What's the best material for building raised beds?

[Judith Fallows]

Here in Watertown, MA we have the great good fortune to have a paid garden coordinator (me) for our school district (5 schools, 2600 students) in a very densely populated small city right outside Boston. All 5 schools have raised bed gardens, some of which have been in use for more than 5 years. Now they are starting to rot out, and need to be replaced. I'd like to believe that our garden programs are here to stay. They are will connected to curriculum in our 3 elementary schools which also have sheds and tools on site. How to plan for a sustainable raised bed garden?

At this point, what should we replace the wood with when it's time to retire a bed - more wood? if so, what kind, how to preserve, what do you use for the corners, those metal brace things? or should we turn to metal, plastic, concrete blocks, stone? We're piloting a couple of plastic and metal beds this year, and have one plastic bed that's been in use for many years, used to be a sandbox. Anybody have experience with this? Cost Benefit analysis of the different materials? I'm attaching a photo of our one plastic bed that seems to be holding up really well as an example. I'm sure most folks know what rotted wood looks like. 

any thoughts would be welcome, thanks!

Judy Fallows, School Garden Coordinator

Watertown School Gardens website

"kids who grow veggies, eat veggies!"

[Chapman, Harold]

Chicago Public Schools checking in! I have a strong preference for just using cedar/redwood, but there are composites that are uv stabilized with long life in the elements. For corners, I’ve used a sized (height) 4”x4” of whatever the rest of the bed is constructed from. Stainless steel screws have the longest life as far as fasteners are concerned.

When writing or responding, please remember that any email sent or received by an employee of the Watertown Public Schools is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66.  This email message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential information covered under the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) and/or other student records laws.  If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are not authorized to read, retain, print, copy, disseminate or otherwise use this email (or any attachments) or any part thereof.  If you have received this email (and any attachments) in error, please contact the sender and delete all copies from your system.   

 

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Harold Chapman, MAGED* (preferred pronouns he/him, read more here) 
School Garden Specialist
Office of Student Health and Wellness | Chicago Public Schools
42 W. Madison Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 773-553-1031 | Fax: 773-553-1883 | hnch...@cps.edu

[John Fisher]

Hi, I am adding some replies to this discussion of bed type materials that ended up under a different discussion title:

Aloha,

We use Trex composite decking boards for raised garden beds.

I have attached our How To Build a Raised Bed Garden resource for reference.

More resources here https://www.kokuahawaiifoundation.org/resources/category/aina_how_tos

Aloha,

Natalie (Kokua Foundation)

   ___

Hi, we do picket cedar and anchor them to the floor with rebar. They are long lasting at least in our desertic environment. 

   ___

   

I'm at the same point in many of the gardens I supervise - old wooden beds rotting out, and me feeling very lazy about replacing them.

I use a lot of recycled plastic lumber (made with HDPE from milk containers). Cost is about 3 times as much as pine, comparable to cedar or redwood. It lasts forever, doesn't leach, and is pleasant to the touch (no splinters). It comes in the same sizes as regular wood. The down side of recycled plastic lumber - apart from the price - is the weight: it's really heavy. If you go with thinner boards, it tends to bow.

Another note about recycled plastic lumber - you have to be careful when you cut it because it starts to melt if the saw overheats the material. Use a diamond blade and keep an eye out for gumminess. Other than that, plastic lumber can be worked very much like regular wood - ie. you can have volunteers build your beds. I suggest bolting the parts together rather than screwing, though.

If you go with regular lumber again, try lining it with Enkadrain material, the one that has loops on one side, felt on the other. The loop side faces the wood of the bed and allows air to circulate and water to drain. It prolongs the life of wood planters a lot - mine last at least 5 or 6 years.

I'd love to know if anyone has built brick or reinforced concrete garden beds with volunteers... and how they did it. We have cinderblock beds in some gardens but they aren't particularly attractive.

- Mirem

On Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 6:36:25 AM UTC-7, Chapman, Harold wrote:

Chicago Public Schools checking in! I have a strong preference for just using cedar/redwood, but there are composites that are uv stabilized with long life in the elements. For corners, I’ve used a sized (height) 4”x4” of whatever the rest of the bed is constructed from. Stainless steel screws have the longest life as far as fasteners are concerned.

On Wed, May 8, 2019 at 7:45 AM Judith Fallows <judith....@watertown.k12.ma.us> wrote:

Here in Watertown, MA we have the great good fortune to have a paid garden coordinator (me) for our school district (5 schools, 2600 students) in a very densely populated small city right outside Boston. All 5 schools have raised bed gardens, some of which have been in use for more than 5 years. Now they are starting to rot out, and need to be replaced. I'd like to believe that our garden programs are here to stay. They are will connected to curriculum in our 3 elementary schools which also have sheds and tools on site. How to plan for a sustainable raised bed garden?

At this point, what should we replace the wood with when it's time to retire a bed - more wood? if so, what kind, how to preserve, what do you use for the corners, those metal brace things? or should we turn to metal, plastic, concrete blocks, stone? We're piloting a couple of plastic and metal beds this year, and have one plastic bed that's been in use for many years, used to be a sandbox. Anybody have experience with this? Cost Benefit analysis of the different materials? I'm attaching a photo of our one plastic bed that seems to be holding up really well as an example. I'm sure most folks know what rotted wood looks like. 

any thoughts would be welcome, thanks!

Judy Fallows, School Garden Coordinator

Watertown School Gardens website

"kids who grow veggies, eat veggies!"

When writing or responding, please remember that any email sent or received by an employee of the Watertown Public Schools is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66.  This email message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential information covered under the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) and/or other student records laws.  If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are not authorized to read, retain, print, copy, disseminate or otherwise use this email (or any attachments) or any part thereof.  If you have received this email (and any attachments) in error, please contact the sender and delete all copies from your system.   

 

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[Maree Gaetani]

John has great advice below!

Also - all nonprofits and schools can get a 25% discount at Gardener's Supply, a national BCorps, employee-owned national gardening company.  Here's the link with the phone number and code!

Thanks all!  M aree

Maree Gaetani

Director of Strategic Initiatives

KidsGardening

A nation of happier, healthier kids learning through the garden and connected to nature.

132 Intervale Road

Burlington, VT 05401

m: 802-324-3699

mar...@kidsgardening.org

Virus-free. www.avg.com

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Harold Chapman, MAGED* (preferred pronouns he/him, read more here) 
School Garden Specialist
Office of Student Health and Wellness | Chicago Public Schools
42 W. Madison Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 773-553-1031 | Fax: 773-553-1883 | hnch...@cps.edu

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[Maree Gaetani]

OOps!  Thanks Helen - OK, here's the link to learn more, get the phone number and more about the 25% discount through Gardener's Supply for schools and nonprofits.

Maree Gaetani

Director of Strategic Initiatives

KidsGardening

A nation of happier, healthier kids learning through the garden and connected to nature.

132 Intervale Road

Burlington, VT 05401

m: 802-324-3699

mar...@kidsgardening.org

Virus-free. www.avg.com

[Maree Gaetani]

Third time's a charm - here's the link and info:

https://kidsgardening.org/kidsgardening-books-and-curricula/  

Maree Gaetani

Director of Strategic Initiatives

KidsGardening

A nation of happier, healthier kids learning through the garden and connected to nature.

132 Intervale Road

Burlington, VT 05401

m: 802-324-3699

mar...@kidsgardening.org

Virus-free. www.avg.com

[Bonnie Martin]

cinderblocks are my favorite.  Easy to build, last for a long time, and we let the kids paint the outside.  Plus you get the bonus of the little holes to plant crops like radish.  

Bonnie Martin

Smart Sprout

[Laurie Taylor]

We are going into our 7th growing season in Sioux City, Iowa. We started the gardens with raised beds which were ordered from The Farmstead http://gardenraisedbeds.com/. They are very high quality mortise and tenon white cedar beds. No tools required for assembly because it is a peg system. All of the beds are still in use and aging wonderfully- with the exception of the ones damaged by our Operations and Maintenance Department with snow removal equipment. The Farmstead offers a discount to schools and is very nice to work with. They offer several different sized beds and are wonderful to work with.

We replaced our damaged beds with 2x8 cedar lumber with 4x4 cedar posts cut to size to stabalize the corners because we had a service club donate materials and labor to rebuild the beds.

Laurie Taylor

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[Rick Sherman]

Thought I would chime in..

We have a local (to us!) company in Oregon (Philomath) that makes recycled / pallets chewed up and in cinderblock/ building materials.  They started making raised garden beds, and now make houses out of the stuff.  We have some school gardens that have arranged to make some custom raised beds with the stuff.  They're built with a top piece so the kids wouldn't be able to take them apart.  you can find more at www.durablegreenbed.com  If you click on the link, you'll see pics of them, they're really beautiful!