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raised border

lavender4lavender4 Posts: 25
in Problem solving
I have a raised border at the bottom of my garden and the soil keeps sliding down onto the adjoining lawn. Any ideas please for an easy and cheap edging to keep the soil back off the lawn?

Posts

  • Rose121Rose121 Posts: 132
    Is there anything holding it up at the moment? Struggling to visualise it as usually raised beds have wooden edging. I'd build a frame from 50mm wood, perhaps.
  • lavender4lavender4 Posts: 25
    Nothing holding the soil back - it slopes up from the lawn to the fence and it keeps slipping down. I can't build a frame - my skills aren't up to that, I'm afraid. I could hammer something in, I'm thinking, as long as it wasn't too thick.
  • Rose121Rose121 Posts: 132
    Ah. Single length of timber, with stakes holding it up? You might need to dig holes to really secure them deep enough. Is it high? Wouldn't advise it far anything over a single timber width.

    Or Gabions! They could work well and just need filling with rock, but will be a bit pricier
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    We really need to know how high the barrier would need to be to keep the soil off the lawn before advising further. As Rose says, a single length of timber supported by stakes might be simplest, but only if you have transport big enough for the wood. Otherwise you can get rolls of wood or bamboo edging which might do for a couple of years, or even a roll of metal edging. Other ideas are bricks, or paving slabs inserted vertically.  Up to you really, your skills and your budget. 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    @lavender4 , as Lizzie says the height you would need the barrier to be would help :) My first answer would be log roll as l think you can get that in a couple of different heights. That would last for a few years, it depends on what sort of look you want. Maybe a photo so we can "picture" it? 
  • tessagardenbarmytessagardenbarmy Posts: 346
    I bought a raised bed kit from well known  DIY  retailer  had 2 long and 2 short pieces of timber 6 batons and the screws needed. I just used small battery driven drill/screwdriver  gadget to fix them. Job done. This was to replace  log roll which had rotted after a couple  of years.  I've also  just used odd lengths  of decking timber and just propped it up but hammering small stakes in on either side. On a previous  steeply sloping garden I had to dig a trench and use railway sleepers one in the trench and others placed on top and screwed together to hold the soil back. Depends on the steepness of the slope and how much soil there is to hold back.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    A row of sleepers would need very little work as they would just 'sit' and hold back a normal sort of border. 
    Otherwise, unless it's a very big slope, a length of fencing timber, or scaffold boards, would do the job and aren't difficult to put in place. A few battens hammered in at 3 or 4 foot intervals, and the timber screwed on.  If you find that  too hard, you could attach  battens, or small 2 inch posts, to the timber first, then dig out some small holes and concrete the whole thing in, a section at a time. Make sure to have a spirit level handy though - nothing looks worse than a squint border edging. 
    A bigger slope may need a couple of levels put in to create a simple terrace.
    A picture would help though  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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