How to make raised bed gardening & organic gardening need a DIY weekend guide.?
Question:
Answers:
You can make frames out of old railway sleepers for that chunky look or old floorboard planks. However it is better to use pressure treated timber. As this will last longer and there will be less danger of damage to the crops from using preserving treatments like creosote. Mark out where you would like to place these raised beds by using flour, sand or even lay out a hosepipe. Then knock in some short stakes of 12 inches or 30cms at each corner. Tie string between the stakes to work out your levels. Then fix the frame to the stakes. Remove any vegetation by digging it out or by using sheets of old cardboard. The cardboard can be left in place for a few months and then removed or if it is thin enough it can be left there as it will eventually rot away. The frame can now be filled with soil up to the level edge of the frame.Try not to make the bed more than 4ft or just over a meter in width. Or if you do then you must have a plank of wood to stand on that is long enough to rest on the edges of the frame. You can have the length any with the only limitation being the length of the garden or plot. For low growing crops it is best to have the beds in a north south orientation as this way the plants will get maximum light exposure on both sides of the bed. Taller crops such as runner beans would be better in an east west configuration with ground level crops on the south side.
http://www.salescene.com/garart03.html... it is a Victory Garden article about organic raised bed gardening.
I have a 12' x 24' x 16-1/2" high (3- 6 x6's) raised veggy garden using pressure treated lumber. I filled it to the top of the second 6 x 6 with humus. When I cut my grass, I put the clippings in the garden. In the fall, I chop up my leaves using my lawn mower and put them in too.
I've never reached the top tier with the decomposed grass/leaves as the nutrients are being used up by the veggies. Oh ya, my raised garden is has been in 13 years and the wood is just fine.
More Related Questions & Answers...