How to make a raised bed

[Runaway1]

Can anyone give me advice please. I want to make quite a high raised bed but am worried about the wood rotting. Is getting a kit from say Homebase going to work/last? Would you use some kind of liner to help
it last longer? Thanks for any advice.

We had some raised beds built at our old house. We used railway sleepers for them. Presumably you would treat them like you do fences etc to protect them from the elements.

If you get treated wood and line the inside with plastic to minimise the wet soil touching the wood, it should last for at least 15 years.

You can line with something as simple as flatten compost bags. Or thick bin liners.

We used railway sleepers. They are pretreated so don’t rot. Mines have been in ten years now and are fine. You can buy seconds at the timber yard which were much cheaper.

Another vote for railway sleepers here! They're pre treated and last for ages. Four years in ours are still looking fab.

Just beware if you're planning to grow veg in them. The chemicals from the treated wood can leach into the soil.

I've just received an order from this company. I wanted something sturdier than decking boards and didn't want to use sleepers.

Ordering and delivery has been a doddle (and really quick( but now I need a non-wet day to assemble it. I'll be lining it too for the reasons given upthread.

www.woodblocx.co.uk/

Thanks everyone. Great ideas about cheap ways to line the raised beds. I do want to grow veg which was making me worry about treating the wood. Those kits look really good, @WobblyLondoner.

Thanks @Runaway1. They are pricey but for a variety of reasons they appealed to us. I'll let you know how I get on - wanted to get stuck in last weekend but it would have turned into a pond!

I used sleepers at my last house. If I do them here I'd like metal ones like these.

I wouldn't grow stuff to eat in something that had been treated with chemicals to preserve it. It could have had creosote or something else horrible on it. Creosote is probably carcinogenic so check what it's treated with.

Is there a reason that you want them to be quite high? If you’d be happy with lower, worth looking at Everedge. I used their easy bed system to create some beds in the front garden to create a border of roses. They’ve been 8n for 3 years and still look as good as new.

Can I use wooden pallets to built a raised bed? anyone tried?

We've used pallet toppers, sawn in half and backed with landscaping fabric to create raised beds. You could do the same with pallets if you removed the planks and blocks that raise them from the ground.
We have made compost bins out of pallets but they're bulky with the supports still on.
Make sure your pallets are heat treated, rather than chemically treated if you're growing edibles.

I have woodblocx raised beds for fruit bushes etc. I lined them with damp proof plastic so they will hopefully last a long long while.

They designed me a custom set for the dimensions I wanted and they are expensive but they’re a year old now and look fantastic. (Picture from earlier in the year when it was warmer, it’s looking a lot less green now!)

T&M do some metal ones that look quite stylish for a garden.
www.thompson-morgan.com/p/original-veggie-bed/WKC0193TM

They look great. We put in a WoodBlocx raised bed last month and found it very straightforward. Looks great and I hope will last for many years. Like you I've lined it to reduce the risk of the wood rotting.