Making a raised vegatable bed for a novice

Hi, I am wanting to grow some veg and was thinking of a raised bed but don't know where to start.

All my garden is grassed so I thought the best idea would be a raised bed? What do I need to use for a border, how big does it need to be and how deep? is it just a case of putting a border on the grass and filling it full of compost over the grass?

Does it need full sunlight and what do you suggest planting in september/October? What do I need to grow so I have something growing all the time so when I harvest 1 veg, another can be planted straight after it.

Don't want to spend loads on making it because as well of pruducing home grown veg I want to make it cheaper than buying from my local supermarket.

Sorry guys I am totally new to this so please accept my lack of knowledge and I am grateful for any help and advice you can give me to get started.

Keith

 

Hi Keith.

For what it's worth, when I wanted a couple of 'cheap as chips' raised beds, I went to Wickes and bought two packs of their 1.8m x 144mm x 18mm planed square-edged timber (5 in a pack for about £17) and a length of what passes these days for 2" x 2". I made 2 beds each 1.8m long, 2 boards high (i.e. roughly 10") and the remaining board from each pack, I cut into quarters to make the sides, screwed the whole lot together using the 2" x 2" on the internal corners then slapped some of the cheapest preservative I could find on both the inside and outside. Not sure if the preservative would 'leach' into the soil, I lined the inside of the sides with some old compost bags. Considering the height of my beds, I didn't bother doing anything with the grass underneath - if you chose to make yours less tall, you might want to think about removing the grass (which you could compost).

That said - a raised bed (well mine anyway because they were so deep), meant a lot of compost which, if you're going to buy it, is going to cost ... big time.

You can make a perfectly good raised bed from something like a single height of scaffold boards, but in that case you would need to remove the grass.

The size can be whatever you want it to be, but the 'rule of thumb' is, make it only as wide as you can comfortably reach i.e., if you're going to be able to get at it from both sides, then you should be able to reach just over half-way across from each side (I hope that makes sense) - if you're only going to be able to reach from one side then .... well, I guess the width will be determined by how long your arms are!!

As for needing full sun - well, most things grow better when not in very deep shade, but most will tolerate some shade and although I was always taught that veggies should be planted with rows orientated North/South so that they get the benefit of the sun as it passes from East to West, my current garden doesn't allow for this and I haven't noticed any appreciable difference.

What to plant? If you're making a 'single height' bed (i.e. say with a scaffold board), and assuming you'll have removed the grass and broken up the soil a bit, you can, if you're quick, plant some 'autumn potatoes', not only will they help break up the soil but they should be ready to harvest in time for your Christmas lunch, you can also sow Spring cabbage, radish, winter/spring lettuce, although at this end of the year (depending on where you are in the country) you might want to check out a local garden centre for 'ready to plant' plants rather than thinking of seeds and the possible need for cloches.

Others will be along with much better advice than I can offer on consecutive planting.

 

Hi, I just built 3 raised bed gardens, I spent quite a bit of cash on mine because they are a long term project but if you check out "you tube" you will find loads of ideas ( some are really silly so look for the sensible ones)
From what I have seen if you can get straw/hay and some manure, wood chips or saw dust (not to much) plus paper etc you hsvr your compost , you can build a base from anything e.g stones, bricks, tyres, of course wood. You get the idea. and if you leave it to over winter to compost down you can grow some great crops without spending £100.00 plus on commercial compost and topsoil.
By the way it is by far the best way to garden IMHO.
Hope this helps.

PS
you will need a minimum of 150mm of soil/compost.

 

Thanks for that its a great help and I am going to go with this idea, just one other question, what will be the cheapest way of filling them with compost as it seems to be quite expensive.

Keith

 

These 2.4m decking boards might be a cheap source of edging board, working out at £2 each on the 3 for 2 offer (83p/metre), but they're not on B&Q's website so you can't get additional cashback by ordering online.



The cheapest way to fill raised beds with topsoil is to dig it out from where you're going to walk around the perimeter, then fill that back up with any old rubbishy clay, harcore, etc. that's only fit to walk on.

 

Keith, why do you want a RAISED veg garden. What is wrong with a cheaper, more productive, traditional veg garden?

 

Good point, I thought a raised bed would be easy and tidy, also the grass is so tough to dig up, its really hard and rooty even when wet, also I don't know what to do with the excess soils and grass that needs to come out, also it seems too nans stones are in the soil and being a total novice I am not too sure that veg will grow in normal soils, if you can point me in the right direction then this could be the road I go down, I do apologise for not being very knowledgeable in this field but if its a cheaper option I am interested as money is tight and this is the point of me growing my own veg as well as the sence that I've eaten something I've grown.

Keith

 

If it is a raised bed you want, another cheap option are wood "slabs" from your nearest timber mill, these are the edges of the logs when they square them up before processing. I've made a number of raised beds at home so that my wheelchair bound partner is able to garden too. These lengths of timber cost 10p per foot.








To fill them up cheaply you have various options, one as mentioned already by scrungee, another is to find a local stables who will probably be glad to get rid of horse manure for free if you collect it (make sure its well rotted), another is to collect and make your own compost heap, maintain that and fill your bed next spring ready for planting then. By collect I dont just mean your own garden/kitchen waste but ask your neighbours if you can have their waste too and compost all of it. The first pic above is is filled with free well rotted horse manure that I collected.

If you dont need a raised system then as Dai says just dig straight into the ground, its proably compacted which is why it appears to be hard. Strip the turf off with a spade, stack the turf in a corner of the garden, grass to grass and soil to soil and in a couple of years you'll have a nice stack of free loam. Dig over the newly exposed soil with a fork and as you turn the lumps of soil bash it with the fork side to side to help break it down roughly, discard larger stones into another corner of the garden for later use. If its dryish then wet it and bash it again..it'll eventually break down and in future seasons will become easier to work. You can still add well rotted manure and or your own home made compost to this ground level bed.

Hope this helps

Steve...

 

thank you Steve R, I really like your idea and looks attractive too, a couple of questions if you don't mind answering please, how do you get the wood to sit on top of one another and fasten it all together? also your beds look lined, why is this necessary and if I need to line them, what do you use? also do you suggest a maximum length/size because, if you go too big the weight of the soil/compost will cause it to split the wood or bend the panels or is it necessary to strengthen them, does the wood need treating with paint, stain or varnish beforehand?

thank you
Keith

 

In the first two photo's above, I used straight edge pieces so that they would sit on top of each other, the last photo they where not straight...so they overlapped each other. To fix the boards I drove stakes into the ground and screwed the boards to the stake. The stakes where from recycled pallets, so free apart from the effort of collecting/dismantling them. I've not painted or preserved them in anyway and I lined them with old compost bags to help keep both soil and water in them and to stop wet soil coming into direct contact with the timber.

Steve...

 

Keith, you may be interested in square foot gardening. There is a very good book available called All New Square foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew which you should be able to get from your local library. Basically, the system is based on square foot planting. I have some information about this . If interested pm me.
Bill

 

Keith while doing a search for sq foot gardening I came across this link:
www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/general-gardening-discussion-6973-interesting-concept-html

 

Hi.bill, I've pm you, the link does not work that you posted.

Keith

 

Here's the link posted by thepict...

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/general-gardening-discussion/6973-interesting-concept.html

Welcome to GC Bill..

Steve...

 

Hi, I have by chance just received delivery of the new square foot garden book. I am keen to investigate the system. However if you look on "you tube" you will find some disasterous looking plots, and I have yet to see one that stands up to the pictures in the book.