To save on the constant weeding and to keep some sort of order on our allotment, we've decided on some raised beds. First three have been made from old pallets we found, but does anyone have any clever ideas on design of them? Also any alternatives to wood?
Adam
We've built several raised beds in our allotment using wine bottles, a tip we picked up from visiting Yalding Organic Gardens. Just dig a small trench and sink the bottles upside down to just below the bottom of the necks. It seems to work well, but you do need a *lot* of bottles. We've been begging them from family and friends, and hit paydirt when we bagged a full weddings-worth over the summer.
It's free (unless you count buying the wine), and you don't need to worry about wood preservative leaching into the soil, or about wood rotting in a few years' time.