Downside to Raised Beds?

Jellybaby1

Thinking of getting himself to build me a raised bed for veggies. Before I do is there any downside to them? Just looking for an easy way to do this as I'm not a very good gardener.

looksee

I have two big raised beds, the edges are just the right height to perch on. I can't think of any downsides to them (except that, depending on how they are made they will probably eventually need re-building). They will not improve your gardening skills but they do make weeding easier!

my3cents

Don't make them too wide, you need to be able to easily reach the middle from each side.

If you use any form of cloche make the beds so they fit easily - I have a couple of big transparent plastic cloches and made two small raised beds so they fit on exactly.

A lot of smaller raised beds can be easier to handle that one big one. Made over a number of years they don't all need replacing at the same time

If you can dig the soil under the raised bed before you fill it with top soil you may improve drainage.

Allow for wheel barrow access between beds or at least a corridor along one side.

There may be a bit of additional strimming/spraying around the edges of the beds at ground level particularly of you have the raised beds with grass paths. Gravel or hard paths will also need a bit of weeding.

Untreated timber is often recommended as you don't want the chemicals leaching into the soil and what you are eating. If you are only growing ornamentals then ignore that.

You need to get a source of good topsoil to fill the beds - obvious but easy enough to forget about and find you have problems getting good soil and then have problems getting it to the new raised beds.

Shemale

Agree with the other poster on the width, I am 6ft and my beds are 3ft wide and its a struggle to reach the back of them when I am kneeling or standing. I didnt account for this, my beds are against a wall so I cant walk around the other side.

I only got mine a while ago from thegardenshop the 6*3 including screws were under 30 iirc and easy to put together, they are treated with veg safe treatment. I put them on level ground and lined them with weed control fabric as there is no base included.

Jellybaby1

Thanks all for the good advice. Looksee, no, I didn't think my skills would improve either! When I did grow veggies before I used our flower bed but there are several nice shrubs there now and I don't want to intrude on them this time. I've had some success before with veg but slugs were always my biggest enemy though last time I think I won a few battles by inviting them to the pub, i.e. jars of beer!

Digging the soil underneath may not ever happen as neither of us are able to dig these days, besides our soil is very heavy and we are very weak!

Would filling with just compost be ok?

Zzippy

Raised beds can dry out easily, it's important to have plenty of organic material dug in, and mulching also helps reduce moisture loss. They will need more watering than regular beds.

Shemale

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Digging the soil underneath may not ever happen as neither of us are able to dig these days, besides our soil is very heavy and we are very weak!

Would filling with just compost be ok?

Absolutely, throw some weed control fabric on the ground you are putting the beds on, I brought it up the sides and tacked it to the top edges of the beds.

Enriched topsoil would be a better option than just compost as a growing medium.

Jellybaby1

Thank you for the replies. I shall hold a conference with himself this week and see if we can get things moving asap.

bacopa

We are just about to put down several raised beds in our allotment. If we place weed suppressing sheets over the soil before filling would it limit growing plants with roots going down and hitting matting. The beds are 11 high and we want to grow fruit bushes and low shrub as well as veg thanks

_Brian

Taking up space in raised beds with fruit bushes is a waste. They will grow perfect straight into the ground, our soil would be poor but the red/black/white currants along with gooseberry bushes are doing well, mulch with manure and they will be fine.

I'd be thinking of using a few layers of newspaper at the bottom of the beds, it will block weeds/grass from coming up and they will die off, but the paper will rot away allowing roots down deep.

Lumen

What's the point in putting weed control fabric underneath/at the base of a raised bed? Is it for water retention?

Weeds are going to grow in the bed anyway.

bacopa

Thanks for replies. Newspaper sounds good idea. Was hoping to grow blueberries in limefree soil and couch grass a plague all over.

my3cents

bacopa wrote: »

Thanks for replies. Newspaper sounds good idea. Was hoping to grow blueberries in limefree soil and couch grass a plague all over.

Use lots of newspaper and make sure its really soaking wet before you put soil on top and it will help hold moisture.