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Raised beds - help?
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I would use it as is. If you feel it necessary you could line the inside with edges of the wood with plastic but either way i would recycle it for the raised bed.0
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Thanks folks, will have to see how easily the old one dismantles first but will give it a go if possible0
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I have picked up loads of wood from my local B&Q - asked for old pallets, but got a load of untreated 4x1 instead - and the manager waded in and fished it all out for me - excellent :jC Card £5218.68 (Feb 2011)£2 coins (No 085) - £190Mort overpayments 2011 - £418.060
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Might try my local waste aware - they could be good source of wood etc as well as office supplies
Just looked them up and sounds like they have planks, old doors, old picnic table tops and all sorts of other things. Also windows in frames as potential cold frames. Guess where I am off to after work.0 -
Perhaps all the plastic flower pots that currently go into landfill could be recycled in the manufacture of new structural board - any entrepreneurs out there?
I'm building mine out of old scaffolding planks, thats the best I could come up with.Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.0 -
'This is already done and it is very expensive.'
Dang! Still trying to have an original idea.....Round our way nobody will take pots. Having worked alongside extruding macines I should have realised that it's far from straightforward.
How about 2' or 2' 6"secondhand paving slabs cut in half (angle grinder) and set vertically in concrete footings?
OK it's just a variation on my concrete block beds, but like I said, you only do it once.
Incidentally, my scaffold planks lasted about 5 years out in the weather, being used for shuttering, temporary beds etc, but of course they weren't new when the builders left them behind after a job at my workplace.0 -
This link has a list of groups who recycle wood. I know the bristol one sells 'gardening wood' for a pound a piece. I'm planning to go there this weekend to get enough wood for a raised bed for my lottie.
http://www.communitywoodrecycling.org.uk/1otherpj.htm0 -
OK, my last post on this subject. Jacksons fencing do gravel boards. They are not cheap, but their stuff does last and they claim their pressure treating process is different from others and safe for both plants & animals. You will have to decide if you believe this & whether it is worth paying a higher price for a premium product. However,I doubt if they'd dare make these claims if they could be easily challenged.
I can vouch for the fact that their stuff lasts (panel fence 15 years old, unpainted and still showing no signs of weakness)
The link is:
http://www.jacksons-fencing.co.uk/pages/jakcure/process.aspx0 -
Read on another forum about using bitumen paint (stuff you use to seal the edges on shed roofs) to seal the sides in contact with the soil to slow down the rot. Thanks pinksleepybear for the info on wood recycling centres, seems I have one near me in Edinburgh. Will check it out first before I see what Wickes or B&Q have.Humans only use around forty percent of their brains capacity. Imagine what we could achieve if we used the other seventy percent!0
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I would wonder what chemicals would leach into the earth? Bitumen is oil based I suppose.
I had heard about using plastic sheet around the 2 sides that touch the earth, but I can see it making it worse as water would collect under the plastic.Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.0
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