What do you use for YOUR raised beds?

[vfem]

What I see happening is the 2 3/4" boards eventually warping and not being so tight together. I would have used a wood caulk and glue AFTER screwing them together. You would get them to last longer. In fact go out and get a water resist caulk, and caulk inbetween the 2 pieces you have screwed together. It will give it a water resistant barrier and help hold them together longer. Just think you may have to touch up the caulk where it cracks each year, just like in your bathroom or around your windows.

I do not think one board alone that thin will work well. Good luck!

and


sclanimals, I have not done a stone raised bed, I've done brick and I do a LOT of weeding in between the weeds. However, if you want to cut back on weeding I'll suggest mortaring the joints of the stone/rock. I recently bought some mortar for a small project, and they come in tubes now like caulk to use in a caulk gun. They have them at lowe's or home depot in their lumber area... I found them with the decking supplies. Its good for just some spot mortaring where you have large gaps.

 

[rebbetzin]

I have three beds that are built with railroad ties. Some are over 30 years old, One is about 20 years old. The beds are all lined in black plastic. The railroad ties are not in contact with the soil, plus the plastic keeps the soil from coming out the cracks between the ties. The plants don't seem affected at all by the railroad ties, but mine are really pretty old.

I have used many things over the years for making raised beds. Discarded bookcases, old chest of drawers, taking out the drawers, using the cabinet, and using the drawers too by putting a few drain holes in the bottom of the drawers. They only last a couple of years, most are pretty thin wood but they were FREE!!

Here are some photos of things I have used


This is an old bookcase someone in the neighborhood was throwing away.

My favorite was using an old wooden ladder, again, it was being thrown away by a neighbor. It has held up nicely. I partially buried it, and again added the black plastic to keep the soil in place.

You can see the old railroad ties in this photo, along with the one of the ladders inside the little "green house" covered in chicken wire.

Here is a close up of that bed in the green house

This poor tree stump is no longer in the garden, it had to go when I built the chicken coop. But, you can see on the right, the ladder garden that is still there. in the back garden.

A closer view of the ladder beds.

This is an old bookcase headboard that was being thrown away by a neighbor, I am still using this one after about 4 years now. The Trellis coming up from the planter is an old "Portacrib" I got years ago for a puppy play pen.

It is still working as a trellis attached to the planter, but now it is against the back fence since my chicken coop is now in that area.

Don't you just LOVE gardening!?? My husband scratches his head as each year I am moving beds around, carrying rocks here and there, moving plants to better locations. I could live in the garden!!

 

[homesteadmom]

I have an assortment of raised beds. I use retaining wall blocks for circular beds(4 of them), paving edgers in a rectangle for my first asparagus bed, tires for many things, a untreated wood rectangle bed(b'day gift from db) & I have cinder blocks I aquired this last fall I will be making into 2 rectangle shaped beds, 1 more for asparagus. I am alos going to move my old chicken feeder out there for a raised bed.
the railroad ties are treated with things you do not want in your organic garden, arsenic for one.

 

[Purple Strawberry]

I use raw cut pine, that we cut down off of our property and my dad sawed them on his sawmill.

 

[smom1976]

I have three beds that are built with railroad ties. Some are over 30 years old, One is about 20 years old. The beds are all lined in black plastic. The railroad ties are not in contact with the soil, plus the plastic keeps the soil from coming out the cracks between the ties. The plants don't seem affected at all by the railroad ties, but mine are really pretty old.

I have used many things over the years for making raised beds. Discarded bookcases, old chest of drawers, taking out the drawers, using the cabinet, and using the drawers too by putting a few drain holes in the bottom of the drawers. They only last a couple of years, most are pretty thin wood but they were FREE!!

Here are some photos of things I have used


This is an old bookcase someone in the neighborhood was throwing away.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/Rebbetzin/Bookcasegardenemail.jpg

My favorite was using an old wooden ladder, again, it was being thrown away by a neighbor. It has held up nicely. I partially buried it, and again added the black plastic to keep the soil in place.

You can see the old railroad ties in this photo, along with the one of the ladders inside the little "green house" covered in chicken wire.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v.../Winter Garden 2008/MorningGloryArchemail.jpg

Here is a close up of that bed in the green house

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/Rebbetzin/5768 2008/SaladGreensingreenhouseemail.jpg

This poor tree stump is no longer in the garden, it had to go when I built the chicken coop. But, you can see on the right, the ladder garden that is still there. in the back garden.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/Rebbetzin/TreeFaceLongshotemail.jpg

A closer view of the ladder beds.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/Rebbetzin/5768 2008/CabbagesJan9email.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/Rebbetzin/5768 2008/BabySwissChardJan9email.jpg

This is an old bookcase headboard that was being thrown away by a neighbor, I am still using this one after about 4 years now. The Trellis coming up from the planter is an old "Portacrib" I got years ago for a puppy play pen.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/Rebbetzin/HeadboardandPortacribemail.jpg

It is still working as a trellis attached to the planter, but now it is against the back fence since my chicken coop is now in that area.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/Rebbetzin/5768 2008/Chicken Coop/FromBackFence02email.jpg

Don't you just LOVE gardening!?? My husband scratches his head as each year I am moving beds around, carrying rocks here and there, moving plants to better locations. I could live in the garden!!

if I remember correctly you posted something on BYC about the "map" of your yard..

would you post it again.. Believe it or not it really inspired me to use more of my yard.. using up more and more space..

one question.. we have a septic system and were told not to grow over the drain field.. do you have a septic and how did you get around the drain field issue?

and please please will you post that picture again?? I have started using my space in the garden .. every inch almost.. I have more places that I can plant but I need to rearange for next year.. but I did start using lots of space.. my next goal is to get more of the side yards up and running with more raised beds..

I have one raised bed already in the same area and looked at the potager style pages I could find and am going to "run with it" .. so I would like to make two more using the same concrete stones that I have already created one bed with.. the landscaping wall stones.. I just used those and only put in two rows.. I even put a small pond in the one..

 

[rebbetzin]

[if I remember correctly you posted something on BYC about the "map" of your yard..

would you post it again.. Believe it or not it really inspired me to use more of my yard.. using up more and more space..

one question.. we have a septic system and were told not to grow over the drain field.. do you have a septic and how did you get around the drain field issue?

and please please will you post that picture again??

Your wish is my command!!

Let me see if I can find it now on Photobucket...

Nothing much has changed, except what I thought was a peach tree (soneone gave it to me said they started it from a seed) turned out to be a Coyote Willow!! so now I have an empty ring back there. Haven't decided what I want to put in the ring yet.

And there are very few weeds now that the chickens are moved around in that gravel area. I have to go "scrounging" in the flowerbeds for weeds to give them. They love danelion greens!! I am now cultivating Dandelions!! Who would have ever thought I would be so happy to see Dandelions growing!!

We are on a City Sewer system so I don't have any problems with leaching fields or things like that.

 

[smom1976]

I LOVE IT!!!

you give me so many ideas.. I will have to try and draw my little back yard.. we have sooo many ideas that we want to do.. we need tons of money dirt and time.. well I have some of the dirt and all of the time LOL

 

[karanleaf]

rebbetzin That layout is wonderful and I loved the photos of your back yard And the chicken coop is adorable You are an insperation :watering Thank you for sharing I too love to reclaim items and put them to new uses.

:happy_flower Karan

 

[GardeNerd]

I had a neighbor getting rid of 1' x 1' pavers 10 years ago. I took them all and placed them in a trench upright in my veggie garden. It has worked out well, and the aged distrested look of them is not an eyesore. Didn't cost a dime.

 

[GardeNerd]

Here is a poor pic showing my concrete paver boarders. They are behind the gate. The red wood boards in the back on the right are for the pen for my tortoise. Those boards were salvaged from a patio cover and attached on top of the concrete pavers.

Edited to add a better pic of the boarder