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gixxerific
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What did you use to build your raised beds with?

I had raised beds at my last house, they were regular 2x12's. My garden was totally hidden from view of my neighbors by my fence.

At this house I'm am, for the most part, in plain sight of a bunch of people. I am a nice guy and I don't want to put up something that looks like trash. I don't want to be the hillbilly of the subdivision. I would like to do something that looks half way decent. Preferably with cedar 2x10's or 12's. They would at least look pretty nice. I would do it right now but I'm broke and can't afford to just run out and buy 80 or so linear feet of cedar, that stuff aint cheap, plus after being built you have to get a large amount of soil to fill said beds.

I have a few other ideas, what do you have yours built with. Pics would be great. :D

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gixxerific
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My garden so far is as following. I have thought about taking it out as far as the fence and splitting down the middle with a walkway to access the garden. It would be roughly 16 feet deep and about 30 foot long. Another idea is to just divide it where it is though it would be much smaller. It all really depends on how much wood I can afford. Though I have some good jobs coming up that might help. We shall see.

[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/Gardening/DSC02865.jpg[/img]

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rainbowgardener
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My raised beds are built of 4X4 pine fence posts stacked. They are held together by drilling holes down through the stack and pounding rebar in. Then I sealed them with varnish with stain in it, so they look beautiful, like furniture. They have lasted for 8 years now and are still very solid and going strong. I refinish the outside every couple years, just to keep it looking nice and to help protect the wood so they keep lasting. And they are tall enough with a wide enough edge so that you can sit on them!

The last place I lived I built raised beds out of 1X12" boards and in only a few years, the boards were all warping. The fence posts are cheaper, look nicer, and last a lot longer.

Sometime I'll try to post some pics of mine...

Yes, building them so deep, it takes a good amount of soil to fill them (I bought a truckload of dirt and had it brought in) but that's the point of a raised bed I think, to have a whole bunch of good topsoil piled up, instead of a few inches of top soil on top of clay or rock or whatever you have.
Last edited by rainbowgardener on Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

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gixxerific
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Thanks rainbow I saw you post elsewhere that you had 4x4's which got me wondering what else people had used with success. Thing is at my old house the garden was originally those 3x4 landscape timbers and I spent years removing from all over the yard because of rot. Which is why I changed it over to 2x12's. I was thinking maybe 6x6's as well, it will more than likely come down to cost, yet it will be effective, I don't do work twice. I'm a bricklayer and even thought about doing a footing with a stone wall but that would cost $1,000 or more and would take more time to build.

Apple are they sitting directly on the ground or did you put a bit of rock down first? I may not be able to do it this year but I might be able to start stocking up at least on something.

Any other ideas?

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rainbowgardener
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You're a bricklayer, you must have access to tons of bricks, why not build brick boxes for your raised beds? You would have to do a little something to insure drainage for those, but it should be workable and show off your skills!

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applestar
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Oh I agree! It doesn't have to be the WHOLE garden, but you could have a brick patio with several exhibition/centerpiece brick raised beds (planted with colorful edibles like Rainbow chard, strawberries, lowbush blueberries (GREAT fall color), Purple Podded pole beans, yellow bush beans, Burgundy beans, Burgundy okra, Red Russian Kale, maybe dwarf patio/garden peach/nectarine or apple trees. ... possibilities are endless! ) in a somewhat formal style, with a more rustic kitchen or pottager garden beyond. You could make one of the raised beds in same style as the others to hold a pond instead. OOh! wouldn't that look great!?

I could just hear the realestate agent -- "The owner/former owner is a bricklayer...." :wink:

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stella1751
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Here's a thought, something I heard about but don't know much about. My cousin's son told me that when construction companies tear down buildings and places, they will sell or give away the debris to whoever asks. Because you are a bricklayer, you've probably got an "in" with local construction companies. If you ask someone to let you know when a building is going down, you could drive out there and use your imagination, based upon what's available. Who knows? You might even get bricks!

Just a thought. I've always wanted to do this--my cousin's son KNOWS people--but I don't have a pickup :(

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applestar
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Here's somebody's raised brick pond. I think this is OK to post:
https://www.guitarfish.org/category/raised-brick-pond

TFA303
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I used lumber that I gleaned by dumpster-diving at constructon sites. I plan to paint it in the spring so it'll look nice, and last longer (I didn't use any pressure-treated lumber for obvious reasons.).

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smokensqueal
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I just used the 1x12 and 1x6 ceder. I've been spacing out the cost by doing one at a time. And as far as filling it I usually don't fill it to the top to start out. I do it more to keep it separated from the yard. Then in the fall you can some times pick up "top soil" bags at the big box stores for cheap like 50 cents some times.

jmoore
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Another vote for 4x4's and rebar. I sink them in to about ground level and top them off with 2x4's to give it a clean finish. So the beds are raised but only a few inches.

I don't finish or stain mine. I just pop them in the ground and they have held up fine. The flower bed I installed 2.5 years ago is basically indistinguishable from new. I dug up one corner to check on rot and it's perfectly fine.

I also occassionally drive around the neighborhood during bulk trash week. There is invariably someone demo-ing a fence or old deck. I grab those timbers and it doesn't take much to make them workable. Usually just removing some nails and cutting off some rotten end bits. I've got a big pile of 4x4s and 2x4s waiting for me to build the next raised bed.

If I were you, I wouldn't worry about using cedar or something like that. If you build it correctly, then it will look fine and probably better than what was there before. Most people know what raised beds are and I'd hardly think they would complain. Just keep the area tidy and I bet you never hear one comment.

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gixxerific
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Rainbow Just cause I'm a bricklayer doesn't mean I have free access to brick and stone, though that would be nice. Plus I would have to match what is on my house already. Drainage would not be a problem, we have that down to a science. I can get material for cost but it's still not cheap.

Apple never you fear, in a year or two we are going to build a deck, than I will have and idea of where all the masonry will go, planters, outdoor fireplace/bbq-pit who knows. I would love to do a pond but my yard is not set up right for that, or is it. We mainly do million to 30+ million dollar houses. So I have seen some stuff that would make you head spin. But I can't put $100,000 worth of masonry on a $200.000 house, though I would like to.

I stockpile some things here and there but masonry in St Louis is big business they usually don't give it away. We just had bulk trash day but I didn't go out. I do get what lumber I can from job-sites, I was wanting cedar for it's weather resistant properties and good looks. I will look at prices for 4x4's and see if that is what I want to do. or maybe I will wait and go stone. Like I said I try to do it right the first time. :D

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gixxerific
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Just to show my skills and show off a bit here are a few pics of stuff I have done. Like I said we do $million+ houses. Though my specialty is the design-build things. Where there is not really a plan but an idea and we work it out from there. Things like fireplaces (indoor and outdoor), barbecue pits, outdoor fire-pits, pergola's, mailboxes, entryway's etc. Can you tell I'm a true outdoor's man.

This is my raised patio at my last house:
[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/DSC00802.jpg[/img]

This is a fireplace-patio I did last year:
[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/DSC01027.jpg[/img]

Another view:
[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/DSC01851.jpg[/img]

Here is a pergola I did at a mansion a few years ago, the ring in the middle is a working gas firepit:
[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/DSC00957.jpg[/img]

Here is something we did for a Home Show, it is supposed to look like a Mayan ruin that is falling apart. On the inside is a pool with a waterfall built into the stone wall. We have built bigger ones but I can't find the pics.
[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/DSC02311.jpg[/img]
Another view:
[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/DSC02309.jpg[/img]

Enjoy :D

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rainbowgardener
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Beautiful!

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pharmerphil
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Ok, I'll add my 2¢ worth..
What if I say...I Use NOTHING to build my raised beds?


I don't, and I've done this for 22 years, folks back then would stop in and aske what I was burying :lol:
These are NOT for decorative purposes, although they look GREAT after they are all strawed and only veggies showing

I till the area, put up a string, and walk along the string tossing one shovel full of dirt to the right, and the next to the left, shoveling out a walkway, building two raised beds at once. then I firm the sides with my foot, rake it out, and move on to the next bed

These last all season, erode VERY little, even in the Minnesota Monsoons and
unlike constructed beds,

Can be tilled down every year, facilitating crop rotation, and preventing compaction, because even your BEST mix, over time compacts in a frame.

now here in Mn. the beds hold up great, when I lived where the soil was a little more sandy..THEY STILL WORKED GREAT

I have included pics..
These are what the wife grows those HUGE 16 inch long CARROTS in that I pictured on the board here a while back :)
here's the set up!
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/Phlaura/Phunny%20Pharm%20Pix/rb6edit.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/Phlaura/Phunny%20Pharm%20Pix/rb7.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/Phlaura/Phunny%20Pharm%20Pix/rb9.jpg[/img]
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/Phlaura/Phunny%20Pharm%20Pix/rb10.jpg[/img]

Results:
[img]https://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d62/ldickens/carrot.jpg[/img]

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gixxerific
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Yeah I have seen your garden before. That is a great idea but It wouldn't work for me I would loose too much valuable space. You have a bunch of land there I have a somewhat small patch.

Those beds look very nice, If only I had a few acres.

Miss Sprout
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hi there recently I bought some gardening tanks. they are basically a water tank cut in half! although they sound ugly they actually dot look that bad! they come in lots of different colours and if you have no grass or dirt to put it on you can take out a few of your bricks and plop them in! they are wonderful and I would defiantly recommend them to everyone!

:) hope it helped

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pharmerphil
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gixxerific wrote:Yeah I have seen your garden before. That is a great idea but It wouldn't work for me I would loose too much valuable space. You have a bunch of land there I have a somewhat small patch.

Those beds look very nice, If only I had a few acres.
Gix, that land in the distance is ag land, and the only reason I can't be certified organic...even though the neighbor respects my property and garden, and does not even come within 50 yards with any spray applications (Yep they are GREAT FOLKS)...There isn't enough distance or buffer to be certified Organic.
Actual garden area is a little over 7100 sq. ft.

We do have a great sized area, but these beds till under, and you don't find yourself 2-3 years down the road needing to rotate your crops in a permanent raised bed...and no options left to do so

the walkways are so wide and I do loose a few feet to them, but I can get the garden cart in to move out the produce

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gixxerific
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pharmerphil wrote:
gixxerific wrote:Yeah I have seen your garden before. That is a great idea but It wouldn't work for me I would loose too much valuable space. You have a bunch of land there I have a somewhat small patch.

Those beds look very nice, If only I had a few acres.
Gix, that land in the distance is ag land, and the only reason I can't be certified organic...even though the neighbor respects my property and garden, and does not even come within 50 yards with any spray applications (Yep they are GREAT FOLKS)...There isn't enough distance or buffer to be certified Organic.
Actual garden area is a little over 7100 sq. ft.

We do have a great sized area, but these beds till under, and you don't find yourself 2-3 years down the road needing to rotate your crops in a permanent raised bed...and no options left to do so

the walkways are so wide and I do loose a few feet to them, but I can get the garden cart in to move out the produce
mine is only about 200 square ft.

tedln
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Dono,

I think I've told you before that I use a triple layer of landscape timbers to make my 4' X 8' beds. I wait for Home Depot to put them on sale at $1.97 each. Since each bed only requires nine timbers, each bed costs a little over $17.00. I always start my beds with the cheap topsoil from Home Depot. That is about twenty bags per bed at $1.14 per bag so the dirt costs about $23.00. I use about 10 of the long galvanized nails or spikes ( about 12" long) to hold the timbers together. They cost I think $1.20 each so add $12.00 dollars. I rake up or using my gas powered blower, I suck up and grind the leaves from a lot of oak trees plus clippings from our rye grass lawn. I add all of that material plus some hay our cattle discarded or dropped to the beds. I start the spring gardening season with a really nice bed that cost about $50.00 and can be used for many years. You can save the spike cost by using something else like less expensive nails. I harvested over $200.00 worth of squash from two beds this year at $1.69 per lb at the market. That more than paid for the beds. I also harvested a lot of tomatoes and peppers from the same beds. I think I saved money by building the beds.

Ted

tedln
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Miss Sprout wrote:hi there recently I bought some gardening tanks. they are basically a water tank cut in half! although they sound ugly they actually dot look that bad! they come in lots of different colours and if you have no grass or dirt to put it on you can take out a few of your bricks and plop them in! they are wonderful and I would defiantly recommend them to everyone!

:) hope it helped
Miss Sprout,

Any chance you can post a photo of that "gardening tank"? When you say "a water tank cut in half", are you talking about a water trough for farm animals? Where do you buy the gardening tanks?

Thanks

Ted

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gixxerific
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Thanks ted, are you talking about the timbers that are flat on top and rounded on the sides. I had problems with them rotting at my last house. I am going to go to lowe's later today I will look again at what they have to offer.

tedln
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Dono,

Yes, flat on top and bottom, round on the sides. I've had them last as long as ten years. Since they use copper sulfate as the treatment to prevent rotting, they last well and the copper is non toxic. Just remember to pick straight ones. Don't buy them until you are ready to build. When Lowes/Home Depot receive them, they are still wet from pressure treatment. When they are pulled from the bundle, they start drying and will twist up like a pretzel as they dry. If they sit long unattached to anything, they become almost unusable.

Ted

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gixxerific
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Yeah I no about the pretzeling thing. I just went they are 3.97 right now. They looked pretty rough. They also had the 4x4's they were like 9$ or something for 8 footers. I believe I will go with those though, still time to think about it.

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stella1751
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Gix, just a word if you decide to use landscape timbers. I know you've got a rambunctious dog; I've got two of 'em. I build my raised beds higher than Tedlin's because when there's a squirrel on the horizon, my dogs forget all my rules about gardens :shock:

I've got a friend who builds her waist high because she has a bad back and can't bend over without discomfort . . .

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gixxerific
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stella1751 wrote:Gix, just a word if you decide to use landscape timbers. I know you've got a rambunctious dog; I've got two of 'em. I build my raised beds higher than Tedlin's because when there's a squirrel on the horizon, my dogs forget all my rules about gardens :shock:

I've got a friend who builds her waist high because she has a bad back and can't bend over without discomfort . . .
I hear ya Stella, If I'm next door at the neighbors my dog will jump over the garden fence to get closer. I need to move my fence I have now it doesn't cover my new section. Also I am looking at some 3 ft high fencing with tight bars at the bottom to keep out rabbits and such. I If go raised I will probably u-bolt them to the side which will probably give me 4 ft or more of height. My dog can jump fences, well at least her mom and dad were famous for that, so don't tell her she can please. :lol: She doesn't know it yet.



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