sleepers for raised beds

[sweetcorn]

As a novice in these things, who can tell me:

1) where do you get sleepers from (that aren't covered in creotsote!!!)

2) how do you join them together to make raised beds????? and

3) can you get them to make a 12" deep bed or even an 18" bed??????




so many questions .......................

[nick the grief]

Hi Sweetcorn,

1) Try the local timber yard

2) have you felt the weight of a sleeper!!!

3)Not easily as they are 8ft 6" x 10" x 12" and if you stand them on there sides they won't be very stable.

Why do you want a 12" highe raised bed? that will take a lot of soil to fill it.

[rustylady]

Sleepers are huge and heavy! Better would be "deals" as used by builders on scaffolding as walkways. Try skips, local scrapyards, or just chatting up workmen - they often have bits and pieces left over.

[sweetcorn]

Yes it will, won't it???? So how high is good????

[sewer rat]

Hi Sweetcorn
Check your local or county newspaper or free ads type publication, or failing that try Exchange and Mart or google for railway sleepers. You may have a problem finding some that are not creosoted though.
Sleepers are quite heavy enough that if laid on their flat, the soil in the raised bed will not move them. If you wanna put them on their edge, you can buy metal rods, hammer these down the inside of the sleeper into the ground and use fencing staples to hold the sleeper to them.
If you wanna lay them on their flat, and go two or three or more high, then position your sleepers (for a large bed I would stagger the joints like laying bricks), then get a drill and a long auger bit, drill through the sleepers and hammer in a length of dowel or aforementioned metal pins to hold them together.
One word of warning - sleepers are rock hard and if you need to cut them, use a chainsaw, but throw away the chain afterwards and buy a new one - the sleepers will absolutely wreck it - beyond saving!
If you could get hold of them, railway crossing timbers are about the same dimensions, a wee bit shorter, and a lot lighter so are much easier handled. They are also unlikely to have been soaked for months in creosote !

[sweetcorn]

oops, now someone else has replied it looks like I'm in another plane - I mean 12" beds will take a lot of soil. So how high is OK?

[sewer rat]

My four raised beds in my garden are 9" high, but they are only half to three quarters full of soil /compost / manure mix. Unless you want mega long root crops, you only need about 4 - 6 inches of soil in your bed. If anything wants to grow deeper, it can either grow into the soil below the bed or you should put it in a container or pot.

[Peter]

They are easy peasey lemon squeezy.

Unlike planks they do no rot away, need stakes, or lean over.

You use them like realy long bricks, imagine your Lego and use some long bits overlapping at joints or corners. To really secure them you will need a big drill (oldfashioned brace and bit with a corkscrew bit perhaps) and use a lenght of concrete reinforcing rod through the vertical holes.

Look here http://www.railwaysleeper.com/ and this customer photo http://www.railwaysleeper.com/Peter%...20sleepers.htm shows what I mean by overlap.

Hope this helps on all aspects.

I bought my greenhouse base sleepers locally and used a circular swa to cut all four sides and my size elevens to break the little bit left in the middle. I have just sat mine on top of each other, dig through my blog for photos if you wish.

[Snadger]

Yes it will, won't it???? So how high is good????

How highs a chinaman?

[Snadger]

Sorry, couldn't resist!

[nick the grief]

How highs a chinaman?

Depends on the bowlers action

My beds are 6" high & if I wanted to go higher than that I think I'd turn to Concrete blocks witha nice wooden top to sit on.