We get asked all the time “Luke what materials are best for me to build my raised beds with?” That is the topic of today’s video and you should watch this video in its entirety before you build anything.
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MIgardener, growing up we simply made stone walls, in the northeast US our harvest of stone from the garden outweighed the food 🙂 so readily available just needs labor and a bit of annual maintenance.
have you ever thought of using old tires? could be a free long lasting alternative.
I have a lot of rabbits, groundhogs and some deer in my yard, how do I protect against these critters. I beleive its the main thing keeping me from starting a garden.
Luke, during this video you mentioned treated and untreated pine. Tell me, what do you think about untreated Douglas fur for raised beds? Pros and cons?
your videos continue to improve as the years go by. You are a young Jim Crockett ( Crockett"s Victory Garden). You may have heard of him. He's an old timer… Keep it going.. your in for a great future….
I built a raised beds using el cheapo lumber. I am in coastal SC and the termites feasted on the untreated wood. This spring I am going to grow in raised soil beds with out the lumber.
I start off with douglas fir planks and treat them with edible linseed oil. After one season I remove the sides and use the wood for a new bed, lasts about six seasons, you don't really need to define the beds after one season, only if you do no dig of course.
I just built my raised bed and I calculated the price between wood and cinder blocks. The blocks were way cheaper, but definitely more labor intensive
What about the colored steel panels. Could I use them without worry of chemicals leaching?
Why do you need to enclose the soil with walls? It won’t escape on you. Just mound up the soil and have sloping sides.
I use galvanized beds, $65/6’x3’
In this current day and age I would suggest using pallet wood.
Checkout the book: "Lasagna Gardening." Choose and implement a method (such as, but not exclusively the LG method) first then worry about what you will frame it with later. The longer you drag your feet about what border to use then the more time you'll be spending not growing food.
AND really you don't even need to put "sides" on a raised bed….if push came to shove.
OH…and Landscapes timbers are great and fairly cheap.
Random question… What are your thoughts on planting veggies with small shrubs that flower in a raised bed
go to tractor supply the fire rings are about 40 they did go up 10 dollars
and galvanized steel are about 17 dollars a 10 foot piece and will get enough tof 1 0r 3 beds depending on the height you want
Will the steel rings get to hot in the summer. I was thinking about a wedding cake stack for strawberries. I’m in Northwest Florida.
This was exactly the reminder video i needed. I kind of learned it years ago but memories fade. Thanks for all of the good info.
I'm trying straw bale gardening this year! I'd like to see you make a video about straw bale gardening and Kugelkulture, both above ground methods for compacted poor clay soils. I'm doing a bit of a hybrid straw bale garden with large rectangles and then the center is filled with compost and top soil mix, so I can grow root vegetables and cooler crops like lettuces in the centers on the north side of attached hog panels, which will feature vining plants like peas, squash, cucumbers.
Needs some experts on this comment. Galvanizing does flake. How is growing in galvanized steel safe?
Hey @MIgardener I live in Florida, will my lettuce and swiss chard die off in the heat of summer? If so, how do I shade it from the intense sun and heat? Any advice would be helpful!
Would hardy plank be a good option?
I used cedar picket fence panels (about $3.50 each) built a 70×32” box 16 1/2” tall (3 panel’s stacked) it cost me roughly $40 for a huge box.
Where can I get the compost you refer to for filling beds?
juniper boards last a minimum of 30 years with contact with soil.
I live in the PNW and Cedar is NOT cheap. I use Cedar because I do not trust Pressure treated wood which is much cheaper. I certainly do not get 10 years out of it. Our wet weather makes that faster rotting happen. How do you know that pressure treated wood is safe now? Pressure treated is cheaper than cedar. I really want to know where you found proof that pressure treated is safe. Please.
Cinder blocks have fly ash in them, a definite no no. Pure concrete blocks should be ok, but researching this, fly ash is in most of them, an can you believe a person selling concrete blocks to be fly ash free, your taking a chance.
We are actually looking at other options. After 7 years our galvinized beds (roofing) are starting to rust through. I have seen plenty of galvinized roofing with rust on it. I came to watch this as we are looking at starting to rebuild. In our 60s we are not wanting to do this again and again.
I built my beds for FREE using small logs. I can drive around my area (in the suburbs) any day of the week and find piles of small logs from people having their trees trimmed… a lot of good hardwoods like oak and mulberry that last years and cost me nothing. On a side note I also make compost with free resources… bags of leaves people throw out in the fall, or grass clippings in summer… free manure from a stable nearby… free coffee grounds from coffee shops.. free fruits and vegetables from grocery store dumpsters, which also provide me with a few free seeds. There's all kinds of free resources for people on a budget.