Raised Bed Advice Please.

[Love Lies Bleeding]

I'm fairly new at gardening and this years bedding plants have looked super. My husband has agreed to make me two raised beds for growing vegetables in next year. The soil is clear where they are going. What type of wood do we need to buy for the sides of the beds and also is top soil ok to fill them with?

[TPeers]

Your choice really - pressure treated timber will last a few years, untreated/new railway sleepers look lovely and last forever..... The thing to avoid is creosote, it can poison the soil touching it. I personally have never had a problem with it but that is the advice given now.

If you make the bed from sleepers, go two sleepers high - I know it costs a lot but it gives a border edge you can sit on! And trust me, everyone will want to! Try and make the beds no wider than you can comfortably reach to the middle of from the side. 4' to 4'6" internal width. Then you shouldn't need to tread on the soil too often.

Soil is fine - you might like to add manure since you will have the barrow out. Several supplies exist who will deliver top soil and/or soil mixed with manure and/or manure assuming you don't have a handy supply.

Remember that you will need to tread the soil down - about every 4" layer - or it will be too fluffy for most crops and expect it to settle a good few inches, despite the treading, over the winter.

[Love Lies Bleeding]

Thanks Tpeers. I hadn't thought about the width but that makes sense to be able to reach the middle. I have checked out organic mixed soil for growing veggies in but it is expensive. Not checked the price of railway sleepers but I guess they will be expensive too. I think to keep the cost reasonable we will use the treated wood for the sides and find cheaper unscreened top soil.

[TPeers]

Where abouts are you LLB?

Croydon make their own compost from green waste which they will deliver by the bag, in cubic metre bags (about 1 tonne/bag) The stuff is a little corse but excellent for the sort of job you are doing - I used the stuff for my raised beds and borders after the patio was built/excavated as we had lovely orangy yellow lumps of clay subsoil everywhere!

I now have very free draining but fairly rich soil in the beds in question. The Croypost costs around £50/tonne plus a delivery charge based on distance.