Raised veg beds

[Gromit]

Its getting to that time of year when I need to start planning the allotment plot. I'm thinking of doing raised beds because they are a lot less hassle than an open plot.

Being a student I don't have much money to buy timber to make them, so I'm thinking of ways of acquiring bits and bobs to make them.

Having been to a scrap yard today and kwick fit, saving money on the tire disposal by taking the two used tires home with me, I was thinking about using car tires for making raised beds.

I have read a few posts on gardening threads about using tires, there are a few mixed messages, some post say that tire toxins eventually leach into the and others say that they don't.

Does anyone know if the above is true? Can you think of any other things that I can get on the cheap that will make an ideal raised bed?

Cheers Debz

 

[Arch]

I would have thought that any tyre decay would be very slow, and that the amount of contamination of soil would easily be countered by changing the soil every few years, or even just swamped by the continual addition of compost and manure and so on.

But how will you use them? You'll need to stack a fair few to make a decent sized bed, assuming you mean to use them to form a big bed, as opposed to using each one as a mini bed.

Have you thought of skip diving/wombling for timber to make beds? Or bricks/breeze blocks. Mum made her raised bed out of bricks she had left from some building work, just by building a low non-mortared wall.

 

[snorri]

If you Google "lazy beds" you might get some ideas.
Whole fields were cultivated by this method without any supporting structures, perhaps it depends on the soil type.

 

[accountantpete]

I can't see how tyres would work. If you raise the bed by say a foot it creates a lot of pressure on the walls of the plot. I started off with scrap planks of wood and three metal poles hammered into the ground outside each plank to hold it in place.

 

[rich p]

I'd go along with Arch's suggestion of skip-diving for timber. Do raised beds need to be watered more often?

 

[Over The Hill]

I have a garden full of them and never paid for a thing to make them.


Two are made of concrete building blocks cemented together in a squares about 3m each way. They are on a strip of concrete under the blocks.

These are easy to use and I also have four chicken wire panels that slot in each side to keep the rabbits off the seedlings. The raised bit is as tall as a block so 20-25cm

Second one is made of some bits of oak flooring timber that my neighbour was throwing out. 3m x 1m and about 15cm high. This is just nailed together planks. For a good job put a square of other wood on each corner to nail to.

Next is just four chunks of old roofing timber 10cm x 5cm and again about 3m square.

Last is eight concrete blocks arranged in an octagon shape. They then have a piece of string around them to hold it all together. I then have added two more octagons (7 blocks going from one from the first) to make a nice row of them.

I also have three old water butts which I found at the dump and cut in half (use a wood saw).

The main benefits are
1. Weed control. By fencing in an area the weeds do not creep in so much and you can blitz an area that is quite contained to keep it fairly clear. Year on year the bed then gets better and has less weeds.
2. Soil improvement. You can top up the bed with compost and really improve the soil which again stays there and gets better in time. We are on chalk here so drying out is a problem in the summer. The raised bed will hold water and not dry out so easily.
A deep bed of 20-25cm is best but 10cm still is good and will produce results.

Basically you can make the bed out of almost any timber just nailed together. Just dont use chipboard or ply - it will fall apart.

Chat up a builder you see in the area. Most accumilate a pile of wood on the job which they will be keen to see the back of.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I'd go along with Arch's suggestion of skip-diving for timber. Do raised beds need to be watered more often?

Nope - no extra water needed unless the soil is very very light in which case why bother raising the bed.

Palletts can be got for zero cash. Then by dismantling and re-nailing you has your wooden wotsit. I use palletts on end for my compost heaps. They do rot slowly - but so wot?

 

[Campfire]

I wish I had room for raised beds. I am a bit of a Womble in that if I see anyone throwing anything out, I can't resist asking them for it.

When my neighbour was getting rid of everything in the garden, I had some timber, large rockery stones, paving blocks, flat slates and much more. I saved the old 3x2 flags that were on my patio before having a conservatory. I now don't know what to do with them as they're very heavy to manoeuvre. If anyone wants them, they're yours!

I saw a wash basin in a skip a few years ago which was the same colour as mine, all the houses were either pink, blue or whatever. Mine was blue and our sink was a bit suspect, so I had that installed. It's so large you could bath a baby in it.

Back to raised beds - I would think scrap wood/concrete blocks would be better as unless you get truck tyres, there's not much room in the space in the middle but the tyres take up a lot of room.

 

[rich p]

Nope - no extra water needed unless the soil is very very light in which case why bother raising the bed.

Palletts can be got for zero cash. Then by dismantling and re-nailing you has your wooden wotsit. I use palletts on end for my compost heaps. They do rot slowly - but so wot?

Blimey. Have you ever tried to dismantle Europallets?

The cheapo ones are easier!

 

[Gromit]

Spent ages last year trying to dismantle pallets, it wasn't worth the effort really. The wood just splintered.

 

[dellzeqq]

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstallwhataverylongname uses tyres. And he's fussy.

if you lay hands on thick black plastic, or an old tarpaulin, plant potatoes just under the surface of the soil and away you go - gets the soil in better condition for the following year.

 

[Over The Hill]

Blimey. Have you ever tried to dismantle Europallets?

The cheapo ones are easier!

I got a pallet from up the road that someone had a shed delivered on. All I can say is that the pallet was better made and had more wood in it than the shed!

I have had half a dozen pallets that had paving slabs on too. They are well put together. Each time I cut one up (with a chainsaw) I try to do it in fewer cuts while still being able to get it on the fire.

 

[rich p]

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstallwhataverylongname uses tyres. And he's fussy.

if you lay hands on thick black plastic, or an old tarpaulin, plant potatoes just under the surface of the soil and away you go - gets the soil in better condition for the following year.

I believe you may be referring to Hugh Frightfully-Whatsisname.

 

[lukesdad]

Ive used willow from our hedges for mine, Up to an inch thick. Cut on an angle with loppers stick em in the ground about 18" apart, weave longer ones alternatly along them knock em down to make sure they re tight, line em with old compost bags etc.

If you do it in spring they ll root and you can make em permanent as long as you keep em trimmed. .... EM think thats about it really

 

[Kirstie]

How about using old bathtubs if you can get them from skips/tips?