Alternatives to raised beds

LizD_2

I'd like to have raised beds for veg, but it's not too practical in my garden. Does anyone know where I can get instructions for building deep wooden troughs as an alternative? Ready made ones don't look deep enough for veg. And what should I use for a base?

Penny_Farthing_2

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/product/Plant%20Protection_Raised%20Beds/GDN-430.htm

These make beds 18" high but they cost!

cordial

Lowered gardens..?

angie_loves_veg

I made a large trough (6ft x 3ft x 30cm deep) from gravel boards (they measure 6ft x 15cm) and bits of 2x2. A box this size used 12 boards (including the solid base)

Using the 2x2 for the corners, i screwed the planks on, two planks high. cutting a board in half for the short sides. (just like a raised bed I suppose.)

I used screws to attatch a base to the sides from the same boards. I then drilled drainage holes about every square foot.

I lined the box with weed control plastic (the sort that lets water pass through it) that I bought from the garden centre (attatching it with a stapler)

Lifted the box off the ground using some bricks at strategic points (not just the corners)

Bottom inch or so filled with gravel (for drainage) then lots of compost.

It is now in its third year and I have grown all sorts in it salad, carrots, beet, turnips, broad beans to name but a few

Hope that this is clear - I am a pen and paper kinda girl when describing things - I could draw it in a flash!

angie_loves_veg

basically the theory is the same, but you could make them any size and any depth you wanted - this was simply the size that fitted the space and seemed to be the minimum depth for a variety of veg (but not root crops like potatoes or parsnips).

I did consider making them another plank deep, but decided in the end that the volume of compost needed for the extra depth would be better used in occasional deep pot for (eg) potatoes, rather than being wasted on crops that don't need the depth!

LizD_2

cordial wrote:

Lowered gardens..?

:rotfl: :rolleyes:

LizD_2

That's exactly what I was looking for Angie! Silly question, but where would I buy gravel boards?

Jayar

cordial wrote:

Lowered gardens..?

I like your style :rotfl:

WestonDave

Gravel boards are sold by fence stockists - they are used at the bottom of fence panels to stop gravel drifting from one garden to another without having the panel on the ground subject to rot.

The cheapest I have found in my search has been Wickes where from memory you can get them for around £2.50 each.

angie_loves_veg

cordial wrote:

Lowered gardens..?

that took me ages :rotfl: