raised beds in new plot

[baz621]

Hi Everyone, i have taken the 2nd part of my allotment,which has been recently given up, it has not been dug for a long time,and going by the work involved, i was wondering what other members thoughts are of putting raised beds on top of the undug ground, saving a lot of work, time and effort

[baz621]

[Robert_Brenchley]

Try lasagna beds, it's less work. If you've got a bad back or you suffer from waterlogging, use raised beds. Otherwise don't bother.

[plainleaf]

lasagna beds take more then two years for plant materiel to break down properly

[manicscousers]

We had to, our ground was waterlogged, built the bed, forked it to get out nasties, cardboard, soil, compost, well rotted muck, everything else we could find, in to our 7th year this year, worked well for us  :)

[grawrc]

Can't say I'm an expert, but my understanding is that you can plant stuff in them (lasagne beds) pretty much straight away, even though it will take time for the whole thing to decompose.

[louise stella]

I sort of did Lasagna beds when I first got my plot, I was weary of digging and needed to try something else.  I layered cardboard, compost, horse muck, shredded paper - anything and everything I could get my hands on.  I grew courgettes in these beds and they were the best I ever grew!  I have gone back to doing this this winter on 2 more beds, the original beds are now all dug in and are very fertile.  They are also relatively weed free!

[antipodes]

Yep, I agree with the lasagna beds. Excellent for greedy crops like courgettes or squash, tomatoes or beans. Cardboard, then layers of grass clippings, leaf mould, compost, manure, anything you can get your hands on. I just made a little space for each plant and planted it out of a pot , with its soil, straight onto the top layer, which I think might have been stable waste! I had excellent courgettes from that and no weeds.
They will rot down over time but that doesn't stop you planting in them! You will see, by next spring, you will hardly be able to tell it was a lasagna bed.

[Ofer]

I think worth looking at the beds flexi raised beds ,
Ours last many years and can not be easier to install.
It is actually recycled plastic material -so no rot etc 8)

We used the 8'' but I know they have up to about 2ft height for bad back or gardener on a wheel chair.

These beds seemed to be more in allotments than garden here is the link


I hope it helps :D

[pumkinlover]

I am thinking of using these to make raised beds -when I have saved up :-\

http://www.kedel.co.uk/

We bought plastic from these to make a gate and it is really good, and nice  folks to deal with.

http://britishrecycledplastic.co.uk/

[digmore]

Have you thought of using used scaffolding planks, the planks are cheap as they no longer used by the trade. Can as cost as little as a £1. a plank, alot cheaper than BQ and timber yards.

Build upto 2-2.6 ft high, fill in1.6ft with fresh or old horse or cow manure, top off with compost/soil mix.

Then leave a couple of weeks to settle and top up with more top dressing and then plant. Top up each year there after.

Digmore

[Deb P]

I still dug when I made my raised beds, but my ground was full of couch and was so bad that it persisted in some covered areas for years. If you haven't got bad weeds it will not be too much effort to make your beds, you don't even need to edge them, the plot will look neater and you will save effort but just cultivating specific areas. What are you planning to use for paths?

[laurieuk]

These are a couple of pictures of my new allotment, it seems the previous person saw a programme about raised beds but did not realise you need to raise the soil so I am now left with a few years weeds growing amongst a lot of pieces of wood. I hope I can soon get it back to an allotment.



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[tonybloke]

looks fertile laurie, and the docks have improved the drainage!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

A lot of people put in raised beds and don't actually raise the soil. They do at least define the bed neatly, and you can raise the level over several years. It's how I'm likely to do it; I do have some soil piles I can use, but most of it's going to come over time by shovelling in organic matter year by year.

[laurieuk]

I am making prgress although it appears slow, we went away for a week and then spent time moving a large load of manure. I have just planted a row of raspberries but took a few photos yesterday as I got a space cleared.The docks have a good root system.


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looks fertile laurie, and the docks have improved the drainage!!

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[gwynleg]

Laurie - its always great to see photos but that does make me want to say 'Take it easy'!

My plot was very similar when I took it on. I found the nettles most difficult - I could get my fork into the roots but couldnt get it out again! I then took on another 5 poles and strimmed it all and put black membrane on it, only pulling it back after a few months and as I was ready to dig. It really weakened the weeds well but it didnt have that many docks......!

I look forward to seeing more photos as you get further on

[Sparkly]

We have raised beds on our main plot, but we dug and cleared the ground first (it was pretty bad; mainly couch, brambles and bindweed). We did have a huge mountain of soil/compost - 22ft x 7ft x about 7ft high so we used this to fill the beds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-AWvz831Kl4

Our raised beds are more for marking areas out and organisation than anything else.

[Plot22]

I can understand putting raised beds in if you have a waterlogged plot or if you have health problems which prevent you digging. From my personal point of view I have never contemplated doing it . I took on a derelict plot 5 years ago broken greenhouse thick weeds etc. Only through hard work from my wife and myself have we now got one of the best on the site. I try to feed 3 families with my produce and to put raise beds in would cut my produce by 20% which would mean less for everyone. It is very much a personal thing but certainly not for me.

[laurieuk]

I fully agree I cannot see how seperate beds can be more productive than a normal plot. With nice straight rows of veg you can run a hoe over the whole plot in next to no time but to hand weed between plants can take a long time.

I can understand putting raised beds in if you have a waterlogged plot or if you have health problems which prevent you digging. From my personal point of view I have never contemplated doing it . I took on a derelict plot 5 years ago broken greenhouse thick weeds etc. Only through hard work from my wife and myself have we now got one of the best on the site. I try to feed 3 families with my produce and to put raise beds in would cut my produce by 20% which would mean less for everyone. It is very much a personal thing but certainly not for me.

[Kea]

On a heavy clay soil I started without raised beds but anything I added to improve the soil just disappeared. Since I put in raised beds the soil is contained, in a new bed I just do a sort of lasagne system once it's overwintered it's ready to start planting. My plot is much more productive now I have raised beds. The surrounding soil you can make pots/bricks (in fact the town is made of bricks from this clay ;D) out of in winter and is like concrete in summer with a bout two weeks in spring when you can dig it.