Making a raised bed

[morpheus83uk]

I am looking at making a raised bed which will be staked into the ground. Does anyone know what sort of wood would be best for this since its going to have direct contact with the ground?

I have also been looking at getting wood talanised if needed from here

http://www.tanalisedtimber.co.uk/

I am also thinking that getting some wood and making my own stakes maybe cheaper but II am unsure how I would do this with a thick piece of wood.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

James

 

[scooby1]

Certainly tanalised rather than railway sleepers IMHO. There is a theory about creosote damage to plants from sleepers and so I don't use them. The problem with tanalised is that some is rubbish and some isn't. If the timber is tanalised when it's wet it doesn't take the chemical in enough. Find a local timber yard and assuming that you have decided what size you want try and find out how good the tanalising is. With regard to stakes I use site pegs but also use offcuts of tanalised 4x2 fencing rail in the corners and fire some hefty screws in with an impact driver. In addition to this I staple thick plastic bags on the inside of the timber to reach from the top to the bottom and then go underneath the bottom to the outside of the bed. They can be hidden pretty well and it keeps most of the soil away from the timber for a few years so for a few pence they last that much longer.

 

[morpheus83uk]

Thanks for that.

I will have a look round wicks and see what timber they have for my needs to give me an idea as I have a place near me which can do the treatment. When you say site pegs do you mean these:

https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/Sawn-Timber-Pointed-Pegs-47-x-50mm-x-0-6m /p/104015

So it doesn't really matter what timber I use as long as I get it tanalised?

Thanks

James

 

[scooby1]

It rather depends on where you are but I personally use a timber yard but compare prices from anywhere. If you are going to get the timber treated yourself remember that the dryer it is the better. Those are site pegs but how high are your raised beds going to be ? You need to have them in the ground a fair bit depending how much soil the beds are going to hold. If you can get them larger in cross section then so much the better. What size of timber had you considered using for the beds ? You can just see the plastic on the ends of these beds.

 

[r896neo]

If you're going higher than 2 sleepers use 4" posts concreted into a small hole and screw into those

 

[scooby1]

If you're going higher than 2 sleepers use 4" posts concreted into a small hole and screw into those

Would agree with that.

 

[morpheus83uk]

Thanks for that I am not too sure yet I will be going to the local timber yard which is just round the corner (literally) to have a chat and get a quote. I haven't really thought of the size as I think the current ones are too big since they are not used to their full extent. I am going to sort out the clay in the ground first before starting as that needs shifting first but I would like to have something ready built to go in when ready.

I will call at B&Q for some of that plastic sheeting too as that looks like a good idea to keep the wood preserved for longer and I will be getting the timber treated myself I will drop it off and leave it to dry before doing anything with it anyway as I don't want it rotting like the current one.

I will also have a look for something a bit bigger in cross section as you suggest as they are going to be a fair length.

Thanks for all the help guys.

James

 

[martinfd]

I built 4 raised beds about a year ago using pressure treated lengths of decking boards which just happened to be on offer at B&Q. As it happens I quite like the look of the grooves from the decking on the side of the raised beds! I then treated them with a product called Eco-Wood which I found here:

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/eco-wood-treatment-pid8674.html

I didn't bother with plastic, between the pressure treatment and the eco-wood I figure they'll last long enough.

Mine are 2.4m x 1.2m, and 240mm high (two lengths of the decking board). Each bed has 6 legs of 47x50mm set about 300mm into the ground. Once they're filled with soil they are going NOWHERE - no need to cement.

I've also used some plastic pipe to create simple loops to hang bird netting over them. I can post some photos in the morning if you're interested.

 

[morpheus83uk]

Yeah some pictures would be good, they are currently decked boards I have now and I know what you mean they do look nice I am just looking for ideas and help at this stage so the more pictures the better .

Thanks

James

 

[LeadFarmer]

Ive used scaffold plank sized boards from BnQ for raised beds which have been fine. I built them up then hammered stakes into the ground in each internal corner, then screwed through the bards into the stakes. Concrete would last longer for the stakes though and prevent the boards moving over time.

 

[martinfd]

Ok, I was slightly wrong, there are 8 legs per raised bed.

2400 x 1200 x 240 above ground, length of the legs into the ground is approx 150. Cheapish decking board for sides, 47x50 lengths used for the legs. I wasn't being overly precise when I made these, I attached the legs to the 2400 lengths then got someone to help by holding the short lengths in place whilst I screwed them on. Quite a lot of screws in the end but much quicker to do it that way than nail it I thought!

On the inside I used some pipe clips which some short sections of plastic pipe (the black ones you can see in the photos). There's two clips per pipe section, the pipes were cut to about 200 I then bought 50m of thinner plastic piping, and cut those to length, to act as supports for netting. They're cut to a length approx twice the width of the raised bed - I found that was enough to push them securely into the black pipes and a little into the earth below, and it left enough for a good arch above. If I was doing it again, I'd probably make them longer to compensate for the amount lost down the sides and make the raised arch higher. The white piping was bought in a large coil, and actually the coil in the pipe was useful for forming the right shape.

I also bought some small eyelet screws to serve as hooks for the net and screwed them to the inside of the of the raised beds (the eyelet screws were a stupid choice, I had to bend them all open to make the gap big enough to work as a hook - but they were much cheaper than proper hooks!)

 

[LeadFarmer]

I even put copper piping around the tops of my raised bed frames to deter slugs. I would pretend to visitors that it was a hot water heating system to help the plants grow, with the pipes being plumbed into my boiler.

You can see the copper pipes in this photo..