Needing some ideas for a waist-high raised bed.

[sleuth]

Hello all, new to this site and forum but wanted to jump right in.

I am thinking about shoestring budget ways of building some waist-high raised beds. Timber is expensive so rather than build all-wood frames with 2x12 dimensional lumber, I was thinking of building some 2x6 frames with some kind of fabric or mesh on the bottom to allow water to filter through while retaining as much soil as possible, and "swag" it an additional 6" to get the full 12" depth that I am wanting.

My question is what to use that is free or nearly free for the bottom? Was thinking about landscape fabric but am afraid it will break down. Another thought was old carpet since it is nearly free, but am not sure how this will age. Also need to think about the strength of the material and its ability to withstand the weight of a foot of wet soil on top of it. Wire mesh I fear may be too expensive for the number of beds I am building.

Also thought there might be some inexpensive plastic or nylon meshes or fabrics that will work well. What do you all think?

Thanks,
Craig

 

[Wannabefree]

Run a search on hugelbeets. They are easy to make. I was going to make some one year, but never got around to doing much that year with the idea.

 

[pinkfox]

how about straw bale gardening?

 

[sleuth]

how about straw bale gardening?

Pinkfox, hadn't thought about that. I'll keep that idea in the back pocket, but I'm looking for something with a neater appearance. Wife might put the kabosh on that around mid-season. ;-)

 

[~gd]

Have you looked into TYVEK a nonwoven material made by DuPont that is used to wrap houses when they are building them? it comes in large sheets and is what HazMat suits are made of.
Among Tyvek's properties are:Light weight, Class A flammability rating. Chemical resistance,Dimensional stability Opacity. Neutral pH, Tear resistant. But if I understand you want water to pass through it? It will allow air and water vapor to pass but not liquid water. A few pokes with a sharp knife at the low spots will let the water out. You may want to check at a recycling center [the stuff drives them nuts brcause it looks like paper Tyvek products are marked with the #2 resin-code for HDPE but most bottle places cannot use it] As I said it is used for house wrap so also check house builders and Habitat for Humanity for any odds and ends they may want to get rid off.
Frankly I find it hard to visualize what you want to do but I am fairly sure Tyvek will work. ~gd

 

[sleuth]

Have you looked into TYVEK a nonwoven material made by DuPont that is used to wrap houses when they are building them? it comes in large sheets and is what HazMat suits are made of.
Among Tyvek's properties are:Light weight, Class A flammability rating. Chemical resistance,Dimensional stability Opacity. Neutral pH, Tear resistant. But if I understand you want water to pass through it? It will allow air and water vapor to pass but not liquid water. A few pokes with a sharp knife at the low spots will let the water out. You may want to check at a recycling center [the stuff drives them nuts brcause it looks like paper Tyvek products are marked with the #2 resin-code for HDPE but most bottle places cannot use it] As I said it is used for house wrap so also check house builders and Habitat for Humanity for any odds and ends they may want to get rid off.
Frankly I find it hard to visualize what you want to do but I am fairly sure Tyvek will work. ~gd

gd, how would it handle getting saturated wet and constant moisture? Would it still hold weight?

To better picture what I'm thinking... look google "gardenrack" and imagine using fabric of some kind for the bottom to contain the soil instead of cement mixing tubs. (I'd post a picture but I'm limited as a new member.)

 

[~gd]

Have you looked into TYVEK a nonwoven material made by DuPont that is used to wrap houses when they are building them? it comes in large sheets and is what HazMat suits are made of.
Among Tyvek's properties are:Light weight, Class A flammability rating. Chemical resistance,Dimensional stability Opacity. Neutral pH, Tear resistant. But if I understand you want water to pass through it? It will allow air and water vapor to pass but not liquid water. A few pokes with a sharp knife at the low spots will let the water out. You may want to check at a recycling center [the stuff drives them nuts brcause it looks like paper Tyvek products are marked with the #2 resin-code for HDPE but most bottle places cannot use it] As I said it is used for house wrap so also check house builders and Habitat for Humanity for any odds and ends they may want to get rid off.
Frankly I find it hard to visualize what you want to do but I am fairly sure Tyvek will work. ~gd

gd, how would it handle getting saturated wet and constant moisture? Would it still hold weight? Yup except it can not get saturated The fibers are all HDPE plastic which repells liquid water. I used to wear tyvek suits in the clean rooms at work Handling a fairly dangerous bacteria. Well you still have to have fire drills and I was the last one out because I took a shower to leave the bacteria in the confinement area I didn't know that they had a emergency decomtamination area set up out side [like they should have] I got hit with 4 fire hoses[ all at once and when that was over I just shook like a very big dog and the suit was dry and so was I. This stuff is tough but it is basically flexible plastic. it happens that I used to use plastic cement mixing tubs for my geese to mate in tyvek is tougher.

To better picture what I'm thinking... look google "gardenrack" and imagine using fabric of some kind for the bottom to contain the soil instead of cement mixing tubs. (I'd post a picture but I'm limited as a new member.)

 

[moolie]

Sounds like what you want to build is a raised square foot garden, something like this:

(google image search, not my photo)

If you want to do this on the cheap, you might look into wooden pallets--you can use them as-is, or take them apart and use the individual boards in your structure. Just be sure to use untreated pallets, you don't want to be growing food in treated wood (or carpet for that matter--carpeting is treated with all sorts of chemicals including formaldehyde).

Orange plastic roll snow-fencing might work for your base, but you'd also need some coir or other drainable garden fabric to line it with and I think pallets would work better/be much more supportive--wet soil gets heavy fast, and then you've got the steadily increasing weight of your growing crops to consider.

Just some thoughts

 

[sleuth]

Sounds like what you want to build is a raised square foot garden, something like this:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2435/3669030290_0240cf8560.jpg
(google image search, not my photo)

If you want to do this on the cheap, you might look into wooden pallets--you can use them as-is, or take them apart and use the individual boards in your structure. Just be sure to use untreated pallets, you don't want to be growing food in treated wood (or carpet for that matter--carpeting is treated with all sorts of chemicals including formaldehyde).

Orange plastic roll snow-fencing might work for your base, but you'd also need some coir or other drainable garden fabric to line it with and I think pallets would work better/be much more supportive--wet soil gets heavy fast, and then you've got the steadily increasing weight of your growing crops to consider.

Just some thoughts

Pallets are a great idea. I could line them with landscaping fabric to prevent soil loss. Will have to see where I can find some around here.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I have some old tin in my yard thats not going anywhere and I think I will frame up a temporary bed, 26 inches high....fill it with woodchips and cap it off with some topsoil and compost and have a quicky extra garden. So what if it only lasts me 4 years, at the most....I can produce a lotta food in 4 years and have less junk in my yard. Eventually the woodchips would decompose, but ....good. More where that came from.
Also, I have my parents old coop in the woods, which is almost in ruins......well for some reason there are a couple of old fiberglass pool frames there. I figure they can be sliced to whatever size someone wants and used as a side for a bed. Once its in the shape it will be in and filled with soil, it should stay put, provided the ends are screwed together, or otherwise secured. So a 3 foot kiddy pool could make 2 oval shaped 18 inch beds or one very high one, if someone really doesn't want to bend down at all and has enough to fill all that space in. Personally I vote for the first. I use a gardening chair, that I scoot along with me while I'm working. No bending all the time for me.
Also, (and I know some people worry about leaching, but here goes) I have an unlimited access to tractor tires, due to family and employers using them. The very insides can be trimmed to give more planting space and the outsides can serve as borders for beds. Actually, I plan on using all my empty ones, before thinking about using tin. My smaller tires have been flipped inside out and cut in points to make a decreative planter. Herbs are going in those.