Sides on raised beds?

[moggssue]

Okay folks, daft question of the day coming up .....

One portion of my new lottie has 8 already formed raised beds, with just worn soil/grass between as pathways. They're raised in the sense that the soil on each 'mound' is higher than the paths between by around 8-10 inches, but there are no sides, such as planks or boards, on these mounds.

Do you think, given the scale involved, they'll be fine for planting in as they are, without any hard sides/edges, or will the soil erode and not remain raised?

It would cost a small fortune to buy enough planks to edge them all (each one is 12feet long) so I'm hoping to get away without? What do you experienced folks think?

[Two_Sheds]

I wouldn't bother planking them. I have planks on some of my beds, and they are a breeding ground for slugs and snails who hide in all the little gaps.
You actually get slightly more planting room with a mound, because you can plant up the sides of it as well as the top.

[moggssue]

Thanks Two-Sheds - I never thought about the ikkle peskies finding hideyhomes in the planks! Will give them a miss!

[chrissie the chippy]

just in case you do decide to use planks, if you call up local scaffolding companies, they are more than willing for you to take away their damaged boards (but don't tell everyone having trouble getting hold of them, someone has told everyone on the lottie . They can't legally sell damaged boards and have to pay for them to be disposed of!

[moggssue]

Now, thats handy to know Chris, thanks for the tip

[ConstantGardener]

don't worry re pests, they'll get in anyway - I've never had any extra probs with my raised beds (they're made of scaffold planks too!) or found any colonies hiding.

If you put planks in there are several advantages - 1) they'll hold the soil/nutrients in better, as well as holding mulches in place and 2) you won't have to be forever cutting out your beds to prevent the grass encroaching.

And you can build up the soil level until you have a really deep raised bed - you won't be able to do that to the same extent if all you have is mounds.

I love my raised beds, they make all the difference and they're dead easy to keep maintained.

[moggssue]

My 'raised' beds are actually, now I've started digging them out properly and removing the grass and weeds, only raised by about 2" - I was planning on sticking with that for this year and then adding some compost/manure in the autumn which will hopefully raise them a little more. In between the beds I've left the mud/bits of grass which is being trampled down nicely at the mo to make natural paths.

Changing my own subject ( ) do you think this height is enough to call them raised beds and to gain the benefits attached to raised beds?

[Cutecumber]

I've just invested in some Link-a-bord to replace worn out wooden planks.

The problem with a mounded bed (which is, effectively, what my collapsed raised bed has become) is that it is hard to water evenly. Although you can theoretically plant on the sides, I find that I just can't get the water to soak in. This means that I am losing some space and not making the most of the area.

I hope that building up the sides again properly will allow me to grow more, and to keep the soil more moist.

[Two_Sheds]

The problem with a mounded bed (which is, effectively, what my collapsed raised bed has become) is that it is hard to water evenly.

I water into upturned coke bottles or flower pots. The water goes straight to the roots, no waste.

[moggssue]

I water into upturned coke bottles or flower pots. The water goes straight to the roots, no waste.

I'd need an awful lot of bottles though?! That system worked in my little garden plot, not so sure about the scale of the allotment? I'll try to post some piccies if you dont mind peeps, see what you think then? ....

[Cutecumber]

Two-sheds, yes that's a good system, but my soil is way too light for it not to just leach out of the sides of the bed. It means that the plants on the edges flag quite badly moment in hot weather. For my situation, the sides make a positive difference.

[Snadger]

I've been saving old bricks I've scrouinged from skips! On my travels to my allotment I often see skips with bricks in them and if asked most people will let you have them.
I think I have enough now to start terracing my plot but for the time being I have odd wooden boards on the downward side of each bed.

One thing I would suggest is try and go for a season or two without putting edges to your beds as my final positions differs quite a bit from my original positions.

[pigletwillie]

One thing I would suggest is try and go for a season or two without putting edges to your beds as my final positions differs quite a bit from my original positions.

I totally agree here Snadger, it took me 3 years to finalise bed positions.

[moggssue]

Okay folks, here are some pics of the beds I dug at the weekend - in reverse order of progress but you get the idea! Do you think they can be classed as 'raised' beds? Do you see any major problems I'm going to encounter with beds done like this? I still have six more to go on this side of the greenhouse in the photo, and a slightly bigger space on the other side, so dont want to go too far without the advice of you experienced peeps! Oh, and apologies for the very daft and 'duhhh' question of the day!!

[Snadger]

Okay folks, here are some pics of the beds I dug at the weekend - in reverse order of progress but you get the idea! Do you think they can be classed as 'raised' beds? Do you see any major problems I'm going to encounter with beds done like this? I still have six more to go on this side of the greenhouse in the photo, and a slightly bigger space on the other side, so dont want to go too far without the advice of you experienced peeps! Oh, and apologies for the very daft and 'duhhh' question of the day!!

You've done really well and the soil seems to be nice fertile loam.

If you don't mind a bit of constructive criticism, I would say the beds look to be a tad wide by the look of it and the paths aren't wide enough!
4 foot wide beds and 2 foot wide paths mean you can usually reach to the centre of the beds from each path and you need the path width for walking, wheelbarrows, knealing,planting,weeding etc

Just a thought!