Raised bed planks

So far I haven't used anything. Just dug the paths and put the soil on the beds. Mine are a bit wider than the norm., and the soil would probably be best used for making bricks!, so I don't have much slide down into the paths (they are in their second year since I dug them).

But it would be nice to have block-paths and properly lined beds with nice acorn-shaped finials on them ...

 

I use tanalised boards 150mm and 22mm in section screwed to 40mm sq x 500mm pegs hammered into the ground at about 1500mm centres. Beds are 1200mm wide so you can reach the middle from each side without treading on the soil, which is the main reason for using beds. You can plant closer than normal and get increased yeild.

As you add compost etc over the years the height of the soil will increase so you will need the height to maximise the growing area and prevent sloping sides.

 

I bought pressure treated timber and got 6 lengths of 3m x 150mm x 47mm delivered to my house for £41.03, which I thought was pretty reasonable. And it's good stuff, too, - not bent like a banana. I just haven't fitted it round my beds yet...

 

"I'll see if I can find some acorn shaped finials too ..."

Now you've gone an done it! I had a look on eBay and they are only just over a quid each ... just got to buy the planks and the pammet blocks now ...

 

I use pallets - the type that people have deliveries on. You can usually pick them up free of charge from building supply places. The thick 3" x 3" i use as posts and the planks as sides. If you spray them with timbercare - they probably last longer, but being cashless, i don't. As the pallets are free, it is not the end of the world replacing the odd piece here and there. I do line them with empty compost bags (which i use for my seedlings so are also 'free' in a way.

I find that i do need to water slightly more often in hot weather but when we have a year like last year they are fantastic. I did not have any problems with blight or flooding as my crops were all in raised beds.

When i build a new raised bed (as i still have room) in its first year i just put manure and cover it to rot down, then go on my local freecycle site to see if anybody has any topsoil.

It might sound terribly cheeky but i am skint and being frugle is what having an allotment is all about!

 

I was in wickes today and they were selling pre-treated railway sleepers for 9.99 each. Though now having worked out how many would be needed it works out as quite expensive. They would make the raised beds look pretty special.
I'm using link-a-board which I bought from Harrod Horticultural which seems to be the cheapest place to buy them. I paid £60 ish for 3 2x1m beds.

 

I used pressure treated gravel boards bought from a local timber merchant. I looked at the same thing in places like Wickes, Travis Perkins and B&Q etc and found that they were all five times the price.

I have them 6" high so two boards in other workds, screwed into swquare pegs on the inside of each corner. I constructed them on the lawn upside down, then carried them over to the final location, flipped them over and hammered them down with a sledgehammer, going round each corner a bit at a time.

I have heard about the idea of preservative chemical leaching inno tthe soil but I must say I haven't noticed ny adverse affect on my veg at all.

Mine are all 4 foot wide and six foot long. It's worth making sure that they are thin enough to reach into the centre as I have never set foot on the soil once and you can really notice the difference in the soil structure. The weeds just lift out with very little pursuading.

Another benefit to the extra height is being able to nail netting supports onto the outside. They are left over picket fence pales, about 4 foot high. Perfect for the brassicas.

 

I used gravel boards too. Timber is treated and lasts ages. I used a bit of untreated timber at the back of one of mine and 3 years later it has rotted through, whereas the main part is fine. I haven't noticed any strange effects that could come from leaching either.