Raised Beds for Flowers and Veg

[hippysunshine]

I’m looking at starting a small cut flower garden and veg patch in raised beds and wondered if anyone had an recommendations as to what type are good or bad, pros, cons, what material they have experience with. I’m thinking metal ones would last longer? But I do prefer the look of wood? Thanks

I would think very seriously about having raised beds, whatever the material used they are an absolute haven for slugs and snails. You can create nice neat new beds for veg and flowers without them being raised up. Charles Dowding's website is good for advice on this.

Having said all that I do have raised beds, some with just a cheap wood edges, but I've also used plastic ones from a company called Link a Bord. They are easy to use, and look smart.

I will be making some new beds this summer and I won't be raising them up though.

Metal ones would get hot and scorch the roots of your plants. Wood is the standard. There is a good guide here: https://www.rhs.org.uk/garden-features/how-to-make-a-raised-bed

What part of the country are you? I find my taller raised beds dry out a lot quicker than ones that were close to the ground. I'm in the NW and they are at my allotment so watering was an issue. Might not be a problem for you.

You could skip raised beds and plant straight in the ground as the above poster said but I found raised beds were good for improving my bad soil, and it was easier to keep on top of the weeds, and also to not compact the soil in winter.

We made our beds too big, though, so you couldn't easily reach the whole way across them, which was very annoying.

I don't have raised beds myself but I help a disabled friend who has some. We grow vegetables in these that would struggle in the ground, she has very heavy clay soil. The beds are quite tall so they are easy for her to weed and water. She can also sit on the edge to rest.

Thank you @TonTonMacoute @MJDecember24 @user1468867181 All very good points and things I will certainly take into consideration. I think I have a sand to loam soil (according to the UKSO), which from reading online is good for cut flowers? So maybe I ditch the bed idea 🤔 Will save me some time and money also 👍

It's the wooden ones that are slug havens, surely? They'd not shelter in the metal raised beds, I don't think?

I have some wooden raised beds which have rotted and are at the end of their life. Im pondering swapping out for metal but I'm not sure... I'm on heavy heavy clay and am having increased mobility issues, so they'll suit for those reasons. But on my allotment I just grow in the ground.

I've probably had my wooden beds for about 10 years and did have them put in professionally with whatever preserved wood was recommended for veg growing, but they looked scruffy very quickly. Also the weight of the soil starts to push out and that speeds up their decline.

Mine too were slightly too big to reach across and access in between comfortably.

It's the wooden ones that are slug havens, surely? They'd not shelter in the metal raised beds, I don't think?

They go down the (to us, minuscule) gap between the soil and the edge of the bed during the day. They can do this in pots or containers too, doesn't matter what it's made of. Slimy bastards!

I’m a big fan of raised beds for cut flowers and vegetables. Ours are wood - planks need replacing every few years but they are pretty sturdy.

No more problems with slugs than in the ground, and easier to treat effectively with nematodes. Easier to weed (less bending) and avoids flooding (common on our heavy clay). Also easier to control the quality of the soil by what you add/top dress with.

I’d say never wider than 4’ / 1.2m so you can reach the middle easily from both sides.

The biggest thing for success in my experience is remembering to successionally sow your flowers. I can have daily sweet peas, sweet Williams and cosmos for over 12 weeks minimum if I remember to sow batches of seeds 4 to 6 weeks apart. When the first crop is exhausted the next one is hitting its stride.

I put a reminder in my diary for 4 weeks later whenever I do some seeds.