Willow Raised beds - Yay or Nay?

Mr Jones · 10 Jul 2013 at 11:27

I've finally got around to tidying my front garden and now to tackle my back garden - which I intend to turn a section into a salad garden.

I am VERY limited on budget so I'm looking this:
http://www.tesco.com/direct/willow-...5cm/210-6127.prd?pageLevel=sku&skuId=210-6127

One maybe 2 of them for my pak choi and non deep rooted vegs. Anyone got one or tried it before? My thought is, as I'm doing my garden lawn, bordering about 1 foot away from the fencing for easy mowing. What if I cut the bottom of the bag and use the willow planter as a raised bed plotted directly over my dug up lawn border? Maybe anchored down with some wood pole?

Would that work or a bad idea?

I'm very 'green' (horn as opposed to thumb) to gardening and this will be my first real attempt at growing in my own garden. Thanks.

Gilly · 10 Jul 2013 at 11:34

I just think that they look untidy the second they go in.

Ciphon · 10 Jul 2013 at 11:42

Excuse my ignorance; I have virtually no experience in this area, but...

If you're on a limited budget, why buy one at all? Can't you just plant them in the ground? :confused:

Mr Jones · 10 Jul 2013 at 11:43

Well, my garden is currently overgrown so anything I do to it will be an improvement. As for tidiness, as long as I set it down right, I think it'll look ok.

No picture yet - till I sort the overgrown / mow. It's basically a 10m long, 7m wide garden, 1/3 patio near side of the house, 2/3 lawn with a shed on the near side. Apart from bordering, I really have nothing planned for the garden.

Growing veg patch is more of an experiment which may spiral out if I get into it.

Raised bed vesus planting straight on
1) My soil is find for grass but just a couple inch down and it's clay - not good drainage
2) Pak choi spreads, so best to confine it
3) Raising it keeps all the weeds and stuff on the lower grown away - or so I'm told

bitslice · 10 Jul 2013 at 13:04

It's a glorified grow-bag (minus the soil), so, yeh, I guess it will be OK.
Although filled with soil it will bend outwards and the willow will rot in a few years, it would look better as a border edging I think.

I'd sooner "acquire" some bricks or nail together some pallet wood myself.
Have a wander around your nearest industrial estate and see what's in the skips.

boxman2000 · 10 Jul 2013 at 13:12

You will need some compost but I'd say you could make something better than that.

As bitslice said, some pallet wood with a bit of ronseal on it would do the trick nicely!

Mr Jones · 10 Jul 2013 at 15:08

I do have some 'tray wood' taken from my work's waste stock, which require some TLC before I can knock them together with some nails - but that's a different kettle of fish because that's to go behind the shed, out of sight.

Wouldn't look quite consistant as willow tree weaves if I decide to expand, thus I'm being a little careful on how I'm approaching it. I understand they rot over time like all things organic mixed with soil, but with the bag, it'd be possible to replace / reenforced with fresh ones.

Pallet wood is hard to find - even those at my work goes back to the company that provides them, which incidently is only down the road. (Maybe that's why it's harder to find them around here...)

drunkenmaster · 10 Jul 2013 at 15:51

A lot of people do raised beds with sleepers, you can also try something like deck boarding and then make beds whatever size you want using some stronger wood posts to stick in the ground and provide something to screw them to, you could for looks if you wanted get some cheap willow type covering and put it infront of a more solid raised bed, it would keep it from the wet soil being in contact constantly, last longer and when it falls apart the structure of the bed would be intact and can be replaced easily.

Raised beds certainly make growing easier with very clay ridden soil below it, another option is hard work but digging a decent amount into the ground, and replacing the clay with more drainable soil. Depends how much and want you want to grow really.

A less good but more convenient option is lots of big plant tubs, that way everything can be moved around, emptied, refilled individually. If you get a bad season with a lot of bug infestation you have more chance of replacing the effected crops and getting rid of a bit of soil and having no problems the following year. But lots of big plant tubs look far messier and no where near as good.

Psymonkee · 10 Jul 2013 at 21:41

Raised beds with sleepers is easily the way forward - some cost obviously far superior look when done - shall grab some photos!

//edit:

Apologies for awful pictures

We did a load of work with sleepers and are pleased with the results - we got I think 36 sleepers 12 at 2.4m long, the rest at 1.2m long. Fixings, soil, new drill all in at under 1,300!

Obviously you don't need to spend that much for what you're planning and I'd reckon some 1.2m sleepers bolted together could be done for under 200 (assuming you have access to a drill to use the screws!) and a bit of work in clearing/moving existing soil.

Obviously this is way above the sort of money your looking at spending but for the overall look and durability find someway of coming up with a bigger budget

Mr Jones · 10 Jul 2013 at 23:36

Thanks guys, will consider a good garden make over when I buy this house - currently on rent to buy so I have another 2 years to save up deposit, thus rather spend less. Keeping a close eye on places like Freecycle and Gumtree.

I've ordered the Willow from Tesco, due to their offers, a 75x75x15 and a 50x50x30. Will experiment and see how it goes. As for tools, I have a spade, a lawn edger and a couple of hand trawl and digger. Gonna be a long weekend me think.