Our raised bed project (pics)

[bqmother]

I think we've met before in a sewing blog! Good to see you again! I love your raised beds! I'm going to have a garden again after about 10 years Moving from apartment back into a house! I had raised beds before a loved them. This time I'm thinking of hardware cloth (vertically) around the edges to about 18" down to keep out voles. Also considering a double cover setup because it will be too late to plant my favorite spring/summer goodies, and will start with late fall/winter harvest things like mesclun and roots.

Are your arches reinforced with rebar?

 

[OCMG]

The point here is, THE GROUND IS THE SUPPORT!!!
You do not need wood for support. You are building the beds on SOLID ground.

I turns out to be more cost effective this way.

Wood also warps don't forget that.

I for one love the way our friend made hers they are simply stunning and I am getting ready to purchase this stuff today. I had made up my mind when I priced cedar.
Cedar is about $2.65 per running foot.
so that makes an 8' length is over $20.00 (this is in my neighborhood remember that)

A length of 8' trex is $16.97

1) Wood, even cedar will rot in time, I am not going to want to make them again,

2) Remember it will be repairing not replaceing which is more of a pain.

3) I am not a teenager so I want to build something now that will last because I do not want to be out there redoing the wood in 4-5-6 years.

4) Composite looks a heck of a lot better than wood, actually it looks just like wood but it always will, it does not rot or fade.

I am sold.......and done. :bouquet

 

[SewingDiva]

The point here is, THE GROUND IS THE SUPPORT!!!
You do not need wood for support. You are building the beds on SOLID ground.

I turns out to be more cost effective this way.

Wood also warps don't forget that.

I for one love the way our friend made hers they are simply stunning and I am getting ready to purchase this stuff today. I had made up my mind when I priced cedar.
Cedar is about $2.65 per running foot.
so that makes an 8' length is over $20.00 (this is in my neighborhood remember that)

A length of 8' trex is $16.97

1) Wood, even cedar will rot in time, I am not going to want to make them again,

2) Remember it will be repairing not replaceing which is more of a pain.

3) I am not a teenager so I want to build something now that will last because I do not want to be out there redoing the wood in 4-5-6 years.

4) Composite looks a heck of a lot better than wood, actually it looks just like wood but it always will, it does not rot or fade.

I am sold.......and done. :bouquet

OCMG - thank you for jumping to answer Dilly's questions!


Dilly - OCMG is totoally correct in all of the information you see about Trex, and I'll add the following:

The beds were built last summer, so they have already been through one New England summer and winter. Nothing has warped.

The framing for the beds is pretty simple:

There are 4x4 inch posts set into Quikcrete at every corner and also at four foot intervals along the sides. If you look closely at the 2nd photo in my original post you should be able to see the top of the 4x4 posts. The Trex boards are attached to the 4x4 posts with deck screws at the sides, and for the top rail the Trex is attached with deck screws to the top of each post.

The pipes that hold the row cover hoops are 1.5 inches wide and also attached onto the 4x4 posts. The row cover hoops is a .75 diamter plastic pipe that fits into the 1.5 inch pipe.

The beds are bottomless but lined with hardware cloth to keep out burrowing critters. The hardware cloth is not attached to the insde of the bed, my husband just made sure there was a margin of several inches that went up the sides.

One thing I have noticed is that Trex does retain heat, so you may have to water more frequently or install a drip irrigation system. Trex is also much heavier than wood so this may be a two person project. My husband built it himself but he's a big guy.

From a cosmetics standpoint Trex is a good looking material, even up close, although when you place the boards just make sure the serial numbers printed on the short sides are in a location that doesn't show (that is - turn that side to the inside of the bed for a toprail so that your plants cover it. The serial numbers won't show on the side panels obviously)

~Phyllis

 

[SewingDiva]

I think we've met before in a sewing blog! Good to see you again! I love your raised beds! I'm going to have a garden again after about 10 years Moving from apartment back into a house! I had raised beds before a loved them. This time I'm thinking of hardware cloth (vertically) around the edges to about 18" down to keep out voles. Also considering a double cover setup because it will be too late to plant my favorite spring/summer goodies, and will start with late fall/winter harvest things like mesclun and roots.

Are your arches reinforced with rebar?

Yes I think we have met before on a sewing blog - hello again!

The arches are just white plastic plumbing pipe and the samllest size bends easily I used an entire 8 foot section, so it goes all the way down the to the bottom of the bed. It's very sturdy. The row cover is clipped to the hoops with 2 inch black document clips from Staples.

I will use rebar though in the vertical pipes in a few weesk when the tomatoes go in. There will be one tomato for every piece of rebar and I'll run several horizontal courses of jute twine between the rebar so I can tie up the tomatoes. I'll be able to get about 12 tomatos vines in the bed with the row cover you see in the photo.

~Phylis

 

[SewingDivasHusband]

I wanted to build on what my wife has already posted. Trex is a good product but this is definitely an "off label" use of it and is probably not endorsed by the company. Trex is very floppy, it has very little rigidity so it needs to be supported. This project required me to dig (by hand) 42 post holes in granite-filled New England soil. I uncovered quite a number of "dinosaur eggs" in the process and my back will most likely never be the same. I used pressure-treated 4x4s for the uprights, spaced at 3-4 foot intervals depending on the bed and also the dimensional lengths of the boards. Because the boards cost anywhere from $16-$24 each depending on length, you want to make sure you plan this out to minimize waste. I used the Quickcrete in the red bag, you just pour the mix into the hole and just pour water in. It's much easier than mixing cement and you're not forced to use all your cement before it sets up.

I realize that some of you will be appalled that I used pressure treated supports. I researched this extensively on the web and found the legitimate university research (not personal views) offered a mixed bag of results. I made a personal decision to use pressure treated for the uprights. You might decide differently.

The plot is on a slope. If you look at the posted photo you'll see that the beds on the right are four boards high, the beds to the left are three boards hight. I used a string and level to ensure the beds remained level over the entire yard. The hoop supports are just 1 inch inner diameter pvc piping and held to the uprights by galvanized pipe clamps. The hoops are 5/8" pvc.

Some things I learned -

Lesson 1 - when you purchase Trex, it's best to buy if from the same lot at the same time. I assumed that a six inch board was a six inch board but I found that there were small variations in the widths of boards purchased from different suppliers. At least, buy enough to complete a bed so you aren't using mismatched lots in a single bed.

Lesson 2 - build the bed from the top down. Once you get your posts in place, run a string at the level you want the top board to be. This will ensure that your top boards are truly level, especially on long runs. I built the first two beds from the ground up. When I got to the top course I realized that I was no longer level. It's not a huge problem but it's annoying when you've worked your ass off in the hot sun trying to get it perfect and then you find out it's not.

If anyone has any questions I'll be happy to answer them.

 

[Dilly Girl]

Thank you for the update on how you built your beautiful planters with Trex. You confirmed my earlier point that usless supported by wood posts, it would warp and not hold shape. I could not get past using non treated wood ( not opposed) just thought using anything else was defeating the purpose of using the trex to begin with. The other non treated posts would rot eventually leaving the forever planter not that forever.

I think you did a wonderful job and still trying to convince my hubby this is the way to go. My solutions was to wtap the treated posts in heavy black plastic so there is no treated to soil contact.

have a great day.

 

[OCMG]

Trex is very floppy, it has very little rigidity so it needs to be supported.

EXACTLY!!!

You confirmed my earlier point that usless supported by wood posts, it would warp and not hold shape.

No that is incorrect, if not supported it will FLOP as sewingdivashusband states, it will not Warp>!!!


The composite is floppy, do you actually know the meaning of warped? This is where the problem lies

Floppy is not warped.

Floppy is bendy and hard to hold still when carrying etc. Warped is a permenant condition where the wood may get wet and then dries in a contorted way and cannot be straightened unless you wet it again and then apply pressure to straighten out again.
There are other reasons for warping that I won't go into.

I have worked with wood all my life and I know the difference between warping and flopping. Wood can flop also if it is a long enough piece and it fairly thin. And you would still have to use supports. Even if you use pure wood you would need supports.

Warping and being floppy are two different things. A long pane of glass can flop.

PLASTIC DOES NOT WARP WOOD DOES. Because is bends while wet and then dries in that bent position.




With that said, do what you want.

 

[SewingDivasHusband]

One more VERY important thing I forgot to mention - I had to haul a LOT of dirt. 14 yards of it to be precise, one wheelbarrow at a time.

Now who says I don't love my wife

 

[SewingDivasHusband]

My solutions was to wtap the treated posts in heavy black plastic so there is no treated to soil contact.

have a great day.

I seriously considered doing this - in fact - I went so far as to purchase the plastic. But I decided that the plastic might trap too much moisture against the wood and, even though it's pressure treated, might shorten its life span.

With the amount of work I put into it, I won't be happy if it doesn't last. I certainly don't discourage the use of plastic, especially if it makes you feel better about your crops. The worst thing would be not trusting that the food you are growing is safe to eat.

 

[Dilly Girl]

Trex is very floppy, it has very little rigidity so it needs to be supported.

EXACTLY!!!

You confirmed my earlier point that usless supported by wood posts, it would warp and not hold shape.

No that is incorrect, if not supported it will FLOP as sewingdivashusband states, it will not Warp>!!!


The composite is floppy, do you actually know the meaning of warped? This is where the problem lies

Floppy is not warped.

Floppy is bendy and hard to hold still when carrying etc. Warped is a permenant condition where the wood may get wet and then dries in a contorted way and cannot be straightened unless you wet it again and then apply pressure to straighten out again.
There are other reasons for warping that I won't go into.

I have worked with wood all my life and I know the difference between warping and flopping. Wood can flop also if it is a long enough piece and it fairly thin. And you would still have to use supports. Even if you use pure wood you would need supports.

Warping and being floppy are two different things. A long pane of glass can flop.

PLASTIC DOES NOT WARP WOOD DOES. Because is bends while wet and then dries in that bent position.




With that said, do what you want.

Are you having a bad day or are you just searching the site so you can correct any terminology that isn't just quite right? I agree that warped and floppy are two different things. Happy Now?

The point I was making and the builder confirmed is one cannot use trex without supporting it, especially in long spans. IT will APPEAR warped and not as beautiful of a job as he did for his dear lady.

Anyway I hope your day has imporved and my not jumping to defend myself has not caused a ripple in it.