On Wed, 28 Apr 2004 13:02:14 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

In article , Stephen Howard
writes


Sound ideal - you don't really need the width of a sleeper.
I've nabbed four such boards for a strawberry bed.

Nabbing would have been a darn sight cheaper! They cost me £11 each
locally and take two and a half to make one bed. I have room for 12 or
13 beds so it's going to cost a bomb in the end .Plus the cost of laying
weed cover on the pathway in between.

Lucky I didn't mention the 20 odd strawberry plants I got from the
same source


Onions and carrots work very well when 'bunched' - that's to say four
or five plants shoulder to shoulder. You get smaller veg, but the
overall yield of the plot increases.
If going for the traditionally spaced method you can generally halve
the distances printed on the seed packets.
That said, I've found that lettuces do far better with lots of space
between plants, and suffer less from slug attack.

Think you should write an article about this as you have some very good
ideas and information.

Cheers, but I can't take credit for it - it's nearly all stuff I've
gleaned from books, programmes and other posters on this NG.
The rest is just trial and ( mostly ) error.


I've got wild and ordinary rocket if you want to try some different
types. Moles seeds seems t sell a variety of vegetable seeds not often
seen elsewhere but blinking big packets!!

I do, I do!!

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

Janet Tweedy wrote in
:


Actually I have scaffolding planks because they are marginally easier to
carry 200 foot up the garden.

Ah, scaffolding planks. I have been trying to find "used" scaffold planks for
a while now to make deep beds. Any clue please Janet as to where you were
able to buy them? Also how are you fixing them in place?

On 28 Apr 2004 16:31:30 GMT, Gradgrind gradgrind@gradgrind wrote:

Janet Tweedy wrote in
:


Actually I have scaffolding planks because they are marginally easier to
carry 200 foot up the garden.

Ah, scaffolding planks. I have been trying to find "used" scaffold planks for
a while now to make deep beds. Any clue please Janet as to where you were
able to buy them? Also how are you fixing them in place?

You sometimes see them propped up against rubbish skips.
You have to move fast before the man with the wheel barrow gets back
:-)

If you are in Northern Ireland
http://www.4ni.co.uk/listing.asp?company=98205

otherwise google for scaffolding planks building supplies etc.

g'day janet,

at present we are on a very sandy loam mostly devoid of organic
material thanks to modern agriculture. but prior to this we have lived
on heavy clay soils, i can't realy imagine any situation where a
raised bed won't work.

the product we use mostly to set up with and add later is mushroom
compost in the city i could buy it in a composted form here in rural
we buy it straight from the farm still in bags un-composted works well
either way, i will also add other stuff and the time of starting a bed
like any other green stuff i may have at hand.

but the mushy compost has done me well.

love the 'no-dig' 'no-weed' 'water-wise' aspect of this style of
gardening.

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/

In article ,
Gradgrind writes
Janet Tweedy wrote in
:


Actually I have scaffolding planks because they are marginally easier to
carry 200 foot up the garden.

Ah, scaffolding planks. I have been trying to find "used" scaffold planks for
a while now to make deep beds. Any clue please Janet as to where you were
able to buy them? Also how are you fixing them in place?


Well I bought brand new ones from a local builders merchants. No idea
I'm afraid of where you can get second-hand ones unless you demolish the
front of someone's extension site whilst the builders are off on bank
holiday.

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article , martin
writes
Ah, scaffolding planks. I have been trying to find "used" scaffold planks for
a while now to make deep beds. Any clue please Janet as to where you were
able to buy them? Also how are you fixing them in place?

You sometimes see them propped up against rubbish skips.
You have to move fast before the man with the wheel barrow gets back
:-)



LOL..............

Have you actually tried legging it with three scaffolding planks of 12
foot under your arm?


Janet


--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Janet Tweedy wrote in
:

Well I bought brand new ones from a local builders merchants. No idea
I'm afraid of where you can get second-hand ones unless you demolish
the front of someone's extension site whilst the builders are off on
bank holiday.

Janet

Thank for reply. It is my understanding that for health & safety reasons
scaffold planks have to be "retired" after a period of use so there should
be a ready suppy available second hand that should not be used for
scaffolding. I rather suspect they find their way back into the building
trade.

How are you supporting your planks to make your deep beds?

"Gradgrind" gradgrind@gradgrind wrote in message
...

It is my understanding that for health & safety reasons
scaffold planks have to be "retired" after a period of use so there should
be a ready suppy available second hand that should not be used for
scaffolding.

They are often advertised in the "FreeAds" papers http://www.adtrader.co.uk/
which is where we got ours.

How are you supporting your planks to make your deep beds?

After lifting off the turf the area was double-dug to aid drainage and a
layer of clay removed.
The planks sit neatly in the rectangle with the bottom edge just below the
level of the turf.
We used 3" square posts at each corner and also midway along the long sides.
(Otherwise the weight of the soil eventually bows them.) The planks were
simply secured to the posts with decking screws. A couple of shortened
planks were kept to use as a mobile bridge across the beds for easy
weeding/planting.
Our beds were filled with graded horticultural topsoil mixed with compost,
horse muck and seaweed.

"Sue da Nimm" . wrote in
:


They are often advertised in the "FreeAds" papers
http://www.adtrader.co.uk/ which is where we got ours.

We used 3" square posts at each corner and also midway along the long
sides. (Otherwise the weight of the soil eventually bows them.) The
planks were simply secured to the posts with decking screws. A couple
of shortened planks were kept to use as a mobile bridge across the
beds for easy weeding/planting.


Thanks for info Sue. I will check out the "FreeAds".

Your fixing method sounds good.

In article ,
Gradgrind gradgrind@gradgrind.? writes
Janet Tweedy wrote in
:


Actually I have scaffolding planks because they are marginally easier to
carry 200 foot up the garden.

Ah, scaffolding planks. I have been trying to find "used" scaffold planks for
a while now to make deep beds. Any clue please Janet as to where you were
able to buy them? Also how are you fixing them in place?

Its worth asking at the local hire shops, often they become twisted or
damaged and are no longer suitable for hiring out but are perfectly good
for this type of use, they usually throw them away. We also have a local
place that makes scaffold planks, they have 4' offcuts which you can buy
at a very cheap price (50p each), I use them for garden/children
projects.
--
David

wrote in message
...
In article ,
Gradgrind gradgrind@gradgrind.? writes
Janet Tweedy wrote in
:


Actually I have scaffolding planks because they are marginally easier
to
carry 200 foot up the garden.

Ah, scaffolding planks. I have been trying to find "used" scaffold planks
for
a while now to make deep beds. Any clue please Janet as to where you were
able to buy them? Also how are you fixing them in place?

Its worth asking at the local hire shops, often they become twisted or
damaged and are no longer suitable for hiring out but are perfectly good
for this type of use, they usually throw them away. We also have a local
place that makes scaffold planks, they have 4' offcuts which you can buy
at a very cheap price (50p each), I use them for garden/children
projects.
--
David

I too have raised beds for the veg, but mine are raised on tanalised decking
boards which are not too expensive and readily available and I guess they
will gradually get more available as people realise that decking takes some
looking after if it is to last.
Diane

In article ,
Gradgrind writes
Janet Tweedy wrote in
:

Well I bought brand new ones from a local builders merchants. No idea
I'm afraid of where you can get second-hand ones unless you demolish
the front of someone's extension site whilst the builders are off on
bank holiday.

Janet

Thank for reply. It is my understanding that for health & safety reasons
scaffold planks have to be "retired" after a period of use so there should
be a ready suppy available second hand that should not be used for
scaffolding. I rather suspect they find their way back into the building
trade.

How are you supporting your planks to make your deep beds?



I've got a hardwood stake at each end, bashed into the ground with my
sledgehammer/swedish maul then I've screwed the long planks to the stake
(2 screws each) and then cut Two cross pieces which form the ends and
screwed them in with two screws each. Sawn off the stakes so that they
are level with the planks. Put a stake on the inside of the bed halfway
down on each side and screwed them in with two screws. They seem fine at
the moment!

janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article , Sue da Nimm
writes

A couple of shortened
planks were kept to use as a mobile bridge across the beds for easy
weeding/planting.

I've screwed two sides to the cross plank so that it makes a sort of
bench or forme, that way it rests on the ground outside the bed rather
than on the top of the planks

Janet



--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk