Raised Beds

[bobski1]

MrsB wants some raised beds. Have plenty of space but not a lot of time. Original plan was to just get some wood or pallets collars and plonk them down onto the grass and fill.

However I've ended up down the YouTube rabbit hole and started to think if I need to dig out the ground and fill with some gravel or bedding mortar and then line the raised bed.

Any tips from those who've built them before? Would be nice for it to last but don't need to to be over the top, just need to get it done

[hidetheelephants]

The old man built some for my mum about 15 years ago to save her knees and back, although he did it the hard way with an actual concrete foundation and three courses of breezeblock; bks to all that work, if I was making some I'd get some precast concrete garage panels off facebook MP for free or very cheap and fasten them together, then tip in topsoil. I can't think of any reasons for lining. If your missus doesn't mind kneeling you could do the "no dig" thing and there's even less labour.

Edited by hidetheelephants on Wednesday 6th May 00:59

[danb79]

bobski1 said:

MrsB wants some raised beds. Have plenty of space but not a lot of time. Original plan was to just get some wood or pallets collars and plonk them down onto the grass and fill.

However I've ended up down the YouTube rabbit hole and started to think if I need to dig out the ground and fill with some gravel or bedding mortar and then line the raised bed.

Any tips from those who've built them before? Would be nice for it to last but don't need to to be over the top, just need to get it done

What are they wanted for (flowers, veg, fruit etc)?

Sleepers; coach bolts, branches/twigs/cardboard for layering in the bottom and then topping with soil is the simplest way to build them for a surface rasied bed

Yes you can dig down and then pile up; but takes a lot more work and generally more prone to weed growth etc

This is the simple raised bed I built for our front garden; following the above and then I stuck two of the stones I used to lift in the middle and added the rest last year



I've built longer ones in the back garden for veg and fruit growing; I've used 1/4 thick sleeper lengths as that's all that was needed; they were dug over, cleared of crap/weeds/debris etc and then backfilled with top soil, soil conditioner & kepts turned over yearly before I sow / plant on the veg I'm growing,

I've got numerous small grow-houses to protect the young veg from pests/birds etc and they're lifted and dismantled later in the year when the veg is strong enough to stand on its own