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raised beds
Stephen wrote:
Hello, I am interested in making raised beds in the garden. I have not done this before, so I have a couple of questions: I am thinking of using wood due to cost, i.e. it is cheap. I see some people use pressure treated decking boards like these: http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Premi...-2-4m/p/101000 Is this the best timber to use? Is there a danger of the preservative leaching into the soil? I was hoping to grow some vegetables to eat and do not want to poison myself! Some web sites suggest putting a plastic sheet between the wood and the soil to prevent this contamination but other web sites do not mention it; is it necessary? What is the best way to screw four pieces of timber together to make a rectangular raised bed? I was thinking that I would need to sue a piece of 2x2 in each corner and screw into these. Half of the 2x2 could be buried in the ground to anchor it. However, is anchoring necessary: will the weight of the soil no hold it in place? Do I need to 2x2 at all, as I have seen some beds where the ends have been butted together and just screwed through. What is the best way of doing things? Thanks, Stephen. If you are doing to assist a disabled gardener, then don't make the beds too wide as the use might not be able to reach into the middle! I got this wrong when I did mine for SWMBO and now I have to do various jobs in the centre of the beds and I hate gardening! Long and narrow is the best arrangement. I also laid in 15mm copper pipe and a valve into the corner of each bed and connected seep hose to each valve. This allows timed automatic watering with the option to adjust the flow rate in each bed from 0 to 100% During wettest months the water feed is turned off and an extra valve opened (belt and braces possibly) so that freezing does not force the joints apart. |
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