OT: Any gardeners…Raised Beds?

[voltz99]

Is 8" bed deep enough for a raised bed? I am thinking 2'x 8' x 8" deep with pressure treated 2x8s. I am thinking 4 beds and I can rotate the crops each year.

I normally would not do raised beds but my neighbor put landscaping stone by the property line and no edging. The stone is all coming through my fence and into my garden. My garden used to be good but the production has been dismal the last couple years.

 

[RUPete]

Is 8" bed deep enough for a raised bed? I am thinking 2'x 8' x 8" deep with pressure treated 2x8s. I am thinking 4 beds and I can rotate the crops each year.

I normally would not do raised beds but my neighbor put landscaping stone by the property line and no edging. The stone is all coming through my fence and into my garden. My garden used to be good but the production has been dismal the last couple years.

Not a gardener but it sucks when a neighbor pulls that. Speaking from experience.

 

[LETSGORU91]

Is 8" bed deep enough for a raised bed? I am thinking 2'x 8' x 8" deep with pressure treated 2x8s. I am thinking 4 beds and I can rotate the crops each year.

I normally would not do raised beds but my neighbor put landscaping stone by the property line and no edging. The stone is all coming through my fence and into my garden. My garden used to be good but the production has been dismal the last couple years.

I have good soil with a bunch of sun, so no raised beds for me. My buddy did a raised bed with cinder blocks. I'd stay away from using pressure treated lumber as I wouldn't want all those chemicals leaching into the soil if it is being used for consumable crops.

 

[CERU00]

Is 8" bed deep enough for a raised bed? I am thinking 2'x 8' x 8" deep with pressure treated 2x8s. I am thinking 4 beds and I can rotate the crops each year.

I normally would not do raised beds but my neighbor put landscaping stone by the property line and no edging. The stone is all coming through my fence and into my garden. My garden used to be good but the production has been dismal the last couple years.

Yes, that's deep enough for most vegetables. Some, like asapragus will root deeper. I'd avoid pressure treated wood as those preservatives will leach into the soil and your plants.
I prefer my raised beds as I don't need to bend over to weed. But I find the soil sinks so much every year I end up struggling to maintain the height.
Your poor production could be caused by soil exhaustion. I amend with minerals, not just nitrogen and phosphorus. Definitely don't use
"biosolids" fertilizer derived from sewage. That is a toxic brew.

 

[ruinac]

My wife has had a raised bed of about that height with no issues for about ten years. I bought her a Veg Trug raised bed for this season.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Your poor production could be caused by soil exhaustion. I amend with minerals, not just nitrogen and phosphorus. Definitely don't use
"biosolids" fertilizer derived from sewage. That is a toxic brew.

Definitely something to consider. Have you turned it over with compost, peat, etc.? Getting fresh nutrients in the soil will also bring in worms, bugs and beneficial microbes.

 

[gef21]

Is 8" bed deep enough for a raised bed? I am thinking 2'x 8' x 8" deep with pressure treated 2x8s. I am thinking 4 beds and I can rotate the crops each year.

I normally would not do raised beds but my neighbor put landscaping stone by the property line and no edging. The stone is all coming through my fence and into my garden. My garden used to be good but the production has been dismal the last couple years.

I have a huge vegetable and fruit garden, with a large portion in raised beds.

I do 11 inch, but it all depends on how healthy your soil beneath that is.

In regards to production do you compost? Soil health is the absolute critical piece to gardening.

We do no dig, and amend every year with fresh compost and leaves. Our production has been phenomenal.

 

[RUNYGDVLSFAN]

just want to plant a few tomatoes, peppers.. but individual pots too small. Would like a rolling garden bed, but many are so expensive. Can't do on ground unfortunately (critters, birds, pitch, water access,etc). Rolling bed just easier. Any suggestions on fair price and where to buy (from experience)?

 

[gef21]

just want to plant a few tomatoes, peppers.. but individual pots too small. Would like a rolling garden bed, but many are so expensive. Can't do on ground unfortunately (critters, birds, pitch, water access,etc). Rolling bed just easier. Any suggestions on fair price and where to buy (from experience)?

Are you handy? There are plans out there to build some pretty easily.

If that is not an option I do like the vego company and their products.

Greenes sells some good ones, but you would have put wheels on it, but that is doable. That company quality has gone down a bit in the last decade, so make sure to inspect your wood when it arrives.

 

[rurichdog]

Is 8" bed deep enough for a raised bed? I am thinking 2'x 8' x 8" deep with pressure treated 2x8s. I am thinking 4 beds and I can rotate the crops each year.

I normally would not do raised beds but my neighbor put landscaping stone by the property line and no edging. The stone is all coming through my fence and into my garden. My garden used to be good but the production has been dismal the last couple years.

8 inches deep should be ok, mine is 10-12 depending on how much settlement and leaching from the prior year. My previous neighbors did about 8-10 and he had phenomenal ouput because he had an automatic watering system installed and better light. New neighbor ripped it out so his 2 dogs had more room to run. But I digress.

I wouldn't do pressure treated lumber. There's some nasty stuff in there. Lay out the extra cash and buy the equivalent sized cedar timbers. I installed untreated cedar about 8 years ago and this is probably the last year I can use it and will have to tear down & rebuild for next year. Every year I top off with either specialized raised bed soil or straight up compost material, then turn it over. A week or two later I plant my seedlings. I bought a cheapy drip irrigation system and it helps, but some of the parts leak and I have to manually turn it on so it could be a better setup. YMMV

 

[OntheBanks]

I ordered 4 of these last year on Amazon to place beside my front sidewalk leading to my house.. I'll be putting perennials in them this spring. I'm tired of planting annuals every year.
Check it out on Amazon:

Greenes Fence Premium Cedar Raised Garden Bed, 16" x 96" x 11" - Made in USA with North American Cedar​

 

[DHajekRC84]

So you've heard it multiple times. Stay away from treated wood!
The last couple of years have very tough

for certain things given the extreme conditions..either too wet or too dry.
We tried potted peppers and it sucked ( for the record not my idea lol).
We also do not turn the whole garden but we did raised piles.. and as Spank and others said added great natural stuff to supplement the soil. That worked really well for the tomatoes.
You also shouldn't plant the same stuff in the same spot each year but rotate plantings. My 2 cents.

Just a sample of our biweekly harvest not included cucumbers and tomatoes from a fairly small garden.

 

[hankee18]

I built a 10x16 raised bed when we moved in in over 10 years ago. Regular 2x10 boards bolted together. Definitely dont use pressure treated. I thought ahead, dug out the center a bit and put down metal screen before adding dirt to prevent critters from digging underneath the sides

Its worked great but over the years too many animals getting in sampling my cucumbers so eventually i added a frame and a door and covered the entire thing in galvanized chicken wire. Small enough so animals cant get in, large enough for bees to pollinate

Someone else mentioned it - soil sink is a thing. I have to add soil pretty much every year. And raised beds take a beating from the high heat with water loss so use some kind of ground cover. I prefer straw hay to prevent moisture loss but make sure its not the kind with seeds or youll have weeds all summer competing with you crops.

 

[DHajekRC84]

I built a 10x16 raised bed when we moved in in over 10 years ago. Regular 2x10 boards bolted together. Definitely dont use pressure treated. I thought ahead, dug out the center a bit and put down metal screen before adding dirt to prevent critters from digging underneath the sides

Its worked great but over the years too many animals getting in sampling my cucumbers so eventually i added a frame and a door and covered the entire thing in galvanized chicken wire. Small enough so animals cant get in, large enough for bees to pollinate

Someone else mentioned it - soil sink is a thing. I have to add soil pretty much every year. And raised beds take a beating from the high heat with water loss so use some kind of ground cover. I prefer straw hay to prevent moisture loss but make sure its not the kind with seeds or youll have weeds all summer competing with you crops.

Straw!! Yes sir. There's a farm by us selling it for $4 a bail. You cannot beat it.. plus my wife puts down cardboard in between the rows to control weeds and straw over it.. breaks down and works great. Fun stuff.

 

[hankee18]

Straw!! Yes sir. There's a farm by us selling it for $4 a bail. You cannot beat it.. plus my wife puts down cardboard in between the rows to control weeds and straw over it.. breaks down and works great. Fun stuff.

Cardboard is a genius idea thanks for the tip

Also agree with your earlier post I second you have to rotate crops

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Is 8" bed deep enough for a raised bed? I am thinking 2'x 8' x 8" deep with pressure treated 2x8s. I am thinking 4 beds and I can rotate the crops each year.

I normally would not do raised beds but my neighbor put landscaping stone by the property line and no edging. The stone is all coming through my fence and into my garden. My garden used to be good but the production has been dismal the last couple years.

Eight inches is fine, but never use pressure treated wood for any gardening of veggies or things you plan to eat. Nasty chemicals - use redwood, cedar or some other weather resistant wood.

Do you compost? Just top dressing your garden soil with compost (home grown, not stuff from the store) can help with productivity. Alternatively, add good quality potting soil to your raised beds. You can find potting soil for raised beds at any garden center.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Now that I’ve read the posts, there are a lot of good suggestions here. Compost, mulch and some periodic fertilizing (to well-established plants) will give tremendous benefits.

I’m trying out grow bags this year - Smart Pots. They are made of thick weed blocker material. They are supposed to promote air pruning, so I’m trying them out for the first time.

You might find lots of creative things to keep your raised beds in place. I bought an 18 inch tall round steel livestock feeding trough (about a 3 foot diameter). Works well as a raised bed container. Found it a few years ago Tractor Supply.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

One more things - I’m a big fan of no till gardening. I used to do the French double dig method, but that’s exhausting. Plus it kills a lot of good stuff in the soil.. Now, the only I do at the end of the season is cut my plants down at the soil level and don’t mess with the dead roots at all.

 

[Plum Street]

How do you keep squirrels and cats out of the garden without building Fort Knox?

 

[Mike from MD]

Ground contact lumber no longer uses arsenic, but a dilute copper compound instead. Only trace levels of copper have been detected in the soil that is in proximity to the wood. Learned this from a master gardener course I am currently attending.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

How do you keep squirrels and cats out of the garden without building Fort Knox?

I purchased a sonic animal repeller. The device is supposed to make noises that cats and squirrels don’t like, but humans can’t hear. Unfortunately, the one I got did make a noise humans could hear - a noise that greatly pissed off my neighbors. So no more sonic animal repeller for now.

I’ve tried spreading cayenne pepper around my garden beds, but wasn’t especially successful and I think the stuff just made my allergies worse.

You can consider motion activated sprinklers.

For now, I just hiss at the neighbor cats when they laugh at me from the fence.

 

[DHajekRC84]

You might find lots of creative things to keep your raised beds in place. I bought an 18 inch tall round steel livestock feeding trough (about a 3 foot diameter). Works well as a raised bed container. Found it a few years ago Tractor Supply.

my son/DIL use them and they do work great!

 

[DHajekRC84]

Ground contact lumber no longer uses arsenic, but a dilute copper compound instead. Only trace levels of copper have been detected in the soil that is in proximity to the wood. Learned this from a master gardener course I am currently attending.

This is true but why even take the chance?

 

[DHajekRC84]

How do you keep squirrels and cats out of the garden without building Fort Knox?

We have a natural predator ..a nice size Hawk who perches nearby. Never tried on of those plastic owls I see all over shore houses.

 

[Mike from MD]

This is true but why even take the chance?

Wood is cheap, easily configurable and lasts a long time. I'd rather hump around wood than a pallet of cinderblocks.

The copper azole that is found in ground contact lumber has low toxicity. Exposure is a low health risk.

Treated Timber FAQs

 

[DHajekRC84]

Wood is cheap, easily configurable and lasts a long time. I'd rather hump around wood than a pallet of cinderblocks.

The copper azole that is found in ground contact lumber has low toxicity. Exposure is a low health risk.

Treated Timber FAQs

Thanks for that. Perhaps you should reread the portion on using it for gardening. It wasn't anywhere near" 100% safe to use..go for it." at least how I read it. It suggested very difficult to measure "uptake" of chemicals in plants themselves. . The definition of the press treated wood is copper "and some other ingredient".
It also suggested that the proximity to the wood matters.

So I'm no expert and people can do whatever they want. And it may be just perfectly fine. I'm also very skeptical of any studies done by non independent sources. I've pulled lumber off the rack that was still soaking from the treatment.


I'm not arguing with you. I would personally just consider other options if available and willing.

 

[piropa]

Thanks for that. Perhaps you should reread the portion on using it for gardening. It wasn't anywhere near" 100% safe to use..go for it." at least how I read it. It suggested very difficult to measure "uptake" of chemicals in plants themselves. . The definition of the press treated wood is copper "and some other ingredient".
It also suggested that the proximity to the wood matters.

So I'm no expert and people can do whatever they want. And it may be just perfectly fine. I'm also very skeptical of any studies done by non independent sources. I've pulled lumber off the rack that was still soaking from the treatment.


I'm not arguing with you. I would personally just consider other options if available and willing Kids Beds.

An 8" deep raised bed can work for many shallow-rooted vegetables like lettuce, radishes, spinach, and some herbs. However, for deeper-rooted crops like tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and peppers, you might find it a bit limiting. If possible, consider going 12" deep, especially if your native soil underneath isn’t great. Since you're using pressure-treated 2x8s, make sure they are labeled safe for garden use (modern ACQ-treated wood is generally considered safe). Rotating crops across four beds is a great idea for maintaining soil health. You might also add a weed barrier or edging along the fence to help block the invading stones.

 

[DHajekRC84]

An 8" deep raised bed can work for many shallow-rooted vegetables like lettuce, radishes, spinach, and some herbs. However, for deeper-rooted crops like tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and peppers, you might find it a bit limiting. If possible, consider going 12" deep, especially if your native soil underneath isn’t great. Since you're using pressure-treated 2x8s, make sure they are labeled safe for garden use (modern ACQ-treated wood is generally considered safe). Rotating crops across four beds is a great idea for maintaining soil health. You might also add a weed barrier or edging along the fence to help block the invading stones.

you're replying to the wrong poster. I don't do raised beds.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Folks who rotate their crops should also consider incorporating cover crops - red clover, and fava beans are what I use. These crops fix nitrogen in the soil. I cut them as they start to flower and use the cuttings as mulch.