Raised garden beds? Alternative to railroad ties?

[Kevin_NH]

I'm looking to build several large raised garden beds, where I currently have a south-sloping lawn.

Any suggestions on economical long-lasting framing material without the toxicity of traditional PT and railroad ties? Anybody tried the "Timbersil" product they used for raised beds on Ask This Old House?

Because of the slope, I'd be building them long and high, so I don't think Trex would work. Has anybody tried concrete interlocking landscaping blocks?

 

[xtry51]

Stainless steel 12-14ga

 

[runner]

I had a need for additional space in the garden this year so I took the rocks that have been growing in the garden for the past years and moved them from the wall they had formed and dry stacked them to create a raised bed. It worked great. Newspaper on the grass and dry stacked to form a 4x4 one foot high bed. The tomatoes required less water, no weeding, and the stone seemed to hold the moisture very well.

So my answer is field stone. I think if you go to the Plymouth Plantation you'll see the same design near the village houses.

Bill

 

[enbloc]

.

 

[Knob Creek]

If space is not a problem, try rubber tires. They seem to hold moisture well. (I have read)
I guess you could build a firing position out of them too...

I just replaced the rear tires on my tractor (12.4x24) and was thinking of using them. I read a article before on growing potatoes in stacks of tires. When it's time to harvest just pull off the tires.

 

[namedpipes]

I think if you go to the Plymouth Plantation you'll see the same design near the village houses.

Bill

Where in heck did they get newspapers?


Sent from my chimney using smoke signals.

 

[runner]

Where in heck did they get newspapers?


Okay maybe they didn't use newsprint. Cheeze.

 

[namedpipes]

Where in heck did they get newspapers?


Okay maybe they didn't use newsprint. Cheeze.

Cheese makes less sense than newspaper! Wouldn't it make the tomatoes all gooey?

Sent from my chimney using smoke signals.

 

[Prepper]

If you have stones available, that sounds pretty good since it'd also be all natural and free.

What I did was just buy 2x12 boards last spring. I'll see how well they hold up. (They are not pressure treated so I'm expecting to replace them after a number of years.) I was first wondering if I should get 1x12 boards to save money, but those are finish boards and actually cost more. So, 2x12 it was.

Where I failed was a good solution to deal with the grass between beds... I was just mowing it until I realized that squash grow really big and spill out all over the place.

 

[ShadeWPI]

Concrete block works pretty well.
My aunt used raw pine timber about 10 years ago. Most of the bark is gone, but the logs are still good. They're about 8" thick, stacked 2 on bottom and 1 on top for about 14" high and tacked together with 12" landscaping spikes (pre-drilled holes). The garden level is about 2" below the top of the logs to improve water collection / trapping.

She covers her garden with 2-layer 6-mil black plastic stapled to the logs with holes cut at planting time to minimize weeding and pests. Also helps trap moisture to minimize watering.

Another thing to look at would be the plastic land-scape edging. you'd need to reinforce it with spikes on the outside, but it provides a non-permiable, non-biodegrable surface against the wet garden soil.

 

[hankster]

If you have stones available, that sounds pretty good since it'd also be all natural and free.

What I did was just buy 2x12 boards last spring. I'll see how well they hold up. (They are not pressure treated so I'm expecting to replace them after a number of years.) I was first wondering if I should get 1x12 boards to save money, but those are finish boards and actually cost more. So, 2x12 it was.

Where I failed was a good solution to deal with the grass between beds... I was just mowing it until I realized that squash grow really big and spill out all over the place.

I always went to a local saw mill and bought what they call dunnage, usually cost about 1/2 price per board foot. Not perfect pieces but serves this purpose just fine.

 

[inerlogic]

i have three raised beds.... i used 4x4 and 2x6 and 2x8 cedar

 

[runner]

Whatever you end up using, remember, keep it cheap and free. It is just a wall to keep the dirt in! I try to make the garden profitable, not an expense. Think "What would my grandparents have done?".

 

[Prepper]

Whatever you end up using, remember, keep it cheap and free. It is just a wall to keep the dirt in! I try to make the garden profitable, not an expense. Think "What would my grandparents have done?".

Always a good plan. I bought the boards simply because we had just moved here and things were too hectic to run around looking for free wood to start a garden before it was too late. But, in the future, I hope to find free stuff and take my time doing it.

 

[inerlogic]

Think "What would my grandparents have done?".

Going through their stuff after they died..... They would've built the things out of shirt/pantyhose cardboards and baker's twine.... And 500 stainless place settings stamped "U.S." gotta love depression era/WWII hoarders!

Sent from my EVO 4G LTE using Forum Runner

 

[CRSIII]

Drop some trees, limb them. Arrange as desired.

What do I win?

 

[Kevin_NH]

Drop some trees, limb them. Arrange as desired.

What do I win?

You win a large nest of termites about ten feet from your (wooden) kitchen door.

 

[xtry51]

Or carpenter ant infestations.

Bad idea.

 

[Kevin_NH]

Whatever you end up using, remember, keep it cheap and free. It is just a wall to keep the dirt in! I try to make the garden profitable, not an expense. Think "What would my grandparents have done?".

Cheap is good, but time and effort also have value. For example, if I were to build out of old granite curbstone, it would be expensive today, but outlast my great grandchildren, and require much less effort than dry-fitting random fieldstone that I might haul out of the woods.

Those are the reasons I'm interested in people's experience with TimberSIL (glass impregnated wood), which shouldn't flex the way Trex decking would when used as raised bed framing. Another option is interlocking concrete blocks, the small ones used for low-height retaining walls.

Mostly I'm hoping to hear from somebody who has done this before so I can learn from their mistakes rather than my own.

 

[namedpipes]

Cheap is good, but time and effort also have value. For example, if I were to build out of old granite curbstone, it would be expensive today, but outlast my great grandchildren, and require much less effort than dry-fitting random fieldstone that I might haul out of the woods.

On a serious note, those picturesque stone walls our great great grands built weren't for pretty. They had no place to put all the damned rocks that kept popping up in their fields and gardens.

 

[T(1)of(3)]

I did 12 foot by 4 foot ones with the Trex deck stuff. You just have to stake them every 3 or 4 feet because the stuff is somewhat flexible. Worked pretty good and look exactly the same after 2 full years. I used the Trex vertical deck rails (1.5 in x 1.5 in) for my stakes and corners so they won't rot either.