which raised beds?

[petemurphy]

Hi,

Want to grow some veggies this year in our new garden so after a raised bed. Thinking a kit may be less aggro. Any recommendations for one?

Been told theres a lot of rabbits around so one that can easily have some netting might be an idea!

anything to avoid / look out for?

Thanks!

[FlossyThePig]

You don't need to use raised beds, unless you have back problems. Our soil is so fertile a walking stick would sprout if you left in sticking in the ground.

[petemurphy]

ha i do have a back problem!

[Sticks.]

Yes, me too, hence having raised beds as well.

It depends very much on how much space you've got and how much veg you want to grow. You could easily find you grow more than you'd anticipated.

I had mine made from sleepers, which @ 8' long, so you could add to them as you like. They're not too hard to put together if you're reasonably hand (have the tools) and you could probably get them cut for you if you need to. The advantage over the kits I've seen is that you can sit on the edge, while weeding for example, or I guess you could make them higher. Not sure about that.

If I were starting again, I'd think more about what I was going to grow, which would determine the type of soil I filled them with eg sandy for carrots (in your case, rabbit food ) or heavier for potatoes. I have added a lot of sand and grit to mine over the years but it's still not made enough difference to grow carrots, parsnips etc.

Btw my starting point for what to grow was; making maximum use of the space -- eg 1st early spuds out, runner beans in, not slow growing crops eg brassicas; what I could do better than the shops eg runner beans; and what would store, spuds, onions. This book will be all you need to help

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegetable-Herb-Expert-best...

Here's a pic of mine - note I've added a watering system which runs off a tap with timer, which has been essential.



Btw if you want to do 1st early spuds you should buy them now now.

Oh, thought about a greenhouse too? Mine's only 6'x4' which is a bit too small, but I still get a good crop of cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, chillies, mixed leaves as well as brining on runner beans and something called flowers, which SWMBO knows about.

[Spare tyre]

go for a wonder around some allotments if you can, my dads has some genius ideas in it

[Oscarmac]

I've been looking at Veg Trugs. They seem to do all sizes and would definitely help if you had a bad back.

[Elderly]

Sticks. said:

Btw if you want to do 1st early spuds you should buy them now now.

Only if greenhouse forced -
The OP is talking about outdoors, so/sew March would be more usual,
depending on your climate.

[Sticks.]

Elderly said:

Sticks. said:

Btw if you want to do 1st early spuds you should buy them now now.

Only if greenhouse forced -
The OP is talking about outdoors, so/sew March would be more usual,
depending on your climate.

Yes, sow in late March, if the soil is warm and dry enough, but buy and start chitting now.

[Bill]

We've used sleepers. Two 2.4 length with one cut in half at each end, all held together by two timberlok screws at each corner.

[petemurphy]

thanks all - i'm cheating this year in that i got this for christmas where they send you baby plants throughout the year as we have enough to do with the new house

http://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/showdetails.asp?id=...

like the idea of sitting on the sleepers while i potter although they may look a bit too large for our relatively small garden.

what do we think of something like this:

http://www.primrose.co.uk/botanico-wooden-raised-b...

was thinking could attach some netting to the posts

[petemurphy]

or these look good:

http://www.railwaysleeper.co.uk/product_info.php/s...

and good but expensive

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/standard-wooden...

[Bill]

Do you want zero work putting it together?

Those little beds could be knocked up for a tenner using small posts and a couple of gravel boards cut in half. Or the oak beds made from the 2400x200x50 oak boards and a few screws here: http://www.railwaysleeper.co.uk/product_info.php/n...

We went for sleepers as they should last forever, vs nearly forever with the oak or less than ten years for the gravel boards. I'll post a pic in a mo.

[petemurphy]

Bill said:

Do you want zero work putting it together?

Those little beds could be knocked up for a tenner using small posts and a couple of gravel boards cut in half. Or the oak beds made from the 2400x200x50 oak boards and a few screws here: http://www.railwaysleeper.co.uk/product_info.php/n...

We went for sleepers as they should last forever, vs nearly forever with the oak or less than ten years for the gravel boards. I'll post a pic in a mo.

thanks dont mind bit of work but wary i have a bad back so doing much with heavy sleepers might be out

[jmorgan]

No room for sleepers but been looking at this lot
http://www.linkabord.co.uk

Looks like I can tailor the size.

[petemurphy]

jmorgan said:

No room for sleepers but been looking at this lot
http://www.linkabord.co.uk

Looks like I can tailor the size.

hmm interesting - would be worried they will look a bit too plastic though and may bow? certainly look easy

[Bill]

petemurphy said:

thanks dont mind bit of work but wary i have a bad back so doing much with heavy sleepers might be out

Good point. IIRC they're 85kg each

[jmorgan]

petemurphy said:

jmorgan said:

No room for sleepers but been looking at this lot
http://www.linkabord.co.uk

Looks like I can tailor the size.

hmm interesting - would be worried they will look a bit too plastic though and may bow? certainly look easy

The bowing bit worried me as well but they have cross braces. Migt have a punt on a two mtere or so lenght and see what happens. Some odd lengths though. Not worried about the look myself but I would ask them if the plastic is UV stabilised or its dust in a few years.

[ledger]

jmorgan said:

The bowing bit worried me as well but they have cross braces. Migt have a punt on a two mtere or so lenght and see what happens. Some odd lengths though. Not worried about the look myself but I would ask them if the plastic is UV stabilised or its dust in a few years.

I've had some of these for years, 2m By 1m, 2 boards high at one end 1 board high at the other. I havent' had any issues with bowing. In the process of putting in a few more at the moment.

[BlackZeD]

Seen these before on another thread;

http://www.woodblocx.co.uk/

Dave.

[bristolracer]

Scaffolding boards

Scaffolders have to get rid after a few years and are ideal for this sort of thing.

Its what we use on the allotment,yes they will rot quicker than a sleeper but most of the ones we got were free.