ad thingy that my son goes on and he quite often gets things on there that nobdy wants. The people are getting rid of them for nothing but you have to collect. The other day there were some sleepers but we had no way of colleting them. Maybe theres something like that in your area that you could go on to get something suitable for raised beds? Not sure what its called though.

Kathy

Is it Freecycle Janowl?

janowl

Kathy

I've given and received all sorts from Freecycle over the last few years, wonderful idea, I've also met some lovely people through it. Very Happy