Raised Beds

[bobski1]

MrsB wants some raised beds. Have plenty of space but not a lot of time. Original plan was to just get some wood or pallets collars and plonk them down onto the grass and fill.

However I've ended up down the YouTube rabbit hole and started to think if I need to dig out the ground and fill with some gravel or bedding mortar and then line the raised bed.

Any tips from those who've built them before? Would be nice for it to last but don't need to to be over the top, just need to get it done

[hidetheelephants]

The old man built some for my mum about 15 years ago to save her knees and back, although he did it the hard way with an actual concrete foundation and three courses of breezeblock; bks to all that work, if I was making some I'd get some precast concrete garage panels off facebook MP for free or very cheap and fasten them together, then tip in topsoil. I can't think of any reasons for lining. If your missus doesn't mind kneeling you could do the "no dig" thing and there's even less labour.

Edited by hidetheelephants on Wednesday 6th May 00:59

[danb79]

bobski1 said:

MrsB wants some raised beds. Have plenty of space but not a lot of time. Original plan was to just get some wood or pallets collars and plonk them down onto the grass and fill.

However I've ended up down the YouTube rabbit hole and started to think if I need to dig out the ground and fill with some gravel or bedding mortar and then line the raised bed.

Any tips from those who've built them before? Would be nice for it to last but don't need to to be over the top, just need to get it done

What are they wanted for (flowers, veg, fruit etc)?

Sleepers; coach bolts, branches/twigs/cardboard for layering in the bottom and then topping with soil is the simplest way to build them for a surface rasied bed

Yes you can dig down and then pile up; but takes a lot more work and generally more prone to weed growth etc

This is the simple raised bed I built for our front garden; following the above and then I stuck two of the stones I used to lift in the middle and added the rest last year



I've built longer ones in the back garden for veg and fruit growing; I've used 1/4 thick sleeper lengths as that's all that was needed; they were dug over, cleared of crap/weeds/debris etc and then backfilled with top soil, soil conditioner & kepts turned over yearly before I sow / plant on the veg I'm growing,

I've got numerous small grow-houses to protect the young veg from pests/birds etc and they're lifted and dismantled later in the year when the veg is strong enough to stand on its own

[48k]

Are they for flowers or growing veg?

[bobski1]

Mostly for veg, now the greenhouse is sorted MrsB has gotten a real bug for growing from seed but need some bigger space to put them.

I think I will just go down the sleeper/pallet collar route, clear the area around, lay down cardboard, fill with logs/branches and top with soil.

Any good places to get some solid sleepers which will last?

[danb79]

bobski1 said:

Mostly for veg, now the greenhouse is sorted MrsB has gotten a real bug for growing from seed but need some bigger space to put them.

I think I will just go down the sleeper/pallet collar route, clear the area around, lay down cardboard, fill with logs/branches and top with soil.

Any good places to get some solid sleepers which will last?

Good call

Your local run of the mill wood yard will be able to get them for you - Google 'wooden sleepers local to me' and see what it brings up

You want fully pressure treated ones; not ex-railway ones etc - and decent wooden pegs to hold them tight to the ground and connect them to

[bobski1]

danb79 said:

Good call

Your local run of the mill wood yard will be able to get them for you - Google 'wooden sleepers local to me' and see what it brings up

You want fully pressure treated ones; not ex-railway ones etc - and decent wooden pegs to hold them tight to the ground and connect them to

did you lay them on a base or just straight on the ground? I've got lots of wood laying around which will be useful for the pegs, I plan to put them external so that they are easier to change/swap if they start to go a bit rotten.

Did you apply any treatment on the cut ends?

[Sford]

I built mine using some old sectional door parts that someone locally was getting rig of. Turns out they were insulated horman doors. Wooden fence post, cut into 4 to make the corners and then screwed together. Stuck some treated wood planks round the top and then my wife painted them with some green barn paint. Still going strong in the veg patch!

Look and see what sheet goods you can get on Facebook marketplace for free/cheap.

[danb79]

bobski1 said:

danb79 said:

Good call

Your local run of the mill wood yard will be able to get them for you - Google 'wooden sleepers local to me' and see what it brings up

You want fully pressure treated ones; not ex-railway ones etc - and decent wooden pegs to hold them tight to the ground and connect them to

did you lay them on a base or just straight on the ground? I've got lots of wood laying around which will be useful for the pegs, I plan to put them external so that they are easier to change/swap if they start to go a bit rotten.

Did you apply any treatment on the cut ends?

Straight onto the ground - didn't see the point in laying them down on flags etc. And no treatment either - I've replaced a few pegs; not a hardship. Added extra into a few spots where the sleepers meet and they've moved a bit etc. Other than that, zero issues

What I did do is mark where they were to go and then dug the turf back and laid them onto the soil - that way I could cut an edge to the grass and stop it from growing back up inside the raised bed; which it will do and it's a sod to clear as the root network goes mental

[wolfracesonic]

If you really want them to last, get some reclaimed tropical hardwood sleepers, they’re usually azobe or jarrah, absolute pig to work with and move but will easily outlast any treated softwood ones.
The ones below are 16+ years old and are still in good shape.




If you’re going to double or triple stack them, let them overhang each other like mine, that way you can get your feet closer and don’t have to lean over and bend your knees the wrong way

[LordGrover]

Charles Dowding - he's yer man.
Plenty on the youtubes too.

[Antony Moxey]

Bought some sleepers from a builders' merchant and have laid them on edge, two high. Levelled the ground under the actual sleepers first and screwed them together with 200mm screws. They're not moving. Bought some liner for around the edge and filled the bottom with a couple of layers of newspaper (to kill off the grass they're sat on) and filled with soil/compost/manure. Been there for a couple of years now and work fine for beans, carrots, radishes, beetroot, courgettes, etc, etc.

[48k]

bobski1 said:

Mostly for veg, now the greenhouse is sorted MrsB has gotten a real bug for growing from seed but need some bigger space to put them.

I think I will just go down the sleeper/pallet collar route, clear the area around, lay down cardboard, fill with logs/branches and top with soil.

Any good places to get some solid sleepers which will last?

I got to version 3 of raised veg beds, version 4 will be coming now I've moved house.

Things I learned for me personally over the years
- 6' x 3' and 12" or 18" high is a good size (i got my raised beds as kit online, pressure treated boards not sleepers)
- plastic sheeting / liner was pointless as it traps moisture between the liner and the wood
- make sure you can get all the way around the bed and especially if you have a few together make sure you can get the lawnmower between them
- built-in irrigation is an absolute must. I dug buryable hose in before putting the beds in. Being able to connect a hose to one bed and have all beds water themselves of an evening rather than spending an hour holding a hose over each bed was a game changer.
- another must is a mesh cover / something to keep the beasties off. Version 3 was flexible garden hoops from amazon with mesh clipped on.

I used Quality Garden Supplies for hippo bags of mushroom compost and top soil, it was about 100 quid a bag IIRC.

[Ste-EVo]

wolfracesonic said:

If you really want them to last, get some reclaimed tropical hardwood sleepers, they re usually azobe or jarrah, absolute pig to work with and move but will easily outlast any treated softwood ones.
The ones below are 16+ years old and are still in good shape.




If you re going to double or triple stack them, let them overhang each other like mine, that way you can get your feet closer and don t have to lean over and bend your knees the wrong way

Now they are nice. Some really attractive age to the wood and nice planting too.

[bobski1]

Material on order going to go for 1.2m x 0.6m and 2 off. If it's not enough I should have enough material to make another slightly smaller one.

Now to get on with what I'm filling them with. So far I have

1) lay cardboard to stop ingress of grass/weeds
2) logs and other twigs/branches
3) grass cuttings and leaves/other organic matter
4) compost

Anything missing? anybody got a good recommendation for compost bulk delivery not sure if I need to order half a bulk bag (400kg) or 3-4bags per raised bed?

[48k]

Forget cardboard, it will disintegrate. If you want weed control put weed control fabric in.
Consider in-built irrigation.
Consider how you're going to cover them.
QGS is a decent supplier for bulk compost / topsoil.

[MattyD803]

bobski1 said:

Material on order going to go for 1.2m x 0.6m and 2 off. If it's not enough I should have enough material to make another slightly smaller one.

Now to get on with what I'm filling them with. So far I have

1) lay cardboard to stop ingress of grass/weeds
2) logs and other twigs/branches
3) grass cuttings and leaves/other organic matter
4) compost

Anything missing? anybody got a good recommendation for compost bulk delivery not sure if I need to order half a bulk bag (400kg) or 3-4bags per raised bed?

As for items number 4, you'll want a Compost / Topsoil mix....possibly some manure in there if you wish to grow fruit/veg.

[46and2]

My creation with sleepers and general bodging. Maybe some inspiration for you OP.

[bobski1]

Material all sorted thanks all! I've managed to get a mix of manure, compost & top soil from a local place, all due during the week so can get the area laid out in time for filling.

[Vincecj]

Some raised beds we built a few years ago.