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gshann

Recommendation for raised bed...

gshann
16 years ago

So I've planted my 20-or-so pepper plants in a location near the house. Due to shadows, they don't get direct sun until around 9:30 in the am, and they lose it around 5:30 or 6:pm. That's a full 8-hour day with no lunch break, but I have decided that I will construct a raised bed in the late summer/early fall that will get all day sun. What sort of materials should I be looking for? I've heard that some people do not use pressure treated wood when growing food. Is that a valid concern? Cedar could be an option, but I am worrying about price. And is all-day sun adviseable, or are periods of shade better for peppers? I have a Habanero growing in a pot, just as I did last year, and it is going gang-busters. This guy is in direct sun all day on the deck, so I guess I may have my answer there. Anyway, thanks for reading...

Comments (10)

  • organic49
    16 years ago

    You'll have a great garden in your raised bed. Cedar and Red wood are costly,but the new pressure treated are now more SAFE to use. GOOD-LUCK :)

  • alabamajack
    16 years ago

    I did the exact thing this year myself. I made a raised bed. I used cinder blocks as the "frame" and 16" sq ceramic tile as the bottom. Result is a raised bed with the bottom 8 inches off the ground, 16" side to side inside, and about 40 feet long. I calculated the material cost to build this raised bed out of different kinds of materials and realized the cinder blocks and ceramic tile would be most cost effective and last as long as I am going to be gardening (nothing to rot). The inside of the raised bed is filled up to about 4 inches from the top, so I have a bed about 20" deep. The blocks are just stacked and are not cememted together. This allows for good drainage. I used a little over 3 yds of soil to fill the bed. I was a month late in planting this year but all the plants seem to be doing well and starting to produce.

    AJ

  • reaver
    16 years ago

    I am taking up a similar endeavor this summer in preparation for next season and I have been considering both wood and retaining wall stone (well. cement that looks like stone). With wood, you will evenutally have to contend with rot and replacing the wood, with the retaining wall 'stone' thats not a concern. Stone is also easier to expand and you don't have to pound stakes in the ground and nail wood to the stakes, just stack rocks. The 12"x8"x6" stone costs about $1.50 to $2.00 at home supply stores, haven't seen any at WM yet. So a 12'x4' bed will cost roughly $48-64 per 6" deep course or around $192-256 for a 12'x4'x2' bed depending on where you purchase. cinder block might be even cheaper.
    There are also some composite products out there that are supposed to be quick and easy, but their cost is higher than stone I think, it may be close.

    haven't done much research into wood, but I would probably stay away from pressure treated because of the chemicals, don't know too much about that aspect. over time untreated wood requires replacing possibly negating any initial cost savings. Some wood systems available online are quite pricey
    Cedar prefab

    I am thinking stone because of the flexibility and long term durability.

    Hope I haven't muddied the waters too much.

    Cheers!

  • reaver
    16 years ago

    Just got back from a quick trip to the local home center where I priced out lumber for this kind of project. An untreated 2"x12"x12' board is roughly $18.00 and to do a similar bed as I outlined above, would require 6x18=$108.00 plus the costs of galvanized brackets and stakes and nails, etc. (which I didn't price out) which could quickly get the cost up.

    18x8x8 cinder block priced out at about $1.30; a quick estimate says I can do the same bed for $120.00 with this material.

    Also researched the pressure treated lumber and they explicitly state on their warranty sheet that this (ACQ) product is not to be used "under circumstances where the preservative may become a component of food, animal feed, or beehives". Sounds like a nay on using it for a veggie bed.

    More info might be available here.

    Hope this helps some.

    Cheers!

  • reaver
    16 years ago

    sorry about the bad URL, I don't know how that quote got in that position. Here is the corrected URL

    Universal Forest Products

    Cheers!

  • djcorrosive
    16 years ago

    Just out of curriosity, what are the advantaes of a raised bed? Drainage?

  • alabamajack
    16 years ago

    drainage is the main reason I created a rasied bed, but the other reason is I do not have to bend down to inspect my plants. Yes, I am fairly lazy.

  • reaver
    16 years ago

    More reasons for raised bed vs. in ground bed

    1) nearly all my utilities and my sprinkler system are buried in my back yard, concerned that digging can damage this stuff.

    2) Poor soil. I am astounded that any of the nearby farmland can grow anything in this crap. The builder must have scraped all the good topsoil off and left the rocky clay stuff behind.

    3) Easier to create the correct growing medium from the outset and add soil amendments later. Won't have to till hard to work dirt.

    There could be others.

    Cheers!

  • nj_jesse
    16 years ago

    my raised beds are made of 1"X12"X18' PVC trim boards they cost a lot but i work at a lumberyard and got them for free

  • ardnek710
    16 years ago

    We have numerous raised beds in the yard. All made of 4x4 treated landscaping ties (about $5-7 each). 2 beds are 24feetx6feet, one bed is 22feetx3feet, one bed is 22feetx2feet, and two beds are 16feetx4feet. The oldest one is 6 years old and shows no signs of rotting. Each bed is about 2-4 layers deep and we can add layers as we need to each year.
    I can't reccomend the raised bed enough. Now ours are not completely raised up so you don't have to bend over at all but enough to get excellent drainage and to customize our soil mixes.

    kendra

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