Raised beds need advice!

What are the dimensions in your raised beds? Thanks

Beds look great by the way, thanks for sharing!!!

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I can reach 2-3 feet max. So ~3.5’ wide if I can reach both sides, 3 max if I can’t.

Originally I had nice rectangular 4x6 beds because that made the math perfect for 2x6x12 boards cut in half and thirds. When I switched to stone I made it one long row, ~3’x~20’.

“Ish” is my primary unit of measure :laughing:

Those are nice. I did mine similar to the Wholefully Beds in design, however, I dug down into the soil 32-36 inches first, then sat the beds\frames on the soil. I cut the panels in half lengthwise which gave me a ~12" height for the veggies. I did my strawberry bed at the full panel height since they are short. Only dug those about 12-16"

Very happy with them.

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I originally used reclaimed redwood from an old shed that was torn down. It was a good experiment to see if the location and size was right, but the wood was already old before it was repurposed. After 4 or 5 years of exposure to soil and moisture the wood became termite infested. The long term solution was to build beds out of retaining wall brick (4 courses), with gopher wire underneath. At 12’ long, they range in width from 3 to 4.5 feet. It fits in my small yard and allows a variety of crops (though not great for rotating).

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@Viridian you should try roofing companies that do commercial roofing, i see this on alot of commercial buildings and barns(although the painted stuff seems more popular these days)

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3/4 inch per. Eventually I’ll get it hooked up to my water line

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I’ve completed and filled two 4 x 12 beds and I’m working on seven 4 x 8

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They look great! Thanks for the pics!

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How much does each bed cost, including soil?

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Hi,

New user here, and really excited to have found this site. Have been reading for a couple of hours now.

Here are my raised beds that I’ve just finished building. I used treated 4x4s after doing extensive research and coming to a personal conclusion that it’s safe enough.

Two of the taller ones will house strawberry - asparagus combo. The lower square sections will house espaliered dwarf apple trees.

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They looked great for long term usage!

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Welcome! They look great and sturdy! thanks for posting and sharing those pics and ideas, nice bird feeder as well!

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Welcome! very nice work. Whats the black covering on top of the square sections?

Just pieces of 1x4 treated lumber painted black, to tie it in with the fence. A little eyeliner with no structural purpose.

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That really looks nice!

Nice looking house too!

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Forgot to attach pics…

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One other fly to throw into the raised bed design ointment has to do with height. When we first made our wooden raised beds they were only as high as a single 2x12. The idea was that we could stack more on top to get the level up to where it would more accessible for us in our senior years, which we will be etting to in just a few more years.

But now if I were doing it I would just make them taller in the first place, and I’d probably go with the corrugated. And I’d consider treating the corrugated but I don’t know what with. Galvanized steel has to be precoated to be painted, but I wonder if it would take the kind of sealant they use on below-grade foundations.

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In the beginning I was planning on going with the 2x12’s treated lumber because I already have the boards. I’ll be installing black fabric material to stop the weeds then placing the beds on top but the more I seeing the corrugated ones I might going with that design (also depending in cost), that was the whole purpose on using the lumber that I have siting around.

I still might consider to make a different ones just so I can use them with whatever I’ll be growing on them! Like I wouldn’t do corn on those two or three feet high because then I would need a latter to pick up the corncobs! Not really but as an example.

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and your raised bed designs!

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@Ruben I saw your message but I’ll answer it hear in case others are interested.

A 4 x 8 ft bed needs:
(3) 8 ft Galvanized Panels 16$ Each
(8) 2x4x8 PT Pine 5$ Each
(56) Deck Screws (I had on hand already, 2.5 inch screws for panels and 3" inch screws to connect panels)
(14) Roofing screws for attaching metal to top of wood frame (I let the weight of soil hold the rest of metal to edges, less screws in the metal the better.
(1) 10 ft piece of corner flashing, this is cut into pieces 26" (height of bed) and placed in corners 5$

So you are looking at 90$ plus screws for the basics there. I actually pay about 20% less through various discounts (Lowes Military, Cashback site, Buying Lowes gift cards 90$ for 100). So maybe I’m paying 70$ or so I don’t know. I had flashing laying around too to use.

Optional:
8 ft of 1/4 galvanized mesh on bottom (works out to 1.50$ a foot if you by a roll off amazon)
(1) 8 ft piece of corner bead cut in half for internal braces 2$

To try and minimize bowing a few things can help:
1 - The corner bead pieces inside pulling the sides towards each other
2 - I stapled the galvanized mesh to the bottom of the bed. This keeps the bottom boards more taught to each other.
3 - Any bowed wood should face in towards the center of the bed
4 - You could use 2x6 instead of 2x4, or you could add more of the small 2x4 pieces on the side panel

Hope this info is helpful…

Edit: Just saw your above post Ruben. You could always rip the 2x12s to 2x6 or 2x4, just wear a mask.

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