You can sort of see what I mean here. The black plastic ran down the side of one board, underneath, across the path and up the side of the next bed, then gravel put on the path between, to minimize weeds. It was stapled to the sides using a wall stapler to keep it in place while the soil and manure went in. Will photograph the frame arrangement tomorrow. Here you can see the arrangement with the corner posts keeps them away from the damp, to help them last longer.
Can't beat BB's approach but I used two approaches, in the back garden made raised beds with treated decking planks, they've last about 5 yrs and will need replacing next year.
On the alottment I'm making raised beds out of broken down pallets, no cutting they are simply the width of a pallet and some either one length or two pallet lengths, with stakes in the corners and a wood preserve on the wood.
Thanks to BB I now know how to make the paths and use up the plastic originally covering the plot.
Thanks all for your help. I am looking for scaffolding boards but failing that, will go gravel boards as I know where to get them. Not sure where to get the posts from - any suggestion BusyBee? I also like the going for tall posts idea so will do that.
Artjak brings up a good point that if I raise it to 30cm it takes a lot of filling. I had thought to do it higher as we are close to a hedge and I know I need to prevent the hedge roots taking all the moisture. But I'll stay a meter away (as was suggested in a different thread) but keep to the shorter bed I think....
Is there any benefit to using week membrane anywhere - a suggestion had been made to line the beds but I presume that is only good for short rooted veg?
My posts came from a local company who sell sheds, fence panels, trellis and the like. They are buried quite deep - maybe once to twice the depth that you can see above ground. But you should get them anywhere that sells fencing - B & Q, Wickes, garden centres, etc. Not sure why people would line a bed at the bottom, but sure someone will be along to explain in a minute. Maybe to stop deep rooted weeds from coming up. I get thistles trying to come up, but if you stay vigilant about pulling them out it is not a problem. Maybe it is to retain moisture?
I am a carpenter and have a lumber yard I buy from. They sell me 'culls', or lumber that is split, has twisted, or otherwise is not good for construction - at half price and less. That is what I used for my raised beds. I used 2 X 12 treated lumber. The modern pressure treated lumber is treated with copper, not like the old style with arsenic.
Here is my frame idea, a day late due to work commitments! The frame is made from tile lats (unsawn pressure treated timber used for roofing). These are available in B & Q, or from builders merchants, timber yards etc. They are screwed together into a rectangle which goes to the outside of the posts.
A large screw is driven downwards into the top of the posts, to prevent the frame from moving around, and left slightly lower than the top of the frame, so as not to tear anything placed on top, like polythene or netting.
And then the protection of choice can be stapled to the frame and weighted with bricks at the bottom.
Will this work? I really don't know. I suspect it will work better with netting than with polythene. This polythene is not very durable (99p a metre from garden centre - annoyingly I know I have squirreled away lots of polythene and couldn't find it.) On reflection, I think bubble wrap would work better. I think that if we get high winds and storms forecast, I will remove this - given it is there to warm the soil and protect against cats and frost, and storms at this time of year will not be combined with low temperatures.
Edd we have some thingies you stick on furniture that will work for that - thanks! I am one of life's experimenters. I really don't know what will happen with this, but am curious to see. My experience with those blow away greenhouses has made me very sensitive to the combination of polythene and wind!! And the other issue is ventilation. I think on a calm day like today, it might be as well to lift the sides and allow for a change of air under there. But nothing is growing yet, seeds only went in a couple of days ago.
Posts
You can sort of see what I mean here. The black plastic ran down the side of one board, underneath, across the path and up the side of the next bed, then gravel put on the path between, to minimize weeds. It was stapled to the sides using a wall stapler to keep it in place while the soil and manure went in. Will photograph the frame arrangement tomorrow. Here you can see the arrangement with the corner posts keeps them away from the damp, to help them last longer.
Oh, meant to say that the beds are placed on soil, so they are infinitely deep for root veg etc.
On the alottment I'm making raised beds out of broken down pallets, no cutting they are simply the width of a pallet and some either one length or two pallet lengths, with stakes in the corners and a wood preserve on the wood.
Thanks to BB I now know how to make the paths and use up the plastic originally covering the plot
.
Thanks all for your help. I am looking for scaffolding boards but failing that, will go gravel boards as I know where to get them. Not sure where to get the posts from - any suggestion BusyBee? I also like the going for tall posts idea so will do that.
Artjak brings up a good point that if I raise it to 30cm it takes a lot of filling. I had thought to do it higher as we are close to a hedge and I know I need to prevent the hedge roots taking all the moisture. But I'll stay a meter away (as was suggested in a different thread) but keep to the shorter bed I think....
Is there any benefit to using week membrane anywhere - a suggestion had been made to line the beds but I presume that is only good for short rooted veg?
Melanie
My posts came from a local company who sell sheds, fence panels, trellis and the like. They are buried quite deep - maybe once to twice the depth that you can see above ground. But you should get them anywhere that sells fencing - B & Q, Wickes, garden centres, etc. Not sure why people would line a bed at the bottom, but sure someone will be along to explain in a minute. Maybe to stop deep rooted weeds from coming up. I get thistles trying to come up, but if you stay vigilant about pulling them out it is not a problem. Maybe it is to retain moisture?
I am a carpenter and have a lumber yard I buy from. They sell me 'culls', or lumber that is split, has twisted, or otherwise is not good for construction - at half price and less. That is what I used for my raised beds. I used 2 X 12 treated lumber. The modern pressure treated lumber is treated with copper, not like the old style with arsenic.
There a re lots of youtube videos to show you to do this. Here is one
Here is my frame idea, a day late due to work commitments! The frame is made from tile lats (unsawn pressure treated timber used for roofing). These are available in B & Q, or from builders merchants, timber yards etc. They are screwed together into a rectangle which goes to the outside of the posts.
A large screw is driven downwards into the top of the posts, to prevent the frame from moving around, and left slightly lower than the top of the frame, so as not to tear anything placed on top, like polythene or netting.
And then the protection of choice can be stapled to the frame and weighted with bricks at the bottom.
Will this work? I really don't know. I suspect it will work better with netting than with polythene. This polythene is not very durable (99p a metre from garden centre - annoyingly I know I have squirreled away lots of polythene and couldn't find it.) On reflection, I think bubble wrap would work better. I think that if we get high winds and storms forecast, I will remove this - given it is there to warm the soil and protect against cats and frost, and storms at this time of year will not be combined with low temperatures.
Edd we have some thingies you stick on furniture that will work for that - thanks! I am one of life's experimenters. I really don't know what will happen with this, but am curious to see. My experience with those blow away greenhouses has made me very sensitive to the combination of polythene and wind!! And the other issue is ventilation. I think on a calm day like today, it might be as well to lift the sides and allow for a change of air under there. But nothing is growing yet, seeds only went in a couple of days ago.
Rain pooling could be bad unless you make small punctures in the plastic sheeting.