"borgs" wrote in message
...

Hi,

I've just dug an 8 foot by 3 foot by 1 foot deep hole in my lawn. I
intend to fill this hole with some of the soil that has been removed
(broken up), compost, some sterilised loam top soil, manure etc.

My intention is to build a raised bed (raised by about 6 inches from
the level of the lawn). I intend to employ square foot gardening in the
bed.

Various web sites I've been to suggest using an untreated,
rot-resistant wood such as red cedar. I've just enquired as to the cost
of this wood and, unless my calculations are wrong, I'm looking at
£320!! That's quite a bit more money than I want to pay, especially
since I'll most likely be moving house in about 2 years.

Any other (much cheaper) materials I can use. Looking for something
that will last 2 years minimum and not leak any dodgy chemicals into
the soil. Will, untreated normal wood last that long outside?

Is your garden the same dimensions as your hole, 8 ft by 3 ft? If so, it
matches fairly closely the dimensions of raised gardens I put in no so long
ago. I used garden sleepers, 100cm by 150 cm, which were seconds (they had
the odd gouge out of them or had bark strips). Being seconds they were about
1/2 the price of 'good ones'. I just happened across them and snapped up a
load there and then. They will last 10+ years easily and maybe longer. I was
looking at about 300+ dollars but got it built for 1/2 the price. If you go
down this line I guess the best place is to check out if someone locally
mills garden sleepers and whether they have seconds around for sale.

rob