Raised beds.

[sharonr]

This year I plan to put raised beds in my garden for the veg.
We are going to make them out of bricks as we have thousands in the garden.(they were going cheap).
I have a few questions

Should I cement the the bricks in place?
What would be the best height for the beds?
How wide and long should they be?
How far apart should I build them? Would just over wheelbarrow width be good?
My veg patch will be quite large(about 12 foot X 20 foot at the moment but it will be bigger when the OH fences some more of the garden off) so I`m hoping to fit quite a few beds in.

Any ideas much apprecheated.
Sharon.

[allaboutliverpool]

The simple answer is - Yes it is OK.
The sensible and practical answer is NO.

Believe it or not there is quite a lot of lateral pressure from soil, especially when the roots start to grow and bricks laid on each other will fall into the paths.

Cement is a good idea, but in order to prevent cracking, a foundation is necessary.

A more practical idea would be to sink the bricks in on their ends although this limits the raised bit to about 3 inches. There is also the problem with weeds growing between the bricks.
The proof of the the pudding is in the eating. How many brick raised beds have you seen?

allaboutallotments_Deep_bed_building

[vegnut]

The height is entirely your choice, if you are just doing it for good looks or just to retain the soil, then it doesn't need to be high at all. But if you want to raise them and put a fine soil in them for carrots and parsnips, then the deeper the better, without going too mad of course.

[Snadger]

I intend using bricks as permanent bed surrounds. I've been collecting the bricks for ages and because I garden on a slope I will be having my beds two bricks high at the front and one brick at the back.
This will give me terraced beds which should work fine.

Very simple to do............just lay the bricks where you want them to go to get an idea of how many you need....................dig a very shallow trench, maybe 1.5 inches deep and put a bed of sand /cement mix in it. Lay your first course on this bed of cement using bricklaying principals i.e. spirit level and a staggered bond.
The bricks I have accumulated are engineering bricks so are soilid.

I have my beds boarded at present but intend slowly working from one end to the other eventually giving my potager the required look and permanent beds.

Put a few piccies on the vine as you go and I'll do the same and we'll swop notes!


PS The beds should be about 4 foot wide...........but that includes the width of the bricks...........don't try adding the bricks to the outside of the 4 foot measurement as it makes the beds too wide.

[Two_Sheds]

Brick beds require concrete footings if more than four bricks high. I suspect you don't see many brick raised beds because you aren't allowed to use concrete or permanent structures on allotments? also brick is more expensive and more trouble than wooden beds.
And most people don't grow veg at home, so don't have raised beds of any kind.

does this help? How to Build a Brick Raised Bed | InterGardening.co.uk