Building raised bed/planter on apartment balcony

del88

Hi
I'm building a raised bed/planter on apartment balcony this saturday and am looking for some advice regarding design/construction....
I was thinking of make it from decking timber, also read about putting bubble wrap around the inside to stop evaporation in summer, also going to put some gravel in the bottom to help drainage...
Any advice would be appreciated......Heres a drawing with some sizes

del88

or maybe like this so i can grow tall plants down the middle

looksee

Presumably you have considered the weight implications, its a fairly substantial arrangement you are proposing. Are there any restrictions in your lease? What is holding up the sides? If it is the surrounding wall, what has happened to the front of it on the lower drawing. Does it get sunlight, ie which way is it facing. How windy is it.
You have not shown any structure/support for the timber. It will need uprights to hold the timber as it will bow if you just fill a long trough with soil.
You really need to show what sort of balcony it is and how high compared with the troughs to give an idea of the kind of structure needed.
You will need drainage, more than gravel. You would really need some sort of barrier between the wood and the gravel/soil to stop rot, and some drainage that does not drip onto the balcony below.
On the other hand you will have to do a fair bit of watering in the summer, especially if it is south facing.

del88

looksee wrote: »

Presumably you have considered the weight implications, its a fairly substantial arrangement you are proposing. Are there any restrictions in your lease? What is holding up the sides? If it is the surrounding wall, what has happened to the front of it on the lower drawing. Does it get sunlight, ie which way is it facing. How windy is it.
You have not shown any structure/support for the timber. It will need uprights to hold the timber as it will bow if you just fill a long trough with soil.
You really need to show what sort of balcony it is and how high compared with the troughs to give an idea of the kind of structure needed.
You will need drainage, more than gravel. You would really need some sort of barrier between the wood and the gravel/soil to stop rot, and some drainage that does not drip onto the balcony below.
On the other hand you will have to do a fair bit of watering in the summer, especially if it is south facing.

Thanks for the reply.... alot of good points there.
Im going to reduce the width a bit down to 450mm so weight should be be fine...it's a concret bacony with structural steel post..
There's a metal wire mesh barrier runing around the outside so light won't be a problem.
One side facing east and the other facing south so it gets plenty of sunlight.
Each balcony has a rain water down pipe so no water going on to the balcony below.
As far as watering goes ,I'm happy enough to water once a day ....i already have herbs growing inside and have a habit of watering them so should be ok...
As far as construction goes ,I'm going to make the sides from treated decking boards,for the bottomand legs i'm going to use 4/2 pressure treated deal.
I was reading somewhere about using polystyrene in the bottom for drainage and to reduce weight.
I'm also toying with the idea of using Ikea carrier bags to keep soil being washed away .....

arse..biscuits

Did you get around to making this? I have a balcony and would love to see how it works out.

del88

arse..biscuits wrote: »

Did you get around to making this? I have a balcony and would love to see how it works out.

I haven't started yet...i have the wood on my hall way so just waiting for a free day to get started.....I'm doing an attic conversion so that's taking up my Saturday...I'll take photos as i go along

Cabaal

del88 wrote: »

I haven't started yet...i have the wood on my hall way so just waiting for a free day to get started.....I'm doing an attic conversion so that's taking up my Saturday...I'll take photos as i go along

Please do I'd also be very interested to see how this turns out for you.