Raised bed construction advice please.

[Bigmallly]

I have in the past & it soon rots down. Could it not be used as part of the lasagne method?

[veggiechicken]

The thing is, whatever I use to fill it has to be carried up to the house, so it has to be worth the effort - and preferably free/cheap. I quite like the strawbale idea as I could just lay those in the bed and put something decent on top of them. As they rotted down, it could be topped up, so I wouldn't have to carry up loads of fill all at once.
What thoughts?

[Bigmallly]

There is some interesting reading here VC.

Composting wood chips from tree service - Soil Forum - GardenWeb

[veggiechicken]

Thanks BM. I liked the circular raised bed in that - looked just like my "trampoline" bed! If I could get hold of woodchip here, bag it and take it to the other place, I would. What I can't do, down there, is have a load delivered as there's nowhere to dump it. I never really thought buying that house through properly.If I could just live with it, as it is, it would be fine - but I want to keep modifying it as if it were a garden on the flat

[SarzWix]

Those coir blocks would be good too - the compressed ones which then expand hugely when they get wet. You could carry them up dry and just let the rain do the expanding job for you

[veggiechicken]

Like the sound of that Sarah, but they look expensive Fertile Fibre Online Shop unless anyone knows of a cheap supplier?
Just had a thought!! Sheeps wool!! There often seem to be old fleeces available on freecycle! Maybe I could put those in as a bottom layer?

[SarzWix]

LBS do them wholesale, might be worth ringing them to find out what quantity you have to buy to get the wholesale price? Coir Bales: Composts - Fertilisers - LBS Buyers Guide

[Bigmallly]

Theres a couple of vids here VC that may or may not be inspirational.

Straw Bale Gardening: Start to Finish - YouTube

no dig garden - YouTube

[veggiechicken]

Thanks again Sarz and BigM.
I liked the Straw Bale Gardening vid - I remember reading about that years ago for growing tomatoes in the GH. Never did it though Each strawbale is like a mini-raised bed - might not even need a surrounding framework!
Its all coming together now
bottom layer - cardboard (weed suppression),
twigs (drainage),
sheep fleece (water retention),
grass cuttings (for green!),
newspaper - just because....,
straw bales,
topped off with compost.

And the only thing I'd have to buy would be the straw

Anything I've overlooked?

[Feral007]

No, sounds good.
Altho we use lucerne hay bales not straw, that way you get the nitrogen from the lucerne as well.

[Bigmallly]

Anything I've overlooked?

Leaves?..................

[Sheneval]

VC - Don't forget Pair of steps to reach the top Remember we've now seen your legs

[kathycam]

Just to warn you my straw bales grew. So maybe don't have them too close to the top.

Also the suggestion of using any mud/soil from your path is good, my neighbour did that, but sounds like your soil isn't very deep?

Can you get soil improver/ compost from your council, or would it be a problem lifting that up?

[chris]

VC, I have a raised bed full of straw + chicken poo if you want that for your beds? Obviously itd need to be carted up there mind....

[veggiechicken]

What are you going to use instead Chris? I'm curious!!