Kitchen Garden Forum

On the way to the allotment today (which is all of 200 yds) i noticed a skip full of decking, i happen to know its only been in situ a year, the new owners have taken it up. Anyway, i quickly knocked on them asked could i have it and a few neigbours nearby helped me carry it down to the plot. Now I can't decide whether to rebuild it as a nice deck under the trees at the end of my plot in the shade (where we currently sit on old pallets to eat our bait), or to build some raised beds There are 13 of the really chunky base bits varying from 8 to 13 foot in length, and about 40x8 foot grooved decking planks. I have a few hotch potch raised beds at the moment which I have had good harvests from, but i have to confess I quite like digging and have a long term vision of a minature victorian parterre, I am currently cultivating hundreds of box hedging to edge it with, I kind of feel that a lot of raised beds would mean a lot of path (which i would have to weed) and less garden.
Ideas please what would you do? before someone decides to take matters into their own hands and walk off with the lot

Mandy

Dear Mandy, what a find, that would have cost a lot of money to buy new.
Could you make a couple of larger raised beds, and divide these up with your Box hedging.
Just a thought.

Is it tanalised?

Hi Tigger,
If it were Tanalised would it make any difference?
If so why?
JB.

'Cos it would last longer JB.

It is that greenish colour i guess pressure treated,and the tops of the decking have been painted in some sort of brown paint, but anyway there has been progress today as the builders came along with four ready made up chunky bases 7 foot by 1 metre, I think it was a path, and if I lay these in a square i can use the decking on top of them and still have the 13 foot chunky planks left which will make 3 raised beds, it was going to break my heart to have to cut those up. So. i'm off to buy a chargeable drill and a new saw to get started!

mandy

Hi Tigger,
You caught me that time you bugger!!
JB.