Best way to make a raised bed for veg

Sgt Pepper 64

I already have some timber framed beds for veg, but they are not very high once I had sunk them into the ground for support, and its to easy for slugs to get in.
What would people recommend to make proper raised beds, I'm looking for them to be at least a foot, maybe 2 foot high from ground level, kind of like the ones from the how does your garden grow thread

What sort of timber and where to source from?


thanks

Orion

I just bought some scaffold planks from Chadwicks - any builders providers will have them. They were about €5 each. Some corner backets to fix them together and you're good to go. I also used 4 3' stakes - one in each corner. 1' in the ground left them 1' above the planks - perfect for fixing netting to to cover the whole thing.

You can double up to make a higher bed - I know a guy who did that on concrete and it worked very well.

Sgt Pepper 64

Macros42 wrote: »

I just bought some scaffold planks from Chadwicks - any builders providers will have them. They were about €5 each. Some corner backets to fix them together and you're good to go. I also used 4 3' stakes - one in each corner. 1' in the ground left them 1' above the planks - perfect for fixing netting to to cover the whole thing.

You can double up to make a higher bed - I know a guy who did that on concrete and it worked very well.

Thanks for that, sounds perfect and nice and cheap! how long are they btw?

5T3PH3N

I'm doing exactly the same thing at the moment for an Uncle of mine. 8ft scaffold planks, 2 on top of each other and I think I'll do it 8ft x 3ft(or 2ft) so its easy to reach the plants/veg in at the back. I'll be making about 4 of these so I'm getting about 20 planks.Just like these except rectangular http://www.garden.ie/members/6239/photos/477420383.JPG

Sgt Pepper 64

5T3PH3N wrote: »

I'm doing exactly the same thing at the moment for an Uncle of mine. 8ft scaffold planks, 2 on top of each other and I think I'll do it 8ft x 3ft(or 2ft) so its easy to reach the plants/veg in at the back. I'll be making about 4 of these so I'm getting about 20 planks.Just like these except rectangular http://www.garden.ie/members/6239/photos/477420383.JPG

Wow, the plants will love them , especially under cover.
I think I will get the saw out myself!

dfbemt

I have been using railway sleepers, the new type and not the creosote soaked type. Have seen a pine version and an oak version around

Make really sturdy beds that allow you to stand on the sides but are that bit more expensive at approx €20 per sleeper for the pine ones. Have seen the oak ones at €22 I think.

I used 8 of them and made some fairly sizeable beds.

I'd say they would work out well stacked but would be better staggered to make them sturdier.

It's a great time of the year to be out and doing things in the garden again.

Orion

I used 6 foot ones but you can get 8 foot ones too. I'd recommend making the bed 6' wide solely so you can reach the middle without stepping into the bed.

Mine is 12*6. I used 2*90mm corner brackets (I think they were called chair brackets in woodies - 49c each) to join them internally at each corner. At the centre join I used a yoke I got in Chadwicks - it's a 2' long metal bar with lots of screw holes. 3 screws on either side of the join. Again this was internal so the weight of the soil actually supports it.

Only planting to do now - but snow forecast for the weekend so I think I'll hold off