Raised beds - help?

WestonDave

At the time I made mine B&Q were selling 6ft gravel boards for £2.50 each. 3 of them would make you a 6ft x 3ft bed (cut one in half for the short sides), with sides 6 inches tall. You'd ideally need something to make a post inside the corners but again you can buy a small 6ft fence post (a 50mm square one) and cut it into quarters. OK so that is probably about £10 per bed but its not that bad.

bordercars

for the corner posts, why not reclaim an estate agents post used to have a for sale board on. good bit of 2*2

mum_of_4

raised beds - Pallets plit then put one on top of the other fixing to a batton (also made from the pallet. Mine are like this in the polytunnel and I think they are about 30cm maybe more (i will check) I just mentioned it to the local animal feed merchants and they let me take what i want. Also check the local garden centre skip.

Cloche - blue water pipe or the yellow stuff. Cut into say 2 metre length shove a bit of can up each end of the pipe then push the cane and pip into the soil to form a hoop. Position the next one and so on then stretch a bit of clear poly over the top. Check skips for the pipe or buy it. If you make your beds the same width the cloche can be used on any of them.

bordercars

ok 50m maybe excessive, but at £22 its not expensive, maybe share with a friend.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83620/Plumbing/Water-Pipe-and-Fittings/MDPE-Blue-Pipe-20mm-x-50m

mum_of_4

bordercars wrote: »

ok 50m maybe excessive, but at £22 its not expensive, maybe share with a friend.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/83620/Plumbing/Water-Pipe-and-Fittings/MDPE-Blue-Pipe-20mm-x-50m

If you do have to buy some then that's not a bad price.

Tempted my self;)

Ivyleaf_2

Hello all, I read the other thread on making a raised bed and think I will have a go if I can get the bits together cheaply, but can anyone suggest how deep I should make it? I fancy growing things like pumpkins and courgettes as they don't seem to grow too well in pots but how deep would the soil need to be? And is there anything that grows especially well in raised beds that I could have a go at? Many thanks :-)

Zazen999

Mine are 4 inches, 6 inches and 8 inches - and I grow everything in raised beds. If you've got soil underneath it really won't matter. If you've got something else [solid], then the deeper the better but a raised bed on something solid is just really a large pot.

Lotus-eater

Zazen999 wrote: »

Mine are 4 inches, 6 inches and 8 inches - and I grow everything in raised beds. If you've got soil underneath it really won't matter. If you've got something else [solid], then the deeper the better but a raised bed on something solid is just really a large pot.

Yes, yes, yes, but what size are your raised beds? :rotfl:

Everything grows well in raised beds, except maybe brassicas which like very firm soil. Haven't worked out how to deal with that myself yet.

Some folk say that brassicas do grow well in raised beds btw, before someone jumps in.

Larumbelle

My raised beds are a foot deep and I grow pretty much everything in them - brassicas, pumpkins and squashes (trained up arches, trellises and fences to save space), legumes, sweetcorn, carrots, onions... all the usual veg! Most, but not all, of my beds are on soil, a few are on concrete. I've got sprouting broccoli and cabbages in one of my glorified pots at the moment.

I've had no problems with anything, although I have also grown most of these things in pots too, even the 'big' ones that conventional wisdom says won't work in them like cauliflower, sweetcorn, sprouts, pumpkins and broccoli. You do have to be careful about the wind blowing them over, but then you have to be careful of the wind in any exposed growing position.

Lotus-eater

silvercharming, have you grown sprouts in a raised bed, did it turn out ok and what type were they?