REALLY RAISED BEDS

HI ALL ;

I just finished building three 2' x 8' x 15" deep beds which are raised completely off the ground on cinder blocks

They were built out of non arsenic pressure treated wood. Before I fill them I want to line the interior with either a couple of layers of a wood preservative, polyuretahne or some type of plastic
sheathing.

Any suggestions ?????????

Thanx

Laska111

This message was edited Mar 9, 2008 9:19 PM

Any good heavy mil plastic will work. Just staple it to the inside sides.

How about some pics. I'd love to see what they look like.

LEE*.*..

It was too dark by the time I was done. I will try in the next day or two

Laska111

i have seen some raised beds in magazines and most of them have some kind of metal wired fram at the bottom of the bed and then a cloth weed blocker over that. claims its good for drainage.

The wire at the bottom is a great idea. Unfortunately, I do not have it in mine and all of them look like the Caddy Shack gophers went crazy in them. I actually have moles and my dachshund is pretty good at catching them. Maybe I'll just pretend they are helping me by aerating the soil? :-)

In my best Crocodile Dundee voice - 'That's not really raised. This is really raised!'

Even used the same thread title! I used cedar.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/468531/

Aquannie,

Actually, if what you have really are moles, they are helping by aerating the soil. They also eat bugs and grubs that you don't want around your plants. Moles are good as they do not eat plants -- gophers and voles are bad because they do.

We don't have moles, gophers or voles here, but we do have some chipmunks. The dogs try to dig them out if they find a chipmunk burrow, so the chipmunks have a tendency to stay in the woods behind the house and not in the yard.

Karen

OK...

Here is a photo of my off the gound raised bed. There are three sections and each is 8 feet long.

Now I have to fill it all up.

BUT first... I need to treat with some preservative and find some sort liner.


Laska1

Here is a second photo showing the details of one of the three sections.

Laska1

VICTOR....

See my really raised bed. I need the height now as I devceloped a herniated disk this past Sept and just won't be able to bend.

Laska1

I sympathize. I have a herniated disk and chronic lower back pain too. Good luck with the project!

laska1, I had a similar setup, lined sides and bottom, and wound up with poor drainage. Proved to be a real problem.

Frank

laska1,

I would think that if you put in a liner it should be porous for drainage. I would just use a wood preservative.

Karen

No wood preservative if you're planning on growing veggies in those. There is always danger of it leaching into your food.

Laska1 Why couldn't you use the polyurethane sealant? I would think that wouldn't affect your plants. It gives that nice shiny gloss and your wood should last awhile. Deanna

For the inside I am leaning towards a plastic liner as suggested by DOCCAT5. I will be drilling a couple of drainage holes in the bottom of each section and I will be inserting a PVC pipe with flange which will be sealed in place with some aquarium cement. For the outside I guess I will be using a polyurethane coat.

NOW to find the right planting medium for veggies. ANY SUGGESTIONS?????


Laska1

After cuttng down a 40 year shade tree with a large area of monkey grass around it this was the solution. Broncbuster, another DGer, brought 4x4x8 timbers and we had a raised bed built, 11x18x21". Lined it with newspaper and cardboard and layers of green, brown, green brown, etc. Let it sit all winter. Recently added 7 cu yds of soil that is a mix of composted soil, Texas green sand, lava sand and compost. Have several things planted. Trailing nasturtium all the way around the inside edge both for covering the sides and to add to salads. 50% was standing about 1" with 2nd set of leaves. Three nights ago we were 27 degrees for about 10 hours, the seedlings are toast. We had 2"s rain in about 3 hours and the peas and beans are washed all over the place. This shall be an interesting time seeing what comes up where.

This is what is under the garden. Broke my heart to loose the tree after 40 years of shade. Life changes and goes on. I, too, have very bad herniated disc and two degenerated disc. Doing lots of pain management to avoid surgery.

Looks nice, Lou. My only concern would be with the width. At 11 feet, you would have to reach in 5 1/2 ft to get to anything in the middle.

you are correct. it was the only way we could manage the tree stump and the monkey grass with a lasagna killout. so far I haven't had a problem. but that remains to be seen.

will be watching this thread for any and all ways others are using their VERY RAISED BEDS.

LouC

I've had mine now for years and everything grows wonderfully. Perfect drainage, early soil warm-up and composted manure all help.

My 16X4 is made from landscape timbers and is 6 years old. It is starting to rot even though it was treated but will at least finish this season without repairs. I am already in to my second planting and love raised beds for ease and cleanliness. I have beans sprouting under the cabbage and radishes everywhere. I also have three 4X4s that are store bought. I'll post their pic below.

Annie in NE Florida

This is a pic of one of my 4X4 store bought raised beds. What I am doing with them is making each one a specialty planting bed. I think they will last a long time as they are made of very heavy plastic. I have three of them with two already planted.

Any suggsestions as to the growing mix that I should use here?? I am planning veggies

Laska1

I just went to Lowes and bought many bags of their vegetable garden mix. It hasn't been cheap but I feel that I will only have to add a tiny amount each new year.I added about the equivalent of two bags of home-made compost and mixed it up. Last night we had a good rain and I swear everything doubled in size. The other little bed is peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes that I started from seed.

Here are some pictures of the beds I just built in my GH. Can't wait the see some green in them.

Keith

Wow - very nice, Keith.

Those are very nice, Keith. Just keep building up your own compost and you won't have to buy any more from the big box stores. LOL
We do raised bed but without the sides. Just to difficult to move things when I want them moved. We're also working with a Troybult rototiller, so setting up a raised bed is not a big deal. LOL

fourks- beautiful setup... you going to sit in that chair all winter?

Aquannie- Where did you get your store bought raised beds? Are they expensive? Can you connect beds together to make a larger one? I think they are a great idea... portable, longevity, inexpensive - I hope!

LOL! plutodrive must know what the winters are like in co. yes, I've been sitting in that chair staring at the dirt! Not much longer though.

Lots of work to do on the soil I spent $400.00 for! 2000 red wigglers and lots of table scarps should help. This fall a trip down the hill for leaf theft!!!

You guys have been this lurkers inspiration!

The store bought units came from Gardeners Supply and are supposedly an exclusive to them. They are called a grow bed. When you don't want to or can't haul and cut lumber and want to assemble in two minutes, they are tremendous. They weren't cheap (around $45, but will pay for themselves in longevity and are easy to use. As in all things, they are great for some and not so great for others. For me, I would have never had three beds up and running in less that two hours any other way.

Aquannie- thx for the info on the beds. If it is less expensive to go with wood I'll probably head in that direction but am going to check them out anyway.

fourks- the winters here are mild compared to Illinois where I'm from. But I think winter is worse at your elevation! I see you have gotten some info from the RMG threads... I've learned a ton from those guys!

Several years ago DH built some raised beds for our garden using wood from a deck that had been torn down years before. I'm planning to add more raised beds to our garden and am wondering what kind of wood to purchase. I know there's a possibility of contaminants leaching into the ground when using pressure treated lumber. What type of wood are you all using?

Our timbers were used when we got them and are solid oak, not treated. Soo hard it took a chain saw to cut them.

Here is a picture 3 days ago. Mitch, another DGer brought he springs for the pole beans. Supposed to have a freak cold spell tonight and get to 37 degrees. Hope it doesn't kill the seedlings. Will have to cover the peppers and tomatoes.

This was an unexpected project with several good side effects. #1 the bunnies don't jump that high or climb. Our new puppy that likes to dig doesn't get into it either.

LouC

Does your Beds have drainage holes in the bottom or on the sides? Paul

The sides are not tight. It can drain to the bottom as this was a lasagna gardening project. It is not sealed anywhere.

Christi

Okay, so mine really aren't raised beds. I guess they are containers, but they are raised. I'm having some many problems with rabbits (they're only bunnies when they are cute) that I can't grow anything that a rabbit will eat on the ground. They are even nipping the tops on my green onions! I transplanted lettuce (started in Jiffy Pellets) into the boxes today.

The boxes are 5"x5"x5 feet and filled with a generic potting mix. They are made from cedar fence boards. I will hang them on the north side of my cattle panel hoop house once it gets a little warmer.

I left the ears of the fence boards (used for box ends) long so that I could drape frost cloth over the bins. I don't know how well the lettuce will take the cold off the ground, but hopefully I be able to save some from the rabbits.

David

Sure hope it works. Looks like the solution to numerous problems.

Christi

addendum to last year's post above. Have since had four disk fusions in my lower back and the puppy is now a dog and jumps in the raised garden.

David--they look good! Ought to look really nice hanging from the fences.
Debbie