Raised bed material

[colin]

Hello

Soil quality is very important for raised bed gardening: The better the soil is, the lower the bed can be. Poor soils require that beds be at least a foot above the ground level to allow for a base layer of gravel and sand to increase drainage. If your property has serious drainage problems hiring a contractor to help you plan your garden is a wise move.
Then fill the bed containers with soil. If you live where soils are clay or otherwise heavy, lighten them by mixing in some sand and organic matter first. Buying premixed potting or topsoil soil that contains a good balance of sand, peat, and organic matter is the easiest way to go, but can be costly if your raised beds are large and difficult to do unless you have an easy way to haul bags of soil or the garden center you frequent offers delivery.

Thanks

 

[injunjoe]

Colin I see on a Forum in Ireland this fella (James Kilkelly) said the same exact thing!

IMO if you take others ideas they should get credit for it!

Joe

 

[ducks4you]

I live on what was an old farm, and I found a LOT of wood that "would" work in storage. If there are any farms near you that have old buildings falling apart, you might see about helping with the cleanup, and then you can "clean up" and get the wood you need. I'm feeling rather punny today!

 

[digitS']

Colin I see on a Forum in Ireland this fella (James Kilkelly) said the same exact thing!

IMO if you take others ideas they should get credit for it!

Joe

And, following Colin around this morning has been a little interesting but also a little exhausting.

Please, if you are simply copying and pasting information in a post -- tell us where you got that information. We may find more on the website that is of interest to us.

There is also the possibility that the website will be untrustworthy.

At least, tell us!

Steve

 

[NurseNettie]

If you really want a border of some kind around your raised bed, there's no need to spend much, if anything. All the suggestions here are great!! In my area, lots of folks use fallen trees, cut to length, and stacked/tied/ built almost log cabin style around beds. If you have areas where you can scavange dropped trees- take a ride in a truck, with a your chain saw, and go find your borders! We're hoping use this technique for a few raised beds around the yard in the next year or two.

 

[injunjoe]

NurseNettie that is a good suggestion.

I would like to add that this would work well but I would not use this setup near your home. It would be moist from watering your garden all the time. Water + wood = Termites and Carpenter Ants.

Joe

 

[Greensage45]

 

[PunkinPeep]

nettie,

i LOVE that idea!

Joe,

if we're talking about raised beds that aren't near your house, is the termite business likely to cause a problem with the vegetables?

 

[injunjoe]

nettie,

i LOVE that idea!

Joe,

if we're talking about raised beds that aren't near your house, is the termite business likely to cause a problem with the vegetables?

I don't think so they live in the ground and come up to find wood(food) and water. I don't think they care for vegetables.

Joe

 

[4grandbabies]

I dont want to "step in it" if this has already been addressed, --if so I overlooked it--but is there anything in cement blocks that could leach out and be bad for the food in raised beds??