Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of please?
I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I joined together
using various metal "bits" but these have had it now and I'd like to make
something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My first thought was railway
sleepers but these (untreated) seem prohibitably expensive - especially
delivered to Somerset. I also thought about scaffolding planks but cannot
find anywhere selling these. Any suggestions would be most welcome. TIA,

--
Hayley
gardening on clay in Somerset

Hayley wrote ..
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of
please? I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I joined
together using various metal "bits" but these have had it now and I'd like
to make something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My first thought
was railway sleepers but these (untreated) seem prohibitably expensive -
especially delivered to Somerset. I also thought about scaffolding planks
but cannot find anywhere selling these. Any suggestions would be most
welcome. TIA,


Phone round some local scaffolding firms and ask what they do with their old
planks, health and safety makes them replace them if only slightly damaged.
They might even deliver them if you're lucky.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

The message
from "catkin" contains these words:

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of please?
I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I joined together
using various metal "bits" but these have had it now and I'd like to make
something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My first thought was
railway
sleepers but these (untreated) seem prohibitably expensive - especially
delivered to Somerset. I also thought about scaffolding planks but cannot
find anywhere selling these. Any suggestions would be most welcome. TIA,

Old tyres make good raised beds, but line the stack first with black
polythene, as some of the chemicals in the rubbe just might leach out
into the soil.

If you live in a rural area, you'll find plenty of farmers with old
tractor tyres, I would have thought.

Raised strawberry beds are easy - cut inch holes in plastic
dustbins/water butts. Make a few drainage holes in the bottom of the
bins.

Drill small holes down a piece of drainpipe and seal the bottom end with
something like polythene lashed over it.

Place pipe centrally, open end at the top, and fill the bin with soil.

Plant strawberries in the holes in the bin, and use the pipe for
watering the plants.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

g'day hayley,

all sorts of materila can be used, most can be gotten from your local
demolition yard, even use bales of hay/straw, see pic's on our page to
see what we have used.



On Thu, 1 Jan 2009 17:47:40 -0000, "catkin" snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

"catkin" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of
please?
I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I joined
together
using various metal "bits" but these have had it now and I'd like to
make
something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My first thought was
railway
sleepers but these (untreated) seem prohibitably expensive -
especially
delivered to Somerset. I also thought about scaffolding planks but
cannot
find anywhere selling these. Any suggestions would be most welcome.
TIA,

--
Hayley
gardening on clay in Somerset

Some useful ideas he http://tinyurl.com/a6zbob

Regards,
Emrys Davies.

[quote=Emrys Davies;826513]"catkin" wrote in message

I usually agree with Emrys D, but his link includes Harrods Horticultural who I think are incredibly expensive. I would ring round local scaffolding and small building companies (look thro the ads in your local paper or check the Yellow Pages) asking if they have spare boards.

"catkin" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of
please? I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I joined
together using various metal "bits" but these have had it now and I'd like
to make something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My first thought
was railway sleepers but these (untreated) seem prohibitably expensive -
especially delivered to Somerset. I also thought about scaffolding planks
but cannot find anywhere selling these. Any suggestions would be most
welcome. TIA,

--
Hayley
gardening on clay in Somerset


Hi Hayley,

Gravel boards (as used at base of fencing to reduce risk of rotting) are
commonly used to edge beds. They are available in 6', 8' and 12' lengths,
although I think 6' is most often readily available (to fit with 6' fence
panels). I should think any of the diy sheds will supply them; price very
approximately £3 for 6' length. Relatively smart, relatively long-lasting.

Spider

In message , catkin
writes
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of
please? I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I
joined together using various metal "bits" but these have had it now
and I'd like to make something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My
first thought was railway sleepers but these (untreated) seem
prohibitably expensive - especially delivered to Somerset. I also
thought about scaffolding planks but cannot find anywhere selling
these. Any suggestions would be most welcome. TIA,

Very familiar with gardening on clay .... on Somerset/Dorset border nr.
Yeovil. I don't know exactly where you are but a trip to your nearest
Mole Valley centre may be useful. They have very competitively priced
timber and offcuts. I built 6 which were made out of old joists when we
had an extension built some 4 years ago. You may be able to get hold of
some similar 8" X 2" from some building developers who often just pile
old timber onto a bonfire rather than go to the expense of carting it
away.

Good luck!
--
Gopher .... I know my place!

In article , says...

"catkin" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of
please? I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I joined
together using various metal "bits" but these have had it now and I'd like
to make something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My first thought
was railway sleepers but these (untreated) seem prohibitably expensive -
especially delivered to Somerset. I also thought about scaffolding planks
but cannot find anywhere selling these. Any suggestions would be most
welcome. TIA,

--
Hayley
gardening on clay in Somerset


Hi Hayley,

Gravel boards (as used at base of fencing to reduce risk of rotting) are
commonly used to edge beds. They are available in 6', 8' and 12' lengths,
although I think 6' is most often readily available (to fit with 6' fence
panels). I should think any of the diy sheds will supply them; price very
approximately £3 for 6' length. Relatively smart, relatively long-lasting.

Spider



You can get them in cast concrete as well, I used slabs set in half their
depth but you need to link the tops (drain pipe with a slot cut in)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

"catkin" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of
please? I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I joined
together using various metal "bits" but these have had it now and I'd like
to make something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My first thought
was railway sleepers but these (untreated) seem prohibitably expensive -
especially delivered to Somerset. I also thought about scaffolding planks
but cannot find anywhere selling these. Any suggestions would be most
welcome. TIA,

Not sure what your defintion of 'railway sleepers' is. To me that means the
huge heavy mothers used to railway tracks.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living...-195371054.htm
$40 odd each

I built raised beds using 'garden sleepers'
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living...-195258638.htm
$15-20 odd each when bought from the guy who mills them.

The 2 jokers I purchased from had 'seconds' which reduced the price down to
about $7-8 per sleeper. These are 200mm wide, 100 mm deep and 2.1 metres
long.

If you can find someone who mills garden sleepers in your area see if they
have seconds available.

I put my gardens together (3-4 sleepers high) roughly like this but without
all the reinforcing.
http://www.railwaysleeper.com/Chris's%20A-Z%20of%20a%20railway%20sleeper%20raised%20bed.htm

If not that way, Bob has the right way to go with scaffold planks. Tick for
that.

rob

In message , catkin
writes
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of
please? I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I
joined together using various metal "bits" but these have had it now
and I'd like to make something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My
first thought was railway sleepers but these (untreated) seem
prohibitably expensive - especially delivered to Somerset. I also
thought about scaffolding planks but cannot find anywhere selling
these. Any suggestions would be most welcome. TIA,

The thought of using hypertufa slabs for making raised beds has crossed
my mind. Does anyone know anything about the practicability of this?
(Would they be too fragile? Would they leak too much lime into the
soil?)
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

I use concrete breeze blocks 9" x 18". Bury them 3" on edge and have a bed 6" high , or bury them 6" on end and have a bed 12" high. Lay them flat and have you beds 4", 8", 12", etc. Mine are now 12" high and I am looking forward to them being 16" when I can sit on the wall to do my gardening. Cost of blocks in my area vary from 52p to 69p. Catalogues show 8' x 4' x6" raised beds and sell at about £40. 36 blocks will give you the same area by 8" high at half the price. I use the top of the wall to grow some veg in pots. I'm still experimenting with that. Has been good with root crops and peas but don't expect them to be of show standard.

Bigal

On 1 Jan, 17:47, "catkin" wrote:
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can make these out of please?
I've been using some made of old chopped up pallets which I joined together
using various metal "bits" but these have had it now and I'd like to make
something slightly more aesthetically pleasing. My first thought was railway
sleepers but these (untreated) seem prohibitably expensive - especially
delivered to Somerset. I also thought about scaffolding planks but cannot
find anywhere selling these. Any suggestions would be most welcome. TIA,

--
Hayley
gardening on clay in Somerset

Hi,
There is a place called The Wood Pile on the A38 at West Huntspill
(tel 01278 788978) which advertises lots of cheap building materials.
I have wanted to visit, but never have , but see their ad in the local
free
Trade-it paper which comes out on Friday.
Might be worth a look.
Good luck
David G in Clevedon.