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I want to have raised beds in my small plot. I was going to do the following - but looking for feedback as to whether this was sensible

- I am going to get wood cut in B&Q, about 30sm deep. Then I am going to dig the existing soil out and put some corner posts (of the same height) in and nail the planks to the posts, so that the wood is about 15cm above the gorund. I am hopeless at sawing so need this to be precut - I can just about handle a hammer!

- I then want to put some weed suppressant material at the bottom of the bed (can't remember what the correct term is), then add the soil and some rotted manure

Does this sound ok? Anything else I should be doing?

Thanks

I got my wood much cheaper from a local scaffolding company for £4 for 8 foot length. Some places will even give you it. Don't pay shop prices unless you have to!

janeyo

thanks for the reply janeyo! I would do that but then that means I have to saw them to the right size and I have never been able to master a saw. Plus, I would have to buy one as the old one was so unused and neglected, rusty in the shed. My hubbie is not of the DIY type either. Does the rest of it sound reasonable?

I'm not sure about the membrane, new to it all this year too. I didn't line my beds with anything as wasn't sure if 'deep veg' would have enough room. Plus I thought it was good for the worms to be able to help with things.

Am sure someone else will be able to advise better!

janeyo

Agreed - dont add a membrane to the bottom unless you have high beds, and an awful weed problem in the ground below (or its concrete!).

What sort of wood are you thinking of using from B&Q because there are some woods they won't cut for you. We bought some from there for our raised beds - thought we'd get it cut more so that it would fit in the car than anything but the said they weren't allowed to cut anything treated.

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Off to China

i really wouldn't bother (with the weed suppressing membrane). if you've dug a spade's depth down you've ripped out all the weeds anyway. any weeds/grass that was there, make sure you turn it upside down when you put it back in the trench, the grass/roots will rot down and give you lovely soil, and the beasties (earthworms etc) that are so good for soil will also wend their way up. I did mine that way last year and they were fine.

good luck!

keth (having a break from shovelling compost)
xx

I agree with the above, if you can secure these planks for free, do so (look around, you never know - skips, building sites, deserted or derelict buildings/farms) but the only snag is you may have to be relatively skilled DIY person to put together a raised bed.

We secured our 2" thick planks just lying around a farm of a family friend. The farmer himself didn't know who it belonged to but they just got dumped there so sometimes you're doing people/places a great favour with the clearing up. We build ours 2 planks high which is a little harder than one plank high obviously and my husband did complain that they're back breaking work..so much so he wouldn't make me another one . The corners were just bolted together, no post here but I think using post will make it easier for non-DIY person.

And good luck with your raised bed, they're worth it for that added luxury of veg gardening...you just feel in so much control.

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Food for Free

Our raised beds are about 6" high, because there was turf before, we turned the turf over and put topsoil on top. The grass hasn't grown through. One thing we weren't as discplined as we could have been on ...I tried to insist that the beds should be of such a width that you could reach the centre from either side, ours are a bit wider but since OH did all digging ans sawing it would have been churlish to whinge too much. I just put things that don't need bothering with much in the hard to reach areas and always walk on a plank if I must tread on my soil.

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Nell

ive just finished my first raised bed made out of pallets (took a few i can tell you as they split easy but i got them free so cant complain )lil bit wonky but hey im no professional, i have since topped it up and its rained on it and it still sits yay just deciding exactly what to put in it now never had so much space before

I made my raised beds last year, and I did what you're thinking of doing - I went to a timber merchant and got them to cut everything to size for me, including some wooden pegs for the corners and for every 1m. Like you, I couldn't have sawn anything, and my OH is definitely NOT the DIY type! I dug to a spade's depth where I could (a lot of rubble under my garden!) but didn't put down a membrane. I think you would find that too restrictive. I didn't have a great year last year, firstly because we didn't get the beds up and running till June, and secondly because the weather was so spectacularly awful. So I'm hoping for great things this year. Good luck! It's certainly easier to control once it's all prepared.

BTW, I got a friend to come and help me with the major putting together of it all! I think it's hard to do on your own. Apart from anything you need someone to hold the planks whilst someone else hammers/screws!

My hubby is building me a raised plot, how wide do u think it should be and how deep coz i have never had a raised bed before,i have allways just grown in the garden.

Hi, as a builder I wanted to point out that untreated timber will rot incredably fast, possible in around 2 to 3 years! Try asking a builders merchant for CLS timber, its treated, regular sized in various widths & very inexpensive. I build raised beds 2 summers ago and the standard Spax plated screws have already rusted through & snapped even though they were quite heavy gauge. It's worth using stainless steel screws even though the cost makes you flinch a bit. The other way is to put vertical post on the outside of the bed (for some reason everyone seems to put then on the inside) this means no fixings required at all as the pressure is against the posts. So long as you have say 75 x 75 posts driven deep enough it will work. A great tip for general planting & for your raised bed posts is to buy a post digger, these are inexpensive & are two wooden poles attached to a hinged circular diggin bit. It's so easy to put posts into small accurate holes & graet for making holes for any planting!

Do pick my brains if I can help further, tregards, M

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Closed hearts will never be filled with
the beauty of the prescence of others...

Like the idea of putting the support uprights on the outside of the raised beds...........makes sense when you come to think of it!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

The only problem i see with that , is if you have a grass area where you use a lawn mower. I could imagine it being a little frustrating bumping into them there posts. Otherwise a good idea

Hi Tracyp
I made my raised beds out of scaffold planks and used pegs hammered in the ground to keep them upright (smacked em in with a big mallet!), I'm rubbish at sawing 2 but I managed to saw up these approx 2 by 1 pegs. Instead of a membrane I used old newspapers - this year I had some old paper sacks which should be ok (I hope).
Good Luck!!!

With regards to the wood rotting, when my neighbour built my raised beds, he lined them with uPVC lengths - the kind used for cladding or fascias - our local place gave us their offcuts for free - it didn't matter that they were different sizes as you can't see them anyway.

i used 5" x 1" tanelised timber...about £4 for a 14' length... I cut mine but they will cut them to length if required

i made mine using Wickes decking boards. they were selling them half price (around £3 a board) a few weeks back. i did have to cut them to size myself though
6'x3', 2 boards deep. i joined them at each corner with 75mm x 75mm posts
built & filled for a total of £40.

today i bought some trellis of the same size to lay over the top in the hope it keeps the cat off. he's had a little balance but the netting between bed & trellis stops his digging

I made mine last year. I used treated wood from B&Q which tapers ie. it's thick at the top and a bit thinner at the bottom, can't remember what it's called now. Anyway I just knocked the sides together and then nailed them onto posts that I'd knocked into the ground and then filled with mixed multipurpose compost and topsoil. Worked a treat. I just mowed the grass and put the lot on top (Mr Titchmarch recommended this somewhere). The grass has never come through and everything grows well.

Would love to know how people keep the cats off though!!

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si'sraisedbed

I didn't think I'd be able to saw the wood up for my beds either - I bought decking boards from B&Q as they were on sale, and waited 2 wknds for the OH to put them together. When they were still sitting there in the shed the following week, I had a "S@d you!" moment, got them out of the shed, measured them and drew lines where they needed to be cut, then just put them over the top of the wheelbarrow to keep them steady and just sawed away! They possibly weren't as smoothly done as they could have been, but the bed was built in an afternoon & I had all the satisfaction of knowing I'd done it myself!!
So, I'd say give it a go, never say never! And a new saw can be had from B&Q for less than a fiver I reckon

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Sarah

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

the thing with sawing is to let the saw do the work. don't force it & you'll be perfectly fine

Only this mornig I thought about a raised bed for the 'erbs. I'm new to lotties and haven't even put anything down yet. Only got the keys on sunday. Plan is to cover the majority with black covering stuff and work on one end for the spuds. It's been rotavated, but that was 6 weeks ago and some weeds are starting to poke through....anyway, i digress....at the other [shed] end, to build a little section with a raised bed for the herbs with a woodchip path all the way round. That's the plan anyway...

Just one question, a guy who lives nearby is about to get rid of a whole load of garden fencing. Is this ideal for a raised bed?

Syanide