Do you have a raised bed for your veggies etc. I have questions

[BakersDozen]

Did you buy a raised bed kit?

What make and where from, and how much?

would you recommend it to me or not?

Did you put a membrane in the bottom before you filled it?

Watching with interest! Just came on to ask the exact same questions!

Would like to put some raised veg beds on my patio but unsure if they are worth the investment.

oh, we shall wait for advice together then. I am just wondering what to do. I have always used large pots for all my vegetables etc, but am toying with the idea of a couple of raised beds on the lawn. Then I can grow a bit more veg and i love the idea of them.

We have raised beds which my dad made. Yes to membrane. Posts in each corner and one in the middle of the long sides.
Boards nailed on the outsides to join. Painted/stained.
Look lovely and cost pennies as wood was leftovers.
Also if posts stick up a bit above the boards can use to secure nets and use canes in the middle to raise up over veg.

A friend did ours for us - there is membrane at the bottom and he used railway sleepers for the sides. Mine was very productive whilst I was working part-time, but I struggled to find time to put much in it once I went full time plus a long commute

bakers I've not grown much before-chillis, tomatoes and a few herbs but my patio seems like a huge waste of space so I thought raised beds might be a good option. I found a site called recycleworks and they seem quite reasonable.

oh thanks, will have a look. I would have thought on a patio would be fab and so simple as it is already level.

The plae in my garden i have in mind is quite bumpy and if i have to level it all out, it is putting me off already!

bakersdozen I have grown veg for years but never grown in pots successfully, this year we are in rental and I want to grow squash and courgettes as well as herbs and salad. I have had fantastic tomato crops from planting in hanging baskets so will do that but worried about compost drying out in the tubs for the other plants.

Advice gratefully received. Plastic or clay pots?

oh thanks for all that info. Lots of advice in there.

I have huge plastic pots and in those I grow runner and french beans.

One for strawberries
One for a herb garden
One for sweetcorn.

smaller pots courgettes
Also a cucumber as I stake it and grow upwards.

Beetroot in a large.
Radishes did very well in those plastic troughs and very quick.
spinach is also good in a pot, I just eat the baby leaves.
toms either hanging basket or pots - baby cherry toms
lettuce grows in anything.

But I still want my lovely raised bed. Will think more about this over the next week or so.

Also potatoes in those sacks - although they are lovely, i have never had that bumper harvest like the ads show with the potatoes from top to bottom in the sack. Just a couple of mealsworth in each sack really.

Poundland do potato planters (they fit 5 seed potatoes) for £1 each ;)

I used a couple of leftover fenceposts for my raised beds, one in each corner, then lengths of decking screwed onto them... you can vary the height as necessary and if you leave the posts sticking up higher than the edge, you can add extra deckig board as your soil level increases over time...

General tip - you should be able to reach the middle of your bed from all sides to avoid having to tread on the soil. I collect all the dead leaves that gather at the bottom of my hedges and shove them in the beds in winter. Improves soil for free :)

Keep us updated with pics if you do take the plunge!