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I'm Gonna Buy Or Build Raised Beds For Light Dep Next Year. All Advice Is Welcome And Appreciated

  • Thread starter Thread starter MendoGiantZ
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I'm Gonna Buy Or Build Raised Beds For Light Dep Next Year. All Advice Is Welcome And Appreciated

MendoGiantZ 54 Replies 6,769 Views
Page 2 of 3 · Replies 21–40 of 55
#21
Yea wood for the win. Ran into issues with the smart pot style beds molding and getting brittle and ripping last year. Really bummed me out thought I could use multiple years.

Pallets, huh.....good idea. How did you use them?
 
#22
Free pallets that are untreated can indeed be good alternative.
But sometimes the free alternative can cost far more than one might ever imagine.
i.e. More time consuming to work with, unknown contaminations or toxic chemicals.
Great maybe for a back yard shed or garden walls, but a serious gamble for canna crop purposes.
 
#23
Wood options

No: Plywood, pressure treated wood, pre primed wood, painted or stained wood

Yes: Cedar, Redwood

OK: Doug Fir (standard homedepot stuff)

If you are only trying to get 3 years out of them, then Doug Fir is your answer. I will rot much quicker than Cedar or Redwood, and isn't rated for contact with the ground under building codes for that reason. However, even with high microbial activity, and constant water being applied, it will last 5 years no problem before rot takes over.

Cedar is the best answer if you want longevity. Cheaper than redwood but should last just as long. 40 years. They have rough cut cedar 2x12 boards that people usually make beds out of. (in our trade and in the trades) About 70$ per 16' board is about what I paid if I recall correctly.

You will need some 4x4's for the corners and every 8 ft. Then I also like to grab and install 3' concrete stakes every 8 feet staggered. Those stakes will help keep things strait. Get a string line, set your corners, then pull a strait line and use the stakes to help set the board in place. I did all the metal stake and 4x4's in the beds for a cleaner appearance.

12" depth? For sure put down gypsum. I would consider 16" or 18", cause you know you can't fill 100% of that 12", will end up being 10 by the end of the year. However light deps don't need huge root zones. Maybe two 2x8's stacked? Good question.
 
#26
Did a massive clean up of one of the properties yesterday.. Took the 26 foot u haul i rented to fried mans afterwards and got fifty 20 foot long fir boards that are 2 inches wide and 12 inches tall.. I also got a bunch of 4x4 's for the corners and connecting them.. The tractor guy is showing up this morning and we are gonna go to work getting ready for next year..We also got gopher netter thats gonna go under the beds for the gophers (they are bad in our area)
 
#27
Image
 
#28
Didn't pick up concrete stakes? It's gonna cost ya....... I would be amazed if 2 of the 50 boards you picked up are strait. Industry issue. (not busting your balls, just trying to help)

Everything looks great man. Keep on keeping on. Props for working on next year already.
 
#33
They are six and a half feet wide by 70 feet long. We used all of the dirt from last year so I ordered 40 yards of the soil kings dirt from cloverdale that's being delivered at 7 am. Beds take a lot more dirt :).
 
#35
We got the first garden done. 7 huge beds completely filled with dirt and gopher netting underneath.. Pretty excited about that.. We cleaned up the whole second garden and started moving dirt around with the tractor but with the rain coming in tomorrow we decided to take a little break.. Gonna do a massive burn pile tomorrow of all the stalks during the rain...
 
#36
That is awesome! It's crazy how much beds take to fill. My single 6'x60' took over 30 yards, fuck what a process trying to do it by myself. Your threads inspire me and motivate me!
 
#37
Neter Sentra said:
That is awesome! It's crazy how much beds take to fill. My single 6'x60' took over 30 yards, fuck what a process trying to do it by myself. Your threads inspire me and motivate me!
Click to expand...
Damn, dude that's some real work right there. Couple seasons ago my homie down in southern Oregon ordered a bunch of custom soil and the shop showed up in a truck with a blower (like is used for mulch) and filled all his pots with it. Bet that method is pretty spendy though...
 
#39
Did you get any soil tests done on that soil king soil? If not, you going to when it shows up? Send it to spectrum under the K-2 package if you decide to. I would love to see those results, as I may order up a couple hundred yards.
 
Page 2 of 3 · Replies 21–40 of 55
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