BridYYC
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Joined: Mon May 16, 2016 1:10 am

Backing for beds against fence

Hello,

I'm trying to decide what I should back my raised beds with when they are against a wood and/or chain link fence. Due to size limitations, I'd prefer not to take the edge stones all the way around and only have them in the front and sides. So what should I use against the wood fence, and chain link fence?

Thanks

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I would not back it up against a wood fence -- soil contact will make the fence deteriorate.

Chain link fence -- if not concerned about appearances, even flattened cardboard box would work to hold in the soil. But landscaping fabric zip tied on maybe better. Actually to make it look even better, you might roll the top edge of the fabric onto something like a stake, then attach to the fence.

spookstaz
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Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:25 am
Location: Kirkland, QC

I had a similar situation. I live in a condo townhouse where I have a 2 foot wide space for my beds. This year I extended the length of the bed along my wood fence. My fence has steel posts on concrete footings. The top 6 inches of the footings are visible above ground level. Some form of backing was needed to level out the slope.

My solution was to screw treated fence boards to stakes and pound the stakes into the ground along the fence. It's holding up pretty well so far.

If your fence has wood posts then you can just screw the boards into the posts. Replace them every few years.
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HoneyBerry
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Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 1:10 pm
Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State

I have a small raised bed against a wood fence, separated by aluminum sheeting. I am going to tear it down. I don't like the way it looks. A volunteer lilac has made it's home between the fence and the sheet metal. I don't want it there, and I have cut it back several times, but it keeps coming back because I need to dig up the root. This is a temporary situation for me. Landscaping blocks are a better idea. There really should be some space between the wood fence and dirt. The sheet metal helps protect the fence from direct contact. But there is moisture to consider. It creates a home for bugs. The bugs and moisture could adversely affect a wood fence.
There is a newly installed chain link fence down the street from me that has metal roofing attached to the bottom of it, about 2' up. It looks nice. The metal is more rugged looking than the flimsy sheet metal that I used to cover my wood fence. I think it must be an animal barrier. There is no raised bed garden.



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