'Lazy beds' anyone?

[Seahorse]

Read about these earlier and they sound like they may work for me. My lottie is low lying and has water on two sides. I already have drainage ditches running along the length of it (or will do, once I've cleared them out properly) but the 'lazy bed' system provides drainage throughout. Basically, you mark out areas the size and shape of typical raised beds but dig trenches in between and pile the soil up onto the beds. You don't use boards or anything to enclose them. The potential pitfalls I can see are that the sides could collapse and you might be wading through water when tending your crops in very wet times (not that that matters too much if you have decent wellies!).

I think they sound worth a go though. Anyone tried them?

[andrewo]

I use these now, and they work well. You can change the bed scheme around from year to year and the good thing is that you can use the 'ditches' for irrigation too. Creating mini waterways and helps preserve water. I only do this on a small scale but I would think it would work on an allotment, I've seen it done on farms.

[Snadger]

This is what I use. My allotment is on an incline though so i have no standing water!

[nemo]

i have to use these as my soil is peaty and very shallow my walk ways are down to a very compacted layer of stone so my walkways are cleaned every now and then .In Ireland we call it making ridges most people in my area use lazy beds to grow potatoes but i grow everything on them. Some time the edges brake away and the roots of the crop get damaged. Most crops grow well

[Seahorse]

It's good to hear they're working well for others. I shall try them

[bravo2zero]

Lazy bed??????

What is a lazy bed??? Is it no dig????

[Snadger]

What is a lazy bed??? Is it no dig????

Yes it's no dig but it's basically a raised bed without any surround. Just walk on the paths, never on the beds, and the beds get higher by regular mulching and the paths get lower by regular foot traffic!
The beds will 'peak' in the middle and curve down to the paths!

[bravo2zero]

Oh right, thats what i was doing before i could no longer heap the soil without fear of it slipping after a good downpour. Eventually i had to plank the sides up fabric the paths and lay woodchips and barkchips as path material. Didnt realise it had a name . I wouldnt call it lazy anyway, more using your loaf.