Jason, it really depends on how you garden and what you grow. You need to get your pencil and paper out and just play about with what you think will work for you, you also need to consider what you want to make your paths from.
To just make a simple bed, you usually mark out the outline, then go around the outside taking maybe half a spit of soil out all the way around and chuck it on the bed, you end up with a slightly humped bed, and a kind of shallow moat aroumd the putside
Raised beds mean that you can future proof you gardening for when you are getting on and can't bend down so much!
I like the idea of doing one a year. My beds have too much soil now and slope up perhaps 8 inches at the sides. I could reduce this to make one nice raised bed and then do another next year.
I'm tempted to make some with breeze blocks. It's cheaper than timber and was looking at this.
Good point on the soil Verdun, although given the cost of it i've gone right off the idea of it now.
Maybe i'll get my pencil and paper out Bekkie, im still finding my feet as only started growing last year. But the main thing i wanted to change for this year was just having an undefined messy patch.
Im thinking now of putting some 7x2 timber around the whole area and defining a path through the middle.....
Yes do it! We have 4 which we filled with soil from laying the paths and paving in brand new garden. No regrets. Brill for roots - carrots and parsnips were fantastic and easier to dig up. No slugs. No stones in soil. We top up with home made compost. Easier for my bad back too! Got mine here
Ive got a mixture, im a right lazy moo, so i do like to sit on the side of my raised bed and garden when i can, but ive only got one bed thats that posh! Its made out of little sort of leveled off telegraph poles come sleepers, it was a birthday present filled with free horse poo
I do have wood mice in that raised bed, but so far, they havent caused a problem.
I also grow stuff in rows at ground level, this is much easier to get the hoe around and i can change the shape or size of the bed as and when.
As far as how it looks , im afraid im not that bothered, when im not so well, i often wish i had more raised beds
I suppose its each to their own, it may well be that a mixture suits your needs too
I've just had 3 4ft x 4ft raised beds made by a local charity for £50. Ive filled 2 so far and have probably spent another £60. I used a layer of cardboard followed by a layer of stuff from my compost bin & a layer of newspaper, the rest is filled With a mixture of compost, manure & topsoil, I've shopped around for good deals. They're not filled quite to the top but a good 12-15" deep with a lip that I'm reliably informed will help protect my seedlings!
Yep, thats it Jason, remember, nothing is set in stone, keep a note of how things do during the year, you can always change and evolve things as your skills build, or lime me, you change your mind
Posts
To just make a simple bed, you usually mark out the outline, then go around the outside taking maybe half a spit of soil out all the way around and chuck it on the bed, you end up with a slightly humped bed, and a kind of shallow moat aroumd the putside
I like the idea of doing one a year. My beds have too much soil now and slope up perhaps 8 inches at the sides. I could reduce this to make one nice raised bed and then do another next year.
I'm tempted to make some with breeze blocks. It's cheaper than timber and was looking at this.
http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/garden-diy/how-to-build-a-raised-bed/270.html
Good point on the soil Verdun, although given the cost of it i've gone right off the idea of it now.
Maybe i'll get my pencil and paper out Bekkie, im still finding my feet as only started growing last year. But the main thing i wanted to change for this year was just having an undefined messy patch.
Im thinking now of putting some 7x2 timber around the whole area and defining a path through the middle.....
A bit like this perhaps. Excuse crude drawing!
Yes do it! We have 4 which we filled with soil from laying the paths and paving in brand new garden. No regrets. Brill for roots - carrots and parsnips were fantastic and easier to dig up. No slugs. No stones in soil. We top up with home made compost. Easier for my bad back too! Got mine here
http://www.webbsdirect.co.uk/mandm_timber-deluxe-extra-deep-wooden-raised-vegetable-bed-18x09mtr-prod453687/
Good luck.
I do have wood mice in that raised bed, but so far, they havent caused a problem.
I also grow stuff in rows at ground level, this is much easier to get the hoe around and i can change the shape or size of the bed as and when.
As far as how it looks , im afraid im not that bothered, when im not so well, i often wish i had more raised beds
I suppose its each to their own, it may well be that a mixture suits your needs too
I've just had 3 4ft x 4ft raised beds made by a local charity for £50. Ive filled 2 so far and have probably spent another £60. I used a layer of cardboard followed by a layer of stuff from my compost bin & a layer of newspaper, the rest is filled With a mixture of compost, manure & topsoil, I've shopped around for good deals. They're not filled quite to the top but a good 12-15" deep with a lip that I'm reliably informed will help protect my seedlings!
How deep is your cardboard kelsbells? I have loads of it I can't get rid of after a recent furniture delivery. Could solve two problems in one go...