Raised beds.

I am new to gardening, I am going to build some raised beds, probably out of sleepers, that are going to be about 3 foot high, my question is should I put a membrane in the bottom or would they be better without, to allow worms in.

 

have you seen the price of sleepers, plus the cost of top soil.

 

I know the price of sleepers but myself and my wife have bad backs and also a dog that likes to eat plants.

 

A cheaper alternative to sleepers would be 6 x 2in tanalised - £9 for a 4m length from our local sawmill.
I wouldn't bother with a membrane although worms would still find their way in if you did
You can usually partially fill a raised bed with soil from surrounding paths, replacing with woodchip, limestone or gravel on a membrane to give clean, dry, access.
I would phone around for topsoil, the 'best' stuff in a big bag can be £70 / tonne but I get it from a local supplier at £10 / tonne collected. You can put all kinds of rough compostible material in the bottom as well
Good luck with the project

 

sleepers ooze poison from their presevation treatment.

make sure you can reach both sides and leave room for access.

Go with Lovage suggestions but if you have bad backs you will need someone to help.

 

Hi Kakys,

Have a look in my pictures(click on my name), i have some raised beds here, love them, mine are made out of hemlock, now i dont know if its available over in England, it was quite pricey here, but it loves the rain and weathers well.

As for the soil, i had some screened "filler" soil dropped off to fill half, and the other half was filled with the good soil.

The big thing is to get untreated wood, so nothing leaches into your soil, and affecting your plants, and possibly you, good luck, and i'd love to see some pics when its done.

 

Just a little point, I'm not in England, I'm in wales.

 

I've never heard of hemlock as a wood, so probably not available here.

 

I may go with the 6x2 but I thought sleepers would last longer and be more of a feature, also I think I have seen untreated sleepers for sale. Would tanalised wood be ok to grow veg in.

 

It's generally thought that the newer timber treatments are quite safe as they don't leach into the soil

 

Ooops:dh:, i just assumed and since you didnt put your location on your profile.....anyhoooo, good luck with whatever you decide :thumb:

 

I think I'll go for the 6x2, going down the timber merchants now.

 

We get Hemlock in from time to time, and I really love the smell of it as it goes through the sawmill. It's a very underrated wood, that goes as hard as nails. You are a very luck lady.

BTW.. I have a sister who lives at Malpas. You certainly have some stunning scenery and fantastic places to visit in your area.

 

You are very correct Eddie, in that hemlock is an underrated wood.

 

Yes there are some stunning places to visit, pity it's raining most of the time though.