Raised bed material

[Schroeder]

What is the best thing to use for raised vegetable beds? I'm afraid to use treated lumber because of concern for leaching chemicals. Cedar and redwood are very expensive in the midwest. The cost for two 2 x 10 x 12's, enough for an 8 ft bed, is $75 to $100. If that isn't bad enough, I just read that cedar may last in the ground for only 2 to 3 years. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[journey11]

Around here you can buy a truckload of rough cut lumber straight from the sawmill for about $300. Most of the boards are very wide, and would last long enough to be well worth it, plus you'd have lots of leftovers for other projects. Might be something to look into....

Another option might be salvaged lumber from old barns.

ETA: Treated lumber is definitely toxic and will be absorbed by your plants. It's not even recommended for a child's sandbox.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I've never done it, but on DIY, (i love that channel) i've seen them line the box on the inside with water proof material. It seems like that might keep the chemicals from leaching into the vegetables.

 

[vfem]

I went on craigslist and asked for FREE old deck boards or 2x6s. I got a few truck loads for nothing. After several years of sunbleaching the treatment on the boards don't matter. I then stained and sealed them on the outside only after I built my raised to protect them from weathering.

Turned out my raised beds were free... but I did buy truck loads of compost to fill them with at $20 a load... total cost $80.

 

[digitS']

Schroeder, I've used old cedar fence boards for raised beds. The fence boards must have been over 20 years old and they lasted another 5 years or so in the ground.

The growing season is fairly short here and that must lengthen the usefulness of board in ground contact. Still, the soil in these beds was fertile and, essentially, kept moist for 12 months out of the year by rain, snow, and irrigation.

My gardens are mostly in 4' beds but I no longer use anything to contain the soil.

Steve

 

[vfem]

Look for people giving away old brick or stone if you want to try for something even more stable. Some people give those away or at least broken one's from all kinds of places. Look for remodel jobs and new build jobs... check craigslist!

 

[lesa]

I have a regular "flat" garden...Then I heap dirt up in rows/mounds. So my veggies are raised, great for drainage and my walkways get nice and packed down.

 

[Greg R.]

If you want that really neat look for your raised beds then line them with a material.
Myself I don't care what it looks like only care about the performance of what I'm growing.
Would I like some nice stone or something around them all? Sure. But financially long ago I decided I'd rather spend my money else ware so why not go with out? It's definetly a personal decision.

Is side material necessary to have raised beds? Absolutely not.

I've had them now for years and it works just fine mounding your dirt up.
Eventually the sides get hard.
When I work more compost in I keep the shovel about 4 inches away from the side and my row sides stay firm.

I agree with the Craigslist comment. Wait long enough, plan ahead for your up coming projects.
You can get a lot of materials off Craigs for free.

God has been very good to us providing for our needs for projects we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

 

[digitS']

I no longer have boards around my beds but I'd never have "permanent" dirt walls around the beds either, Greg. I must have garden soil with more gravel than dirt. Gravel isn't a stable wall material.

What I could do is sieve out all that gravel . . . . . . nah.

Nearly all of the beds are cultivated each year with the spading fork. I have a little clean-up of the permanent paths after that and that's about it.

In one garden, I use the spading fork but the rototiller has been used in there fairly regularly every year. I just expect that there's going to be quite a bit of shovel work in the paths each spring to get that garden back in shape.

Neither the shovel nor the tiller is my friend. Someone once said a gardener needs a cast iron back, with a hinge. The spading fork can be used very effectively without EVER LIFTING any soil. Beds that have not been walked on, even where you do not have frames around them, are easy-peasy to cultivate to the full 11" of the tines.

A spading fork and permanent paths are very helpful in gardening .

Steve

 

[patandchickens]

What Greg and Steve said. Unless you are trying to build something wheelchair accessible, or sumpin' like that, there is no reason to have boards or anything around there. Just pile the dirt up. It will stay pretty well, and be easily correctable when it starts to slouch.

With no boards or rocks around there, there's nothing for slugs to hide under, and nothing for weed roots (lawn grass, etc etc) to tuck itself under so's to become hard to pull out.

Glossy magazine photos have done a grave disservice to people contemplating raised-bed gardening, IMHO, both by convincing too many people that a 12" raised bed is the only way to go, and by convincing too many people that the best thing is to have yours look like theirs. Remember, magazine photos are designed to sell magazines, not necessarily grow plants optimally

Good luck, have fun,

Pat