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We're building a 4x12 raised bed veggie garden and we're thinking of options for the wall of the bed. We do not want to use lumber since it rots pretty quickly. Retaining wall blocks are a bit more costly than the Frame It All solution ( Home Depot & Walmart carry these). Anyone have experience putting these in? How do they hold up after some years? We have a sloping yard- how much of a difference will that make?
We just build the raised bed as a pile without anything around it. It's cheaper, less work, and believe it or not, except for a little erosion at the edge, the bed isn't going anywhere if you don't put wood around it.
We just build the raised bed as a pile without anything around it. It's cheaper, less work, and believe it or not, except for a little erosion at the edge, the bed isn't going anywhere if you don't put wood around it.
For how long have you had the bed that way?? Wouldn't erosion be a bigger problem in some time?
I've been building and using raised beds for several years now. If you use hard woods and use 2x8's approx., they will take some time to rot. The most important thing is to place them on top of the soil level. Don't bury them even a little bit. I'm learning just recently to pull the raised bed with a hoe first as if I'm not going to put a frame on it, and then put the frame atop that. The drainage factor performs even better this way. Make sure the area you've prepared is a level platau (i don't know how to spell that word lol) so when you construct the frame overtop it still will take the medium you'll be supplying to make your bed Perfect.
If you visit your local lumber mill and ask them for 2nd quality agriculture timbers to build raised beds, sometimes they will have 14' 2x8 Oak timbers for a relative deal, considering how much they could be! They may have some knots in them etc. Hey, maybe they'll last longer with those than without.
Last edited by Lettuce Eat; 05-02-2008 at 08:59 AM..
Reason: forgot that part about the level plateu (sp?)
For how long have you had the bed that way?? Wouldn't erosion be a bigger problem in some time?
I guess you could call it erosion but we're talking about a backyard garden, not the Grand Canyon. You have to do a little work on your garden anyway, especially in the spring, right?
We just kick the edges back in and pack it down with our foot, make it look a little neater. When you add your compost, manure or mulch the bed gets taller and replaces soil that got washed away after a storm. Plant roots and surface mulch help hold the bed together. Dirt is heavy. It doesn't like to go anywhere. If you have a raised bed in wood, some soil will leak out the corners or splash over the edges when it rains hard.
The economics are: 1) you spend $200 making a cute wooden raised bed to get $200 worth of veggies, 2) you spend X hours fussing with the garden bed when you could be making $25/hour doing something else with your time.
Raised bed kits are a modern marketing concept. Other than getting a certain look, or feeling that you're doing it the "right" way you don't really need them to have a successful garden.
Our neighbors don't have any kind of border around their veggie garden, and it does fine, as far as I know. We decided to use up some of the millions of rocks that our land generates (we joke that we have a rock farm, not a horse farm! ) and lined our garden with those. It looks lovely and natural. I realize not everybody has natural resources on their property, but maybe you could find somebody who has a bunch of rocks to give away, like we do! You can find the oddest things on Craigslist.
I think the decision to use a raised bed or not would depend on your soil. If you live in a new development here on the east coast with clay soil, it may be worth the time and expense of bringing in some good soil and making a raised bed. If you are in an older home (and landscape) with good soil, you can maybe get away with the soil you have with some compost mixed in.
I've been building and using raised beds for several years now. If you use hard woods and use 2x8's approx., they will take some time to rot. The most important thing is to place them on top of the soil level. Don't bury them even a little bit. I'm learning just recently to pull the raised bed with a hoe first as if I'm not going to put a frame on it, and then put the frame atop that. The drainage factor performs even better this way. Make sure the area you've prepared is a level platau (i don't know how to spell that word lol) so when you construct the frame overtop it still will take the medium you'll be supplying to make your bed Perfect.
If you visit your local lumber mill and ask them for 2nd quality agriculture timbers to build raised beds, sometimes they will have 14' 2x8 Oak timbers for a relative deal, considering how much they could be! They may have some knots in them etc. Hey, maybe they'll last longer with those than without.
If you use Internet Explorer 7 you can install this add-in and it will underlined misspelled words in red. If you right-click the word it will give the correct spelling. Click on the correct spelling and it will change the word you typed. I am so spoiled that i can't live without this. It also helps those of us cannot type or spell.
Windows Marketplace: Product details for ieSpell (http://tinyurl.com/yxp9jq - broken link)
I have to admit to some embarrassment here. I use Firefox but I went to IE7 and downloaded this add on to test it and can't get it to work. Not sure why, as all the reviews have been excellent for this product.
Ok, it's a duh on my part. It works differently than the one for Firefox. With this one you type everything then click on the ieSpell icon it adds to your toolbar to do the spell check.
Last edited by Tek_Freek; 05-04-2008 at 11:03 AM..
The economics are: 1) you spend $200 making a cute wooden raised bed to get $200 worth of veggies, 2) you spend X hours fussing with the garden bed when you could be making $25/hour doing something else with your time.
That makes a lot of sense, thanks! This is my first raised garden, and it just makes so much sense that I shouldnt be spending more than what I will get out of the garden anyway.
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2x8 Agri. Timbers
) and lined our garden with those. It looks lovely and natural. I realize not everybody has natural resources on their property, but maybe you could find somebody who has a bunch of rocks to give away, like we do! You can find the oddest things on Craigslist. 
