Raised vegetable bed - inner dividers necessary?

[Elmoak]

Hello,

New member here, also with a raised vegetable bed query (hope this is the right area for the question).

I’m not as far on as Tony B or leahandanna, in that I haven’t built mine yet. I have an area of garden for the raised bed of approx. 3 metres long x 2 metres deep. The soil area is pre-existing (edged by bricks and stone path), and I’ve removed and relocated the 3-4 plants / shrubs which were in it, dug down and turned the soil, removed roots, etc, etc.

The key point is that (3m x 2m) is the area I have to work with for the raised vegetable bed.

Having done some reading, crop rotation appears quite important. I think the area is big enough to divide into four areas for rotation purposes, but my question is whether it is necessary to have a cross-section wood dividers within the outer raised bed structure (i.e. to effectively create four separate bed areas within the outer structure), or is it sufficient to just have two lengths of dividing string separating the single large (3m x 2m) bed into four areas and rotate crops in the usual way around those areas with each year?

I suppose put simply - is there any advantage to having wooden dividers within the outer structure separating the four areas I rotate around (i.e. will this have an appreciable effect on limiting movement of crop-specific disease / blight / whatever between the four areas) compared to having no dividing structures within the outer structure at all?

Is it even worth worrying about crop rotation issues with a veg bed this small?

Sorry to ramble - excited about getting going (and growing) but want to start off on the right foot and not regret failing to put inner dividers in at this stage.

Thanks for any assistance.

[GreenHouse]

With regards to raised beds, one main cosideration is that you don't want to walk on them therefore you need to determine how far you can reach, so if your reach is 2 foot then your bed needs to be no more than 4 foot so that you can reach the centre without stepping on the bed. You could put boards across the beds to divide them but most have paths.

[Elmoak]

Thanks Greenhouse.

This is one of my issues at the planning stage - because I'm hampered by these specific dimensions putting paths in would drastically reduce my actual growing space in each quarter.

I have a pretty long reach anyway, but was therefore planning to just run a sturdy plank or similar over the middle of the bed (supported by raised blocks each side of the actual outer bed) when access was required.

Hence wondering whether wooden inner dividers are necessary/advisable for minimising disease/blight spread between the quarters or whether just string dividers / no actual inner dividers in the soil itself would be ok.

[GreenHouse]

What I would be tempted to do is go onto google, click on images & google raised beds. It will bring up loads of different pics for you to get ideas from.

[Elmoak]

Thanks again Greenhouse, but my query to members was whether there is any advantage to having wooden dividers within the outer structure separating the four areas I rotate around (i.e. will this have an appreciable effect on limiting movement of crop-specific disease / blight / whatever between the four areas) compared to having no dividing structures within the outer structure at all?

I wondered whether those more experienced than myself had views on whether it was necessary to have dividers at all for the purposes of preventing cross-contamination of disease / blight between the quarters, particularly in a bed this small.

[GreenHouse]

If it's any comfort, I am using 4 beds to grow the square foot method so have approx 40 areas to use with no dividing boards and different veg/flowers in each square. I think the main thing is not to grow the same veg in the patch once emptied.

[Elmoak]

Ok - thanks.