Tips on Building Raised Bed Frames
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SunnyBunny
Joined: Mar-09-2004
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Aug-28-2004 at 9:18am
Hello, I am going to build a bunch of raised beds. I was wondering if anyone had experience with the interlocking devices that are supposed to make this easier. I see that this would be a good idea to use these devices because you could change configurations etc more easily.
Minimum depth should be 18 inches? Previously I had raised beds for ornamental plants and used a product that was recycled it worked okay but the boards were thin and had a tendency to bow out. I want to put the crushed rock between the beds to keep down weeds etc..
Thanks for all the tips. Here is the link for the raised bed gardens.
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Sep-02-2004 at 10:48pm
Here is another idea for raised beds, probably cheaper than interlocking blocks. Use 8x6x16 cement blocks. Our veggie garden is on a hillside, and we terraced it. One wall is 3 blocks high, which places the veggies at an optimum height for easy care. a smaller bed is only one block high and 40 ft long by 4 feet wide. Once the block are filled with soil they do not move. I have found the centers of the cement block make great individual containers to grow garlic and basil, both of them love having warm roots. And yes, if you want to change your raised bed it is much less work than moving wood forms, and, of course, cement blocks do not rot.
Carol
Red Hare
Location: Oregon coast
Posted: Sep-09-2004 at 2:54pm
What a great idea! I wish I'd thought about it when I built my two raised beds. I HATE to spend money on something, knowing I'll have to turn around in a few short years and do it all over again. When my wood frames finally rot, I'll see about replacing them with concrete block.
I used plain wood 2x12s. The lumber yard cut them for me, and I drilled them and screwed them together with stainless screws. This is their 3rd or 4th year and they're holding up well.
Oh, and if you use wood, be sure NOT to use pressure-treated or wolmanized or otherwise treated wood. If you plant edibles in the raised beds or nearby, you don't want those chemicals entering your food chain.
tommyb
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Sep-10-2004 at 3:14pm
Sunny Bunny I love the raised bed article you have linked to--except for the major bite out of my chocolate and plant budget. It is way too plastic for me but I'll wager the system would work very well. If you know a welder the connectors could be made up fairly easily. I've used "pecky" cedar as my bed building material for years, spiked with gutter nails and anchored with 3/8 inch rebar.
Growsherown and Trav bring up very good points and the real issue has always been: what is available and looks good to me. To paraphase growsherown, "It's your garden, be yourself".
Tom
cjmiller
Location: Oregon, Willamette Valley
Posted: Sep-24-2004 at 5:53pm
Tommyb, I love rebar and concrete reinforcing wire for props and instant trellis in the garden. and they are reusable. When my dear husband was ready to put in the cement drive, the beans were climbing up the reinforcing wire. --"I didnt think you were going to use it this year?" He was so impressed that he built a proper sturdy trellis frame, and we have been using that system for probably 8 years,
Carol
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Sep-29-2004 at 6:49am
After ten plus years with them, a few things to consider when building raised beds:
· Choose your wood or whatever material (see treated wood thread).
· On clay soils be sure to use a wood (cedar, etc.) with well-known weather resistance. Fir won’t last ten years in wet clay.
· You might also tack a 2x2 board on the bottom to sacrifice to the wet clay (also a great idea on a cold frame).
· Think about the height based upon your age—like add 6” for each decade over 40.
· Use deck screws to fasten the boards; nails just to tack the parts together before you use the screws.
· Place your end boards between the sideboards to add 3” of width compared to 3” of length the other way. I gain almost 5% more sq footage with my 14 foot long lumber.
· I have found that 2x12 lumber can be fastened in just the corners up to about 14 feet long beds with 4x4 braces inside the four corners. With a longer bed, I think you will need to add some bracing at the mid point to prevent the board from sagging when you put pressure on it; say while forking over the soil.
· STRONGLY consider using hardware cloth or aviary wire on the bottom to keep out moles and other ground varmints. My choice of chicken wire didn’t last 3 years. Robert Kourik even recommended extending the wire bottom 12-18 inches beyond the bedsides. Not a bad idea as moles will harvest your worms below the wire and push the dirt upward outside the sides of the bed frame. (Very hard to find a run to trap in)
· Think about your paths; mulched, cover crops, weed fabric with rock mulch etc. (One Portland area gardener used the fabric and rock to keep out the moles. I guess that say 3 inches of rock on top of the fabric might convince the mole that it was under concrete and push the dirt elsewhere.)
· Age comes in on the paths too. Soft on the knees may not be very mobile for your electric wheel chair.
· Width of the paths also needs to consider how you will work on the beds. Wheelbarrow, cart, etc. will need to fit. So will a lawn mower if you have a cover crop path.
· Use drip irrigation from the beginning. Why water the paths?
· Build movable supports for your tall crops like peas, beans, tomatoes, etc.
· Consider which direction will be the long dimension of the beds. Mine run east/west so a tall crop can grow down a long side and not shade many crops or purposely shade lettuce in the rest of the bed.
Enough for now but if something else comes to mind I’ll add it.
Gary
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton