Best edging for raised beds

[Four Seasons]

Well I suppose they aren't really raised beds, and more edged beds.
Jimmy

Ah right. If they are not raised beds then the wood or whatever is not taking any weight so why not stick to your pallet wood and just replace it after a couple of years. It doesn't involve any heavy work and would be a lot cheaper. But I'd paint it first.

[Jimmy]

It's dismantling the pallets that the big effort !
Jimmy

[Bren In Pots]

My beds aren't raised they're sort of mounds with quarry tile paths in between they seem to work out well.

[Four Seasons]

"It's dismantling the pallets that the big effort"!

I know what you mean. If they were screwed together then that would be a bit easier but nails are a real pain.
For what you have described I've used second hand decking painted black.
Decking was all the rage a few years ago but now people are realising that they can be a death trap in the rain and the supports rot quicker than the planks so the fashion craze has passed. You can find them cheap at auctions but they have come down a lot in price new and wouldn't cost you a great deal.

[Jeremy Deacon]

I've tried decking in the past, but I'm a bit of a fan of reclaimed railway sleepers for raised beds. I know that they are not as cheap as pallets, but they last a long time, and have a bit of history as well! Have a look at these ideas for raised bed!
Raised bed projects with Railway sleepers

[mothhawk]

For dismantling pallets, have a look at post #30 on this thread http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ion_71561.html

[Jimmy]

Interesting video.
But you still need to get the bottom planks off before you can put your brick underneath.
Also, in my experience, many pallets are joined with ring nails.
These WON'T pull out and rip through the planks splitting the ends.
I have manage to get them out by giving each a whack that drives it in a little but breaks its grip.
And then working them out, doesn't work very well.
Jimmy

[Godhelm]

Nothing!

I went with the 'nothing' option, having taken over a plot with beds surrounded by rotten wood inhabited by thousands of slugs and snails. I have weed control fabric on the paths and this is ticked vertically down around the beds to a depth of about 20cm (I used 1m wide fabric with paths about 60cm wide). Part of the reason for this is to allow for flexibility to change the layout of my plot, as I am new to this lark and still learning what works and doesn't work for me. As I have dug and added compost/manure, the beds are mounded (some more than others dependent on where there were raised beds previously).

[Jimmy]

Nothing ?
The beds have wooden edges !
Jimmy

[Vegpatchkid]

I built ours with decking as it was easy enough to screw together and light enough to shift from the end of the drive to the back garden. It also came in convenient lengths of 2.4 meters, so cutting was minimal (our beds 1.2m x 2.4m). Our "soil" is mostly clay, so I built the beds up 4 boards high.
So for each bed I used 12 boards at about £3 each, plus posts and screws and postcrete. Probably about £60 per bed.
Then I bought a million bags of compost (or so it seemed) to fill the beds up.
I didn't really think about concrete gravel boards at the time, and I'm half thinking I might have missed out on a great idea. I'm also thinking I'd have broken my back shifting big lumps of concrete up to the garden.

[Snadger]

I prefer no edging, mounded beds, but must admit I have three beds surrounded with interlocked roofing pantiles which create a good edge and (to my eyes anyway) look really good!

If I could find another skip load of pantiles I could finish my plot..........

[Jimmy]

Pantiles sound good, some seem 4 foot long !
But to expensive new.
Jimmy

[Godhelm]

Only a bit down the left hand side. Nowhere else.

Nothing ?
The beds have wooden edges !
Jimmy

[cheops]

My advice is use a permanent edging i.e. yellow concrete path edging. I replaced all my wooden edges two years ago with this. Now no more hassle ever and the yellow colour looks really smart as a contrast to the green plants within. Cost me over 2 hundred pounds at the time but I don't regret it. You could do it in stages if you don't want the full price outlay all at once. If you need to cut to size any of the lengths an angle grinder does the job -no need to cut right through just a few millimetres deep then it snaps off neatly with a sharp blow.