Raised beds?

[growingkasbar]

My OH has finally given in to my pleading, groveling and whining, and said i can have a raised bed in the garden. I have never had one before and was hoping to make one rather than buying a kit. Can anyone tell me how deep it needs to be? I am hoping to dig down and then maybe fence it in with some decorative log roll so the garden is still symetrical. Is this possible? Any advice would be very helpfull!!

[Snadger]

My OH has finally given in to my pleading, groveling and whining, and said i can have a raised bed in the garden. I have never had one before and was hoping to make one rather than buying a kit. Can anyone tell me how deep it needs to be? I am hoping to dig down and then maybe fence it in with some decorative log roll so the garden is still symetrical. Is this possible? Any advice would be very helpfull!!

Sounds like a good idea but you may need to 'stiffen' the roll by adding short support stakes every metre or so?

[yeti]

personally,i wouldnt use log roll.i find it rots to quicky and collapses,i made mine out of scaffolding boards and painted them.. but thats just me..i dug the bed down a spades depth then and mixed in some cmpost and some well rotted farm manure to bring it up to just below the top of scaffolding boards..works for me.

[growingkasbar]

Ok thanks, Im off work until easter and so i have time to visit some garden centres for some inspiration!

[FionaH]

Theres some pics of mine in my album on here. Dead easy to make with planks and uprights. The ones in garden centres are really overpriced!

[greengas]

Allaboutallotments

Don't go to the garden centres, make a brew and have a look at the above site.

Then go to wickes and fill yer boots.

I thought I had worked hard on my plot but that is something else

[yeti]

crikey i got along way to go!! very inspirational..

[FionaH]

Takes all sort I guess and it looks really productive

[Snadger]

Allaboutallotments

Don't go to the garden centres, make a brew and have a look at the above site.

Then go to wickes and fill yer boots.

Not decrying the work or enthusiasm the guy has put into the plot, but............ Just imagine if EVERY plot on the site was like this??????

A curve or two would be nice, a focal point also...............there's no straight lines in nature! Too much like a mini monoculture farm for my liking!

[yeti]

must admit it does look a bit factoryish,if there is such a word!! one hell of alot of timber,noticed it was mainly decking material,not to cheap that stuff!

[Snadger]

.......................It's the method of making raised beds for a beginner that I was pointing out.

I realise that Zaz and hopefully new grapes will realise also!

[Jeanied]

I'm just about to start marking out my plot for raised beds - I had some treated wood delivered from the woodyard last year and I'm just getting round to it. I like raised beds because firstly I'm stiffening up in my old age and my knees aren't what they were. Secondly because I always need something to referee between the plants I put in - I'm good at creating chaos out of order, me! So some properly demarcated beds suits me. I'm aiming for 3 and a half foot wide beds which I can reach across easily. I'm going to make the soil as productive as I can by adding compost /manure and then not dig it any more - just a light forking over when it needs it. I will not be doing the whole plot as I don't want to spend too much on timber - and I think it looks way too regimented for me.

[Tomatoking]

Zanzen

That was a really good site. Ok it might be over the top to some people, but I find I get inspiraton from many posts on here, as I am sure others do as well.

No matter how much we know, we all are contstantly on a learning curve, and even if we just pick up a small tip from any post, it is worth the effort of looking at them with an open mind.

I just wish I could source more cheap wood to make some more raised beds as they are a great way to manage crops.
Mr TK

[Bigmallly]

Going back to the original post, there is nothing to stop you building a cheap bed with scaffold boards as mentioned earlier, then face it with log rolls if you want it to look more pleasing. There is lots of stuff out there to make them look pretty. It's all personal choice at the end of the day & isn't it great that we are all different.

[growingkasbar]

Well, that has given me alot to think about!! I never knew raised beds were such a controversial topic!!! I think I will get myself to b and q and get some wood and create something of my own! Thank you everyone