Small wall for veg bed questions

[bucephalus]

Hello, a couple of years ago I laid out a small (8x8ft) raised bed for growing veg in. One layer of bricks below soil level, then two more layers above ground. I was going to cement it but didn't bother in the end and it worked out ok. I'm thinking of doing it properly now and have a couple of questions.

There's no hardcore at the moment, so I was wondering if I'd be able to use a load of stones (probably 1-5cm in size)? I got them from sieving the soil for the veg patch, so they're just average garden stones. I also have a load of broken terracotta pots but they get damaged by frost so they're probably no use.

Second questions is, I've got a bag of postcrete leftover so was wondering if I could use that for the mortar?
The wall is only holding a few inches of soil back and would only be 2 bricks high above ground, so doesn't need to be particularly strong.

Thanks for any help!

 

[stuart45]

Might have to work a bit quick if you use Postcrete for the mortar.

 

[Doggit]

Don't even think of using the postcrete. I watched someone try and mix a pack up in a bucket before pouring it into the hole, and he couldn't even pour it out of the bucket after he'd finished mixing it; it's designed to be poured into water in the hole, and it'll then go off damned quick, but having said that, I did have a mental breakdown one day, and poured the postcrete in first, and then the water. I used a stick to do a quick mix, and it worked okay, so you might be able to make a 3 inch trench below the level of the bottom course of bricks, tamp the earth down, mix the stones broken pots into the postcrete and lay that into the trench, and then pour on the water. Using the stones and the broken pots with the postcrete will give you a form of concrete with ballast in it, and should be sufficient for three courses of bricks.

 

[bucephalus]

Thanks for the replies. I might conduct a test of a foot or so doing what you said about pouring water on last. This could be a laugh. I think I'll be off to buy some cement at the weekend though.

 

[DIYNotIan]

Hi there

I'm also going to be making a raised veg patch with bricks (sloping ground, so two bricks high at the highest point, 3-4 bricks high at the lowest point).

Unfortunately I can't offer any advice as I'm a complete novice with a helpful dad. But I would be interested to hear/see how you get on. So please do come back with updates

Cheers and good luck.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

You use stepped foundations. Dig out a series of deep steps. You will need form work to get the top of each step horizontal. Fill the lowest area first at the "uphill"end, make sure you have a depression. One way is to nail a spacer of 1/2" thick wood inside between the two side planks at the "uphill" end. When this has cured, pull out the wood and repeat for the next highest step, with an overlap so the next step up sits over the depression, so when the concrete has cured, this step is stopped from going done the slope by the little depression. If you are clever you make the height of each step 3" or 6" (a multiple of the brick thickness). This is so once you have put bricks on one level they will line up with the next step up.
Mortar is soft sand, cement and a plasticiser (makes the mixture like margerine), so when you tap a brick down, the mortar squeezes out under it, without a plasticiser, tapping a brick down just squeezes out a drop of water then the mortar goes solid. You can use a teaspoonful of washing up liquid in a bucketful of mortar, but you have to remix it between every brick or two.
Frank