Raised vegetable beds - what to look for and where to buy them from

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Raised vegetable beds - what to look for and where to buy them from

28 posts & 20 voices | Started 7 months ago by mastiles_fanylion | Latest reply from chrisjones

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mastiles_fanylion - Member

Planning on building a raised vegetable bed over the winter so I can start planting next spring.

The thing is, I don't know what to look for or where is best to get them... (Yes I *could* make my own but I honestly find it difficult to get the time so something pre-fabricated that I just need to screw together would be preferable).

I will be growing the usual sort of stuff to start off - potatoes, onions, spring onions, carrots etc. It can't be too big as space is at a premium, but it does need to be quite deep (I assume) so I can grow potatoes.

Any help, advice and links most welcome.

Posted 7 months ago #
wors - Member

I made mine from lengths of timber decking, it doesn't take long at all. What takes the most time is filling the beggars up with soil, compost etc!

Posted 7 months ago #
stumpy01 - Member

What are you planning on filling them with?
We looked at doing some raised beds at the old house, until we found out how much it would cost to fill them.

We just dug a veg patch out instead.....

Posted 7 months ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

What are you planning on filling them with?

My father-in-law owns a field so I can dig up about 0.0000000000000000000001% of a small corner of it and use that

Posted 7 months ago #
xiphon - Member

Posted 7 months ago #
meehaja - Member

scaffolding boards.

filling them is easy enough,

start by lining them with some cheap cardboard, this will prevent deep weeds coming up (for a bit) and will break down within a year or so to let your veg roots prosper!

next add some garden waste, cut grass, leaves, whatever (i shredded some bushes)

next add kitchen compost, veg peelings, tea bags etc, keep it moist and dont add meat or you'll have rats!

chuck in some horse manure (usually free from stables)

then add regular soil and you're away! i don't bother with regular compost, its expensive and my soil is good enough

Posted 7 months ago #
eyerideit - Member

+1 old scaffy boards - just ring around a few yards and see if they'll sell/give you them.

Posted 7 months ago #
PJay - Member

My Dad buys old railway sleepers to build his. They're nice and solid (and heavy) and usually very well treated against rotting.

Posted 7 months ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

My Dad buys old railway sleepers to build his. They're nice and solid (and heavy) and usually very well treated against rotting.

I thought about those (my local wood yard sells them) but doesn't all the treatment absorb into the soil and therefore the veggies (I don't like the idea of pomme de terre a la creosote).

Posted 7 months ago #
PJay - Member

He doesn't seem to have had a problem but uses them mainly for strawberries rather than root veg. You might be able to line them with something.

There seems to be loads on the internet about raised beds made out of railway sleepers so I guess that there's an answer to your question out there somewhere.

Posted 7 months ago #
gusamc - Member

buy some 6" planks/scaff boards, some 2x2 and an axe and saw. (to cut and shape 2/2 into stakes)
then do some screwing together 4ft x 6ft bed = 6 stakes (corners and long middles)

I dug then down to about 9" below ground, turned over lots, added topsoil and mature and sophisticated horse pooh, works very well.

However, personally I think it's a crap idea and I would use the planks flat as edges and just dig down/out and fill with topsoil/horse pooh. (digging/working is easier in a flat area with no obstacles)

*edit spuds should be earthed up as sort of upside down Vs so you might not need as much soil as you think - ie you don't need to earth up the gaps

Posted 7 months ago #
dobo - Member

not sure if gravel boards would be big enough but i bought some for another purpose the other day 1.8mx150mmx25 for £1.92 at scats which i thought was fairly cheap compared to other places i tried. stakes in corners and double height them.
3m was cheaper still. reclaim railway sleepers be better though but arnt as cheap

Posted 7 months ago #
john_drummer - Member

sleepers. line them with opened out poly bags of the type that compost comes in. poke some holes in the bottom to allow drainage. or simply use them where the soil is likely to touch the sleepers

Posted 7 months ago #
tomaso - Member

Avoid any timber that is tamilised or creosote or tarred as they will put toxins into your veg/fruit - tanilised timners contain cyanide!

You can buy untreated sleepers cheap enough and they won't kill you and get some beefy coachscrews to hold'em together and you are away

coach screws

Check out Monty gardeners world

Posted 7 months ago #
andyl - Member

We used treated timber when we built our raised flower and vegetable beds but we did line the inside with some thick plastic rubble sacks tacked to the back with felt roof tacks (can't remember the name of them) to stop the soil/water running through the gaps and to keep the timber treatment out of the soil.

Posted 7 months ago #
Mikeypies - Member

I was going to do raised beds at the allotment but did lazy beds instead

upsides

cheap no wood to buy or to fill with extra soil/compost
dont need as much watering

The Irish and Jocks used them for 100s of years apparently

downsides

they dont look as nice

Posted 7 months ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

I too am looking at doing some raised beds too. I want a more modern comtemporary look, some thing a bit like this...do you need to treat the wood or will it last long enough without being treated? Also how can you treat it without it being a danger to the veggies inside?

Ta

Edit - Stoner ah yes I thought I had seen your picture before, how much were they, and does the supplier do deliveries to Bradford ?!!?

Posted 6 months ago #
Stoner - Member

My local agri suppliers were doing oak sleepers for only a few quid more than tanalised softwood.

Screwed together and with some batten across the joints on the inside. And the sides are lined with DPM to prevent moisture being drawn out of the bed too much and into the wood.

Posted 6 months ago #
Elfinsafety - Member

Bullheart once stood me up in favour of some railway sleepers...

Posted 6 months ago #
Stoner - Member

oh and just made this coldframe last week to be able to do winter lettuce and other CCA varieties.

The cold frame is designed to go on any of the beds in any orientation depending on the rotation we're doing.
the two beds in the foreground are fallow for winter and I'll cover them with a tarp soon. Just waiting for the roundup to knock all the weeds off.

Posted 6 months ago #
rocketman - Member

Google 'Linkabord'. The Lego of raised beds

Easy to assemble/disassemble/expand/contract/move around the garden etc.

Posted 6 months ago #
MrTall - Member

I shall be getting one of these come spring time

http://www.webbsdirect.co.uk/forest_garden-kitchen-garden-trough-prod586834/

It'll go on the patio as i don't have room in the garden for a home made sleeper raised bed.

They do a bigger one but i can't find it on their site at the moment.

Not cheap but far better for me than losing lots of blood and several fingers if i tried to make one myself.....

Posted 6 months ago #
Stoner - Member

they're 100 bloody quid?!??

Posted 6 months ago #
wors - Member

I shall be adding to be raised beds over winter, son's play area is being moved so that makes room for 4 more beds!

Sroner are those solar panels in the background?

Posted 6 months ago #
ransos - Member

I cut the ends of some battens into points, painted them with fence paint, hammered them into the ground, and fixed old floor boards to them. Then filled behind the board with topsoil and compost. Worked a treat.

No point raising the bed very high if you have soil/ grass underneath - it's just a waste of money and effort.

Posted 6 months ago #
Stoner - Member

wors, yes they are. Solar thermal.
thread here
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/solar-water-thermal-panels-the-installation-w-pics

Posted 6 months ago #
MrTall - Member

I said they weren't cheap but i shall look around at the time as Webbs are usually way more expensive than most other places so i'd hope to find one a fair bit cheaper.

Posted 6 months ago #
chrisjones - Member

I bought these Gardman cradles from my local garden centre.

Gardman Cradle

The plus side are they are easy to move about (though heavy when full!)

Posted 5 months ago #

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