Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi all

Back on the subject of raised beds - what wood would you recommend? Ive heard that scaffold boards are perfect but otherwise I guess its down to the timber merchant for some 1"x9"x 15'. Should it be treated or is that a no-no with the organic crowd?

Any advice gratefully recieved,

David

Hi David,

All of my beds are made from scaffolding boards and you should be able to get them from scaffolders or indeed new from timber yards etc at a reasonable price. They are brilliant because they are 1.5 inches thick and do not bulge out when back filled with soil.

If you buy new timber then seriously consider pressure treated timber. The new methods of pressure treating wood do not use the aggressive chemicals of yesteryear such as Chrome and Arsenic and are copper based and as they are safe for people to sit on, there is now no problem with using it for raised beds. If you use untreated boards then be prepared to replace them every 3-5 years depending upon your situation. Pressure treated wood will last up to 20 years in the ground.

Some organic gardeners may say that the woods not good as it has been treated with copper but then you use more wood because the first lots rotted away and thats not very green is it, so its a case of striking a balance.

I personally use treated timber bacause I dont have the money to keep replacing boards.

Dear Pigletwillie, What is a reasonable price for a scaffold board? I'd love to try some deep beds but don't know if I could afford it without some serious skullduggery with the housekeeping money.

Hi Jude,

you can get damaged boards from scaffolders quite cheap , often a couple of quid a piece, Check your local proper timber merchants, they often have offers (my last lot were £7.50 plus vat each), another place to try is reclamation yards. They very often have floor board with damaged tongue and groove which they sell off for a few pence per foot. Lastly, try your local freecycle.

jude,if your cheekey like me,as the cocky watchman,off a local building site,iv'e got8 raised beds all scaffolding wood and they cost me £20,but try and get your beds made straight away,some theiving so and so robbed 2 of mine befor i even built my beds,but alas this is l.pool p.s dont make the same mistake i made and make them too wide!

Thanks to piglet and Grock!
Chester is only a bit up the road from you, Grock, and the natives are inclined to be a bit light-fingered so I will heed your advice!

My beds are made out of pallet wood, some companies have the things going spare and are only happy to have someone cart them away. Others might actually dump them off for you. If you want them taller, you just double the height. The only problem is stripping the pallets.

I get big men for that.

Sleepers are great as the light-fingered brigade tend to rupture themselves nicking them.
Also do not degrade or bend or warp.
Downside, see point 1 above.

Your right there Peter,

my sister in law built some beds at the home using them stacked three high to make beds that needed no bending over to tend, absolutley fabulous as you can also sit on the edge but blimey, they are heavy,

Every last one of my 22 raised beds was built from scrap timber out of skips etc. The last six were courtesy of my neighbours loft conversion. It took a while to find enough, but I couldn`t afford to buy that amount of timber new. Over the years it starts to decay a bit, but there`s plenty more out there. It doesn`t look quite as pretty as new bought, but it`s perfectly functional and better than all that perfectly usable timber goint to landfill.

I do buy tanalised 1"x1" timber to cut into fixing pegs though. Because they`re down into the ground it need the treatment.

I buy reclaimed wood from a local woodyard, who deliver to the Allotment site. Initially I used old floorboards, but they are a bit flimsy, and seem to rot in about 5 years.

Latterly I have been flush and bought some old floor joists, that look like they will last forever.

It depends how rich you feel, and what is readily to hand. If I could afford it I would have no qualms with using treated timber. I think that scaffolding Boards are the ideal size, but have never managed to find a ready source of supply.

Does anyone know what gravel boards are? I read somewhere that you can buy them from a builders merchant for a £1 each. I'm not sure what they are so am looking around hopefully.

Re the 1x1 fixing pegs.We shop in a local timber works and they make the 1x1's to seperate the timber when it goes through the processor. When it comes out much of that 1x1 is scrapped so if you speak to them nicely you can sometimes help yourself from the skip, otherwise it isn't expensive to buy and it has been preserved on all 4 sides, couldn't be better.
It has to be remembered that deep beds can only be really successful if you have enough organic material to give a decent planting depth. Depending on ones circumstances this might not be realisable for all of us, in particular someone starting a garden or allotment will obviously not have the compost system actually going at first. It's still worthwhile to put the hardware there then plant in that area but confine your precious organic material only in the planting positions and only to those plants that really need it.Salads and cucurbits come high on my list.
Allan

Gravel boards are heavily treated planks designed to edge gravel paths or sit at the base of a wooden fence. About 6"X1/2" and they do warp a bit if not well secured. Have had some surrounding my octagonal front lawn for ten-eleven years and they are still there.