Cheap raised bed options that seem to last forever.

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Holly1

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This may be one for the UK dudes but the rest of the world may have similar companies, and it might be worth a look. Perhaps check out shipping options and the costs. If not, perhaps have a look and see if you can make some of this stuff for yourself?

If your ground is too hard or stony to dig by hand, or if you have strength or joint problems (as I do) and you are already considering a raised garden bed project in the UK, then may I suggest a company called 'Link-a-bord. They take old UPVC and repurpose it to make modular, easy to assemble and light-weight raised garden frames. The only tool you will need for assembly is a small hacksaw to cut rods to your required size.

I do not work for them and am not getting any money for suggesting this company.

I first purchased mine 11 years ago and they show no sign of age, deterioration or failure due to soil weights or weathering. They are just as good now as when I first bought them. I was able to single-handedly build a 9 feet long by 3 feet wide raised bed in under 20 minutes.
The thermal properties of the UPVC help to keep my soil/compost mix warmer during the winters, and I never see ice or frost on my soil - unless we get a snowfall. The beds also seem to help to keep the beds a fraction cooler in the summer. I planted spinach and lettuce last year in both the UPVC beds and the smaller beds I repurposed out of wooden pallets and the plants in the wooden pallets bolted first; I got about 3 weeks more out of the plants in the UPVC before I let them go to seed for annual cropping/next season replant.

I'm not telling you what you should do - you do you, guys! I just put this out there in case you never heard of this company and were thinking about a raised bed option.
I hope you are all doing well out there.
 
Went to the website. Those look VERY nice, indeed! I'm officially jealous. And so nice to have customer feedback 11 years later. Thanks!
I am so sorry if you cannot get them. I did not mean to make anyone out here feel bad. How great would it be if other countries took waste UPVC and did the same with it? I don't know if I should call them up and suggest shipping abroad? I don't know how many other folks out in the world would want them.
I look about the place I live in and I know that there is no one who is doing the same stuff as me. I guess it is probably the same for you? here may be one or two but many seem oblivious.
The cost of shipping to central Texas would make this stuff even more costly than lumber - and that price is way high enough! I reckon you are pretty much set and are okay and I am very glad about that.
If you did want a raised bed for cheap and that lasts ... (what do they call it in USA?) is it Cinderblocks? I think in UK we call it breezeblocks? It is a concrete, porous grey looking block that the builders use for doing stuff on houses. Sorry I am a bit rubbish.
I do wish you well on your projects though.
 
My raised beds are these. Galvanized Steel Raised Garden Planter Bed 6ft. x 3ft., Model# 2811S533 | Northern Tool. 3'x6' ran $60 when I bought mine last year. Hope to add a couple more of them one day. We added 1/2" metal mesh fabric to the bottoms to thwart gopher access from below, as we have those on our 40 acre BOL property. I think they were reasonably priced, and will serve my needs primarily for root vegetables. Will be planting other vegetables direct in-ground around them. :)
 
I like all of your ideas. I have my "raised bed" made out of old cinder blocks that were basically laying around here. Hunny did buy a few more when we got out first Covid check. I would really like to expand on this eventually.

that's what I'm building now - 4' X 12' and 8' X 12' - 2 blocks high - just picked up 20 double blocks 16" X 16" for free - going to use construction adhesive - some mechanical fastening and then driven rebar to hold it from any spreading pressure >> should be able to use them for early spring hot boxes ....

leaving the block cavities open for some planting - thinking strawberry plants or maybe herbs of some kind ...
 
that's what I'm building now - 4' X 12' and 8' X 12' - 2 blocks high - just picked up 20 double blocks 16" X 16" for free - going to use construction adhesive - some mechanical fastening and then driven rebar to hold it from any spreading pressure >> should be able to use them for early spring hot boxes ....

leaving the block cavities open for some planting - thinking strawberry plants or maybe herbs of some kind ...
I am doing strawberries and herbs in my open block cavities. Every other one due to spreading of herbs.
 
I'm not sure I'd consider them cheap although I guess if they truly last the cost is relative. I've used scaffolding boards for raised beds and with the right set up last a good while, easy to replace and cheap.
 
Our garden is on a slope, which makes it difficult to till. This fall I want to terrace the garden using railroad ties. I think I could do it 3 sections. Each section would be flat and would be much eaiser to till. We have several raised beds now that might need to be moved when we terrace the garden. I'd also like to build a few more, or get the galvanized ones, put them between the trees in the orchard.
 
I'm working on using Hügelkultur at BOL 2. Basically, you make your base out of decaying logs and other compostable biomass, then mound dirt over it. It retains moisture better and as the base decays, fortifies the soils.

Because the mounds are more vertical than a traditional bed, you use less space and have more/earlier soil warmth due to the sun and heat created by decomposition. Extends your growing season.

The added benefit is that they can be used to mitigate soil erosion on sloped land. Cost $0.

What Is Hugelkultur? Building the Ultimate Raised Bed | The Old Farmer's Almanac

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I think though, I will be putting more soil than 10cm over it!

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Other things I have used in the past....Old tractor tires, water troughs one of my horses decided to put a leak in, Old water crates I got at auction for super cheap
1652278875184.png
and not quite sure if they leak or not), just cut off the top., galvanized livestock tanks...
1652278786989.png
 
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We did the Hugelkultur no-till garden setting up our raised beds last year at our BOL, too. Just letting it 'age' and enrich the soil this past year. Didn't mound ours as tall as yours in the photo though. Planted a clover cover crop we will work into the top layer before planting out summer veg starts & herbs in the next week or two.
 
We did the Hugelkultur no-till garden setting up our raised beds last year at our BOL, too. Just letting it 'age' and enrich the soil this past year. Didn't mound ours as tall as yours in the photo though. Planted a clover cover crop we will work into the top layer before planting out summer veg starts & herbs in the next week or two.

I was going to ask you how that worked for you but, I guess time will tell. Did you start with solid logs or rotted?
 
I collected all the downed small-medium tree limbs around the yard that naturally fall off in every wind storm, lots of them we have to move out of the way to mow anyway. Never had a good place to put them before, but had saved/piled them up off by the firepit to burn. Now I had the perfect place for them. :) Thought that would also speed up the breakdown process in the new garden beds. Previous owners left several piles of dead wood (lightning struck trees) around the property, too, so no shortage of dead wood lying that's already starting to decompose when I want to 'top it off' in future seasons.
 

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