Billy wrote:
In article ,
Cipher wrote:

I've asked a similar question back a ways but I thought I'd ask again
with a twist.

The coming year we're looking at starting vegetable gardening,
however the soil is all dense-pack clay. We're looking at raised
beds - by which I mean building boxes and raising them about three
feet off the ground because neither of us can bend over for regular
weeding easily.

My back-of-the-envelope calculations show a 1m x 2.5m x .5m box, when
full of wet soil, weighs in at just over 1400kg!

Has anyone here raised growing beds this high? What sizes of beds
would you recommend?

Thanks!
My raised bed is 16' X 4' X 24". There is a 4" X 4" redwood post at
each corner, and mid way on the long sides. Attached to the posts are
2" X 12" redwood planks. Never had any trouble from it. Occasionally
I've had to replace a post and a couple of planks (once each), which
isn't bad for 25 yr. of service.

Here that much redwood would cost a bomb, especially 12" planks. I would
use the right class of eucalyptus. Clearly price and availability will vary
with your location. Ask your timber merchant for a grade that is rated
durable for continuous contact with soil. Or consider concrete blocks etc
instead of timber.


You may want to investigate keyhole gardens. They take less space for
paths and leave more space for gardens. They are particularly good for
difficult to reach corners of the yard. Whether inside the garden or
out, the useable portion of the garden shouldn't be more than .6m from
the path. Using this reasoning, a raised rectangle with access from
the perimeter, should be no more than 1.2m across. The length depends
on how much garden you need.


You may want them narrower than that if you are short of stature and/or not
very flexible.

If your garden is a meter tall, only the top .5m need be garden soil
(30% - 40% sand, 30% - 40% silt, 20% - 30% sand, and 5% - 10% organic
material)
http://www.raw-food-health.net/Raise...bleGarden.html

David