Will my raised bed plan work?

[mlse]

I am in the process of putting in some raised beds in my back garden; I've dug trenches for the footings so far.

My main concern is to keep the cost as low as possible while still achieving an agreeable finish (bearing in mind that my house is not Buckingham Palace, I just want something that looks tidy and OK - I'm not seeking pristine perfection!).

One option would be to build the wall out of 140mm breeze blocks, two blocks high, and paint them, but that will cost a fair bit for the blocks.

My other option, which I thought of just now is to use cheap riven effect patio slabs (which I can get well cheap) and use a concrete infill. This idea is shown in the image below:

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• mlse
• 4 May 2011
• 1

I plan to put decking on the top of the wall to hide the concrete infill and so that it can double as a seating area (the wall will be at sitting height). I'll leave the shuttering where it is because it's going to get filled with earth anyway.

I have a concrete mixer, so mixing up large quantities of concrete is not a problem.

The question is, will it work? If it will, then I think it will be cheaper than using breeze blocks and will look better too. Plus, it will be a good project for me, given as I've never done this before and I will enjoy learning by experience.

EDIT: I intend to put in concrete piers (formed with shuttering) every so often, facing backwards into the soil area, to give the wall added strength (I've dug the trenches for the piers already).

 

[LooPrEvil]

You could make a frame using wooden decking on its edge to retain the soil. Simple solution, and B&Q are currently selling decking for £2 / two metre length.

Raised beds require a lot of soil !!

 

[mlse]

Hiya, thanks for your reply, I had thought of going down the wooden route but [a] it will rot eventually (a concrete or brick solution will last longer) and I won't actually save that much money (if any) in the long run going for the wooden solution over the concrete/brick/breeze block one. Plus I can now use the soil that I've dug out of the footings trench to go in the beds! And I have a concrete mixer anyway so I may as well make use of it.