I was wondering if people make mound raised beds with no actual supports for the dirt. Yes, they do. But from the looks of it mound raised beds are not as popular for growing vegetables as traditional raised beds are.
I knew a gal that would move her garden every year. She would lay down cardboard in the fall on her new spot. Then in spring she would till the area up and use cattle panels to form a new garden from that. I think that would be a good method to keep the insects down. Insects were a big problem for me. I didn’t have a big space to do good rotation. Then you got the Rustbelt weeds that take over everything.
Do you prefer plastic, metal, wood or stone for raised beds? (And what about mound raised beds?)
I prefer metal. Lasts longer. Do look at.my post for what you did in your yard as i think ive stumbled across a very cheap way to make raised beds that are easily moveable if you want usinf chicken wire and burlap.
I built a few beds using galvanized panels from HD framed with treated 2x4s. The beds have shown little wear and tear. This was the least costliest design that looks good. They are 4’ high though since that is the standard size of the metal.
I filled the bottom of the beds with logs and branches. Then, I used wood chips, dropped by an arborist at the house, to fill in the rest of the bed. I topped with compost. The soil in the beds has sunk quite a bit since everything has been breaking down over the years.
I belive wood-framed beds will deteriorate the quickest over time even if they are made of cedar. I would never use plastic. Concrete blooks look horrible. Stone would be nice depending on appearance, but could get expensive.
Your plan is exactly what I’m getting ready to construct. 2x4, metal roofing, logs, chips and all. I was putting the logs in because that what I saw others doing, but what happens to the logs over time and what’s the benefit?
Probley depends on your climate, money and pest populations. When I lived on the east coast I liked mounding as it was cheap and easy and watering where it rained all summer wasn’t a big deal. Here on the west coast with dry summers I like light painted metal with straw mulch and shade cloth. I tend to have things growing so they shade each other’s soil as summers can get really hot here. I use sluggo. When I lived where there were a LOT of snails, slugs and earwigs in a cooler climate I did not use mulch.
I’m hoping the metal lasts longer. Not liking wood as it breaks down too fast, even new redwood.
Stone would be awesome especially in a cool climate. But too much work.
Plastic is OK but better spray painted white. Both metal and plastic retain water better than wood I think.
Larger containers are much better than smaller- roots grow better and the containers don’t heat up as easily and retain water better. I’m talking 45 gallon pots and 2 - preferably 4 ft x 4ft or more long.
While wood is fine, I would like to throw out a word of caution about treated lumber!
Always remember that treated wood contains chemicals. For food crops, make sure the lumber was not treated with arsenic. It’s not common anymore, but it may still be out there.
For wood that is not treated with arsenic, they usually use copper, now. Not really a risk to us, but a lot of plants show a toxicity to copper and under perform. Tomatoes are notorious for this.
Naturally rot-resistant wood like cedar or redwood is always the best choice, but it’s more expensive. If looks don’t matter, I just recommend plain old cinder blocks (or brick-o blocks… whatever you call the 8x8x16 blocks in your region!) They last forever.
I have pretty good topsoil … But it is only 3-5 inches deep.. then it changes to rocky red sticky clay. I mean head sized rocks are not uncommon once you go deeper than the topsoil layer.
When I make a borderless raised bed. I simply break up (for example) an 8 - 10 ft wide strip of ground… as deep as my good topsoil goes.. then I add compost… and rake that 8-10 ft wide strip to the center creating a borderless raised bed 4 ft wide.
Pic 1 above a strawberry bed made like that.
Pic 2 above raspberry bed.
This Is one of the largest beds I created like that… 90 ft long x 4 ft wide.
Even my veggie garden bed is a borderless raised bed.. 40ft long x 12 ft wide. I created it using a tractor, disc, boxblade… and doubled my good topsoil depth.
I would like to have some stone border raised beds… just have not done that yet.
my garden has been mounded “beds” up until this coming year, I’m adding raised beds (shoulder injury so i can’t reach down as easily as i used to)
I’m putting in a handful of the metal ones, and put together a few from scrap wood. the scrap wood are 2 or 3 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet long, 3 feet wide. the metal are a foot tall right now but i might stack them. they’re 2x6 feet
I’ve got a lot of stuff to put in to fill and plan to dig to the silt for my good mound topsoil to put in the tops of them.
i change the mound direction every year, scrape the soil up n/s then the following year e/w direction.
I’m struggling to set up and fill the beds but it must be done now.
Wow, you got it all packed in. Good you make use all space. Real estate is very costly nowadays. Any room for trees? I’ve got trees front, back and on one side. I would have trees on the other side, but too shaded from neighbor’s house.
I see one of your metal beds is the type that is screwed together. Do you like the one-piece beds better?
Impressive work! Didn’t know you were on YT. You are not going to make any $ unless you produce more content. And you should be able to produce tons of content with all the work you do.
That ginseng hunting is interesting. I had never heard about it until moving to the Rustbelt. Same with ramps. I never found any of either…at the parks. Guess you gotta go wild.
Yes, you got beautiful dirt. Do you make the wood chips for mulch with a chipper or buy them?
i wouldn’t know about nicer beds, these were a gift and I’m broke
I’ve got a whole lot of trees. we have a sixth acre corner lot, eighth acre if you consider the house and driveway. i do a lot of grafting, got a lot of dwarf root stocks growing up and i prune low so i can reach. it’s good for stone fruit and pomes here but not so much figs or peaches as much i think. though we did get good peaches last year
i do a little of everything with what I’ve got, we live in town and i have the whole front and side facing the corner planted out for the kids that go by to pick flowers or apples or such from. i let the grapes go over the fence last summer so maybe they get those this year too.
i have a thread topic about my place with lists and little hand made maps and stuff, you can always look there. my greenhouse is full swing right now, buds are coming out and i was about to update there
I was concerned about the treated wood as well. However, the beds are framed with wood on the outside so there is no contact with the soil. The beds are also lined with plastic.
@Zone6… at one time I had 70-80 thousand subscribers on YT. I never monetized though. I just did it for fun and to help people out.
I had some people that were nuts about true wild ginseng.. that saw what I was harvesting and growing from my youtube vids.. and one oriental guy from California wanted to fly to TN to meet me and buy ginseng from me … crazy
I do have a wood chipper and have made my own chip…. But I have been lucky the past few years… in that my neighbor had 20+ Douglas pear trees topped and I got a huge load of chip that way… and before that our county hwy dept.. came down our county road cutting the trees and brush back from the hwy rightaway.. and I got a big load of chip from that.
Right now.. we had that nasty ice storm back in January and the local arborist are busy helping everyone get all the broken tree limbs and top cleaned up out of their yards.
I have contacted a few asking if they could deliver me some chip.. and two said they would soon.
