Alan Holmes wrote in message
...

How high should a raised bed be?

One source says to use scaffold boards, but I have no idea where one gets
scaffold boards from, should they be treated to stop rot?

Do they really have to be that high?

Would 4 inches be high enough?

--
alan

reply to alan(dot)holmes27(at)virgin(dot)net


Hi Alan,

A raised bed can be as high or as low as you want it. It depends what sort
of conditions/culture you're trying to create.

If you want an acid bed because your local soil is alkaline, then you
obviously need a much deeper bed than 4" so that roots don't grow through
the acid layer and find your alkaline soil.

If you're raising the bed for alpines, say, so that you can increase
drainage, 4" may be enough - unless you're on very heavy puddly clay.

If you're raising beds with your ordinary soil to improve vegetable growing
conditions, 4" is probably good enough. However, by the time you've added
muck and mulch over a few years, you'll be over-flowing your 4" barrier, and
wish you'd put in a 6" barrier to start with.

Hope this helps.
Spider