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Author Topic: raised beds  (Read 2220 times)

eryl

  • Joined Apr 2020
raised beds
« on: February 22, 2021, 08:43:45 pm »
anybody got any ideas what you can use for raised bed borders other than having to buy expensive wood?

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: raised beds
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2021, 10:00:49 pm »
roof tiles!   But depends how "raised" you want them, I guess...
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: raised beds
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2021, 10:59:38 pm »
Pallets, tyres, bricks, paving slabs.

All that stuff can be found for free on freecycle, preloved, gumtree, etc  ;)
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: raised beds
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2021, 11:50:19 pm »
The simplest type of raised bed is as Bob Flowerdew of the amazing name has: mounds without edging, and he grows some crops on the slopes and others on the top. I think he refreshes the edges each year.  Even simpler is to grow on the flat.
We have recently made some beds in our polytunnel and we used scaffolding boards. You might be able to get them second hand or scrap, or you can buy them from Wickes.  They are nice and sturdy, about 9 inches deep, one high for a low bed, stacked two high for a deep bed.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

eryl

  • Joined Apr 2020
Re: raised beds
« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2021, 05:58:44 am »
have you seen the price of scaffolding boards!!??

chrismahon

  • Joined Dec 2011
  • Gascony, France
Re: raised beds
« Reply #5 on: February 23, 2021, 09:00:46 am »
We have a veg plot with a slight slope and need to level the beds by adding 6" of height to two sides. Tried to find some reclaimed plastic planking but could only find new reinforced plastic which was rather expensive. Decking treated wood planking came up the cheapest option, but still too expensive.




Q

  • Joined Apr 2013
Re: raised beds
« Reply #6 on: February 23, 2021, 01:20:13 pm »
a second vote for scaffold boards here - but used ones for me.

Have a look on ebay - these ones are near me - look for item number  - 373445803313.

If you cant beat 'em then at least bugger 'em about a bit.

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
    • ABERDON GUNDOGS for work and show
    • Facebook
Re: raised beds
« Reply #7 on: February 23, 2021, 03:14:41 pm »
Mine are made from sarking planks - 3 metres long
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

Possum

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Somerset
Re: raised beds
« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2021, 06:35:55 pm »
I'm with Q and FW. Ours are made from used scaffolding boards.


Most local scaffolders will have old boards they want to get rid of. They are no longer strong enough to safely support someone at the top of a four storey building, but they are good for holding back soil in a raised bed. Ours were free but we did have to go and collect them with the livestock trailer. They lasted for 8 years. :)




Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: raised beds
« Reply #9 on: February 24, 2021, 01:34:14 pm »
We do buy treated wood, as thick as we can get it (3mlong x 10" high x between 1 and 2 inches thick) straight from the timber merchant rather than any of the DIY stores, and the beds  last about 10 years (unless you are a bit slapdash with the strimmer as my OH has been). So I think they are a good investment.


I looked into the recycled plastic ones (like the one Huw Richards has on his plot), but they do require a second mortgage if you are talking a family sized garden....

 

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