Replies

1. 
   Pondfish | Apr 06, 2005 02:06pm | #1

   How high do you want the bed raised?  I used raised beds when I lived in St. Louis (soil there is the worst I've ever had).  My raised beds were cedar 2x8s on edge with a 4x4 piece at each inside corner.  I used 1x2 stakes (also set on the inside of the bed and secured by screws) every 4 feet to keep the sides from bulging out.  The top was capped with a cedar 2x6 with mitred corners to produce a small sill (I left about 3/4" overhanging on the inside to cover the stakes).  I rounded the corners to prevent anyone getting hurt on the sharp corner.

   This worked great for me for many planting seasons.  It's gone now because the dimwit who bought my house tore out all the gardens--all perennial beds were replaced by little white stones.  What a Guido!

2. 
   lwj2 | Apr 09, 2005 05:32am | #2

   I made our raised beds out of standard PT garden timber -- roughly 3x -- four timbers high.

   The timbers come in 8 foot lengths, I used 12, four each for the long sides, two cut in half for each of the short sides.

   I half-lapped each timber, screwed the ends with #8 or #10 galvanized Robertson [square drive] screws (available from McFeely's, Lynchburg VA, http://www.mcfeelys.com) so that each timber half-lap was secured and the layer above was secured to the immediate layer below.

   This gives you a little over cubic yard of volume (27 cu ft.). We filled until it was a little over 2/3 the way up the last course.

   The structure was leveled on the first course by digging down until it was level, subsequent layers follow the first course. It drains well, but does require more watering than an in-ground bed would.

   Regards,

   Leon Jester

   
   

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   Edited 4/8/2005 10:34 pm ET by Leon Jester