beavis
Deeply Rooted
Thats because of the University of Oregon Ducks!
(Which I am a proud alumni of)
Raised bed pics
- Thread starter epitman
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(Which I am a proud alumni of)
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epitman
Chillin' In The Garden
I have just planted onions and spinich and potatos in my landscaped timber bed it is 12x16. I am using the landscapers as a border and to keep the mower out I will send a pic when It is all planted and is growing 
lighthawk
Attractive To Bees
I have a 4wd ATV with a small dump box on the back. I drove around the neighboring corn fields and picked them up for free. Farmers were happy to see me get them out as they are hard on their equipment. Took all summer to build and fill it though. When I first moved out here (91) I built all my raised beds out of pressure treated landscape timbers. Wound up tearing them all out as they were slowly rotting away. Stone don't rot.obsessed said:
digitS'
Garden Master
Lighthawk, that is very attractive 
! It appears that the sides of your raised bed are sloping. Are they walls or more of a stone mulch?
I once set up the simplest little walls in beds on both sides of a walk way. The ground sloped so there was a step about every 8 feet. At each step, I built a little retaining wall across the beds.
...O
..OO
.OOO..............
So, there were 3 rows of stones (6" to 8" in diameter). Bagged pre-mix concrete was used instead of mortar since it filled in around the irregular stones well.
It didn't work quite as I'd hoped. I only wanted the walls just an inch or 2 above 8" since that was the height of the steps in the walkway. The bottom row of stones was below ground but, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you think of it), I soon built up the soil so that even the top row was barely visible.
Looking like no more than 1 row of rocks, these retaining walls didn't add any beauty to the landscape but, as I said, they are across beds not surrounding beds. Still, frost hasn't heaved them out of the ground and with a lot of rocks, they were easy to build. I can see how walls like this could easily surround a planting bed and provide stability.
In the gardens where I have permanent paths, the beds are simple mounds of soil. I had cedar boards held by rebar stakes for a number of years but when the boards began to rot away, I just pulled the stakes and boards out. It may not be the best and certainly isn't terribly attractive. But, it wasn't really attractive the other way either.
Steve
! It appears that the sides of your raised bed are sloping. Are they walls or more of a stone mulch?I once set up the simplest little walls in beds on both sides of a walk way. The ground sloped so there was a step about every 8 feet. At each step, I built a little retaining wall across the beds.
...O
..OO
.OOO..............
So, there were 3 rows of stones (6" to 8" in diameter). Bagged pre-mix concrete was used instead of mortar since it filled in around the irregular stones well.
It didn't work quite as I'd hoped. I only wanted the walls just an inch or 2 above 8" since that was the height of the steps in the walkway. The bottom row of stones was below ground but, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you think of it
), I soon built up the soil so that even the top row was barely visible.Looking like no more than 1 row of rocks, these retaining walls didn't add any beauty to the landscape but, as I said, they are across beds not surrounding beds. Still, frost hasn't heaved them out of the ground and with a lot of rocks, they were easy to build. I can see how walls like this could easily surround a planting bed and provide stability.
In the gardens where I have permanent paths, the beds are simple mounds of soil. I had cedar boards held by rebar stakes for a number of years but when the boards began to rot away, I just pulled the stakes and boards out. It may not be the best and certainly isn't terribly attractive. But, it wasn't really attractive the other way either
.Steve
obsessed
Deeply Rooted
I think that because we are at the bottom of the mississippi we don't have rock but I wish we did.
lighthawk
Attractive To Bees
Steve. The stone is stacked as you illustrated in your post because I collected and placed the stone before I aquired the topsoil. (There is a further description on my page) I lined the interior side of the stone with landscape cloth to prevent soil "leaking" through. There is no mortar. As I filled it I settled the stone into the new topsoil. So far the retaining wall is holding and I have been through two winters. I expect down the road I may have to reset some of the stone should the soil force them outward but it has not been a problem yet. The stones on the bottom rows are basketball-football size with the largest ones (grunt) on the corners and smaller sizes on upper rows. Were I to do it again I wouldn't go as high as I did. My tiller doesn't even come close to the bottom of the bed.
lighthawk
Attractive To Bees
This entire area was glacier formed. There are virtual "rivers" of rock in some of the surrounding fields. Stones this size sell for $80.00 a ton. Believe you don't need many to make a ton.obsessed said:
jktrahan
Chillin' In The Garden
Kim_NC
Attractive To Bees
Nice looking, Jktrahan.
We're planting a couple beds today for lettuce and Swiss chard seedlings. I'll get some pics when they're sprouted.
We're planting a couple beds today for lettuce and Swiss chard seedlings. I'll get some pics when they're sprouted.
Collector
Garden Master
We have one raised bed, it is made out of landscape timbers. Last year we grew peas and carrots in it it worked really well for them. We would like to build more of them it takes 12 landscape timbers to build one 4'x8' bed 12" high. The one we have now is going to be 15 yrs old this season, which is old but i think it will last a few more. I like the way raised beds look, they add structure to the garden, also would assist in learning crop rotation and companion planting. That is just a thought though, cause you cannot do any of those things with only one raised bed LOL.
