Don't forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE BUTTON and also the BELL ICON to be notified when each new video is uploaded. I hope you enjoy the videos and let me know if you have any suggestions for future videos. Thank you for watching. Kind regards. Gary
I have a long raised bed at home I created from decking board in lockdown which wasn't too expensive. I lined the inside with plastic sheetingthat I stapled gunned in and then filled it with a mix of top soil and compost. Every year around January-Febuary I put a mulch of home made compost ontop. Given the choice I would do raised beds in the future as I have found plants seem to grow better in them, they are a lot easier to plant in as they are raised up and there are generally a lot less weeds compared to my beds at the allotment.
Thank you very much for your comment Daniel which is greatly appreciated. It seems that raised beds work really well for you which is fantastic. I think many people will agree with the benefits of using raised beds that you explain. Kind regards. Gary
Hi, good points another one is time. It can seem overwhelming when you have a larger area to weed and maintain, raised beds help in the sense that you can tackle that one first and so on and so on helps to stay on top of things.
Hi Malcolm and thank you very much for your comment. You are quite right weeding is something that needs to be managed and something we need to keep on top of. I mainly do not use raised beds but I have paths between my ground beds so it effectively divides up the growing spaces. I do a similar thing to what you describe where I will weed one bed and move onto the next. Thank you once again for your commend and kind regards. Gary
Gary you’ve got one of the most tidy vegetable gardens I’ve seen. I’ve had to use raised beds as I purchased a house with no grass or soil it’s all under Rab and chippings. No where near the size of yours but how enjoyable is it. Thanks again for the tips bach
Thank you very much for your comment Paul, which is greatly appreciated. My Veg Plot does take a lot of work to keep tidy but I really enjoy it. As you point out there are valid reasons to use raised beds especially where you have no suitable growing ground or areas. Thank you once again for you mr comment which is greatly appreciated. Kind regards. Gary
I have been gradually making my plot into raised beds due to my arthritis. It will help me keep the allotment for much longer. It’s taken me 3 years gradually building them up and filling them. I have used decking planks but started with those folding ones. The other disadvantage is that I can’t plant as much but overall I means I can keep the allotment. It’s great that you covered this though
Thank you very much for your comment which is greatly appreciated. As you point out there are advantages and disadvantages to using raised beds so I guess it will come down to personal preference and circumstances which will determine whether they will be used. Kind regards. Gary
Your timing is perfect. I was just thinking about this yesterday. I have a medium size garden but really is overgrown with shrubs/trees, a lot of clearing needs doing but when we were locked down first I decided to get back to growing veggies and hubby made me a raised bed from HT pallets. When I eventually was able to buy compost I had to buy several bags, so much for 'free' veggies! He made a second bed this year but I half filled it with compost I had built up myself with veg peels/cardboard/grass trimmings so that saved us quite a bit. I remembered yesterday, (a bit late) that way back in the 70's in our previous house I had grown loads of veg in the garden soil and had bumper harvests. Back then, I had never even heard of a raised bed. So after this year I think I'll go back to the soil! Great video!
Thank you very much for your comment which is greatly appreciated. As you can see in the video there are some advantages to having raised beds but if you have decent soil and good veg growing beds then there is no real necessity to build and use raised beds. Of course for those with mobility issue and other medical conditions, then raised beds may be more suitable. I'm really pleased you enjoyed the video and kind regards. Gary
Thanks to seeing this I changed my mind and decided to do 3 no dig beds instead. Saving a lot of time and money! I think this was best as it's my first year growing and can't say how successful I'll be or whether I'll definitely be able to keep it up... So a big thank you for all your videos and tips 😊😊
Thank you very much Rachel and I’m really pleased you are finding my video helpful. You will find you will learn all of the time but I’m sure you will enjoy it and keep growing your own veg, it really is worthwhile and so rewarding! Kind regards. Gary
Hello Gary. Thank you very much for sharing a wonderful video. A lot of useful information sharing. My garden is full of stones and tree roots. I have big trees near my house and all the roots are in my garden! So i mainly do containers gardening and got 3 lots of raised bed for my leafy greens and 2 planters for bottle gourds plants. Raised beds are expensive i agree with that 👍🏻❤️👌🏼
Thank you very much for your comment. Yes, with the ground conditions you have with lots of roots and stones then raised beds or containers would seem to be a good option. I’m pleased you enjoyed the video. Kind regards. Gary
Hi Garry. Great video I did enjoy it, I have a small plot at the side of my bungalow and just started to grow a few vegetables. I decided to purchase recycled plastic raised beds more expensive but should last a long time.regards stan.
Hi Stanley and thank you very much got your comment. I’m really pleased you enjoyed the video. I agree your raised beds should last a while so that should be a good investment. Good luck with the veg growing and let me know how you get on. Kind regards. Gary
I use raise bed even though my garden is 90ft by 70ft but the ground is so rubbish I decided to put my raise bed near to my house than at the bottom of the garden . I find this keeps the birds away and we look after them more becuse we sit near the house when we are in the garden so we maintain them more and Easy to water . All the veg doing really well this year as our homemade compost was enough to fill 15 beds up last year
Thank you very much for your comment Steven which is greatly appreciated. I use a few raised beds myself as you saw in the video but the vast majority of my veg growing areas are traditional ground beds. I can see the benefits of having your raised beds near the house and you also seen to make a good quantity of your own compost which is a great advantage for raised beds. Thank you once again for your comments and kind regards.
i have some pallet collars i plan to use as my garden is now full, so these will allow me to grow more food! i will also be looking at using branches, grass clippings etc as a base. my compost wont be ready before the new year.
Hi Andrea and thank you very much for your comment. The biggest issue for using raised beds appears to be the cost of the materials and how to fill them. Using grass clippings and branches to bulk out the base is a good idea however, if anyone wants to use and install raised beds extensively, it can be very expensive. Pallet Collars are a good idea because they are reasonably sized and quite shallow and as you saw in the video I have a few of these myself. Thank you once again for your comment and kind regards.. Gary
Bought 12 pallet collars for a fiver each because the soil quality is awful at my allotment. Still clearing and will put a weed membrane down. Agree with you about the cost of filling them will be costly. Have planted three beds and unfortunately they are overcrowded. It’s a learning curve and appreciate your informative videos.
Thank you very much for your comment which is greatly appreciated. I think soil quality is a good reason to consider raised beds and for a fiver each that is good value. I think the filing part is where most people are caught out or surprised when they do but realise how much material is needed to fill a raised beds. I’m really pleased you are enjoying the videos and kind regards. Gary
A good video, I am no dig and do not use raised beds because to me they are in my view for most but not for all people cosmetic. One older lady on our plots is removing them as they are a trip hazard. It is also said that they are slug hotels, where the slugs hide between the wood and soil. My second plot I inherited raised beds, which I am slowly removing it is defiantly more sluggy, but this could be due to other factors. One ad engage that I read for raised beds is that the soil cries out quicker in the spring and the soil is supposed to warm up quicker for early sowing. A lot of people on our site have wooden raised her, but never raise the soil level inside
Thank you very much for your comment Kevin which is greatly appreciated. Your thought process is very similar to mine and although I have a very small number of raised beds in my Plot, the vast majority of my growing space are ground beds. Good point about the slugs which is something that I thought I’d included in the video but I’ve obviously lost in the edit! Thank you once again for your comments and I’m pleased you enjoyed the video. Kind regards. Gary
Hi Ken and thank you very much for your comment which is greatly appreciated. As the video shows, there are certain situations when raised beds would benefit a person or a veg garden but the video also shows that there are also other issues to consider if using raised beds. I suppose it’s really a personal preference. Kind regards. Gary
Hi Pauline. Yes that is an issue with wooden beds is that they will eventually rot. As you can see from the video, I choose not to use many raised beds but you could build them out of old concrete slabs or roof tiles. This would last much longer but would taken longer to build and probably be a little more expensive. Kind regards. Gary
Don't forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE BUTTON and also the BELL ICON to be notified when each new video is uploaded. I hope you enjoy the videos and let me know if you have any suggestions for future videos. Thank you for watching. Kind regards. Gary
I have a long raised bed at home I created from decking board in lockdown which wasn't too expensive. I lined the inside with plastic sheetingthat I stapled gunned in and then filled it with a mix of top soil and compost. Every year around January-Febuary I put a mulch of home made compost ontop. Given the choice I would do raised beds in the future as I have found plants seem to grow better in them, they are a lot easier to plant in as they are raised up and there are generally a lot less weeds compared to my beds at the allotment.
Thank you very much for your comment Daniel which is greatly appreciated. It seems that raised beds work really well for you which is fantastic. I think many people will agree with the benefits of using raised beds that you explain. Kind regards. Gary
Hi, good points another one is time. It can seem overwhelming when you have a larger area to weed and maintain, raised beds help in the sense that you can tackle that one first and so on and so on helps to stay on top of things.
Hi Malcolm and thank you very much for your comment. You are quite right weeding is something that needs to be managed and something we need to keep on top of. I mainly do not use raised beds but I have paths between my ground beds so it effectively divides up the growing spaces. I do a similar thing to what you describe where I will weed one bed and move onto the next. Thank you once again for your commend and kind regards. Gary
Gary you’ve got one of the most tidy vegetable gardens I’ve seen. I’ve had to use raised beds as I purchased a house with no grass or soil it’s all under Rab and chippings. No where near the size of yours but how enjoyable is it. Thanks again for the tips bach
Thank you very much for your comment Paul, which is greatly appreciated. My Veg Plot does take a lot of work to keep tidy but I really enjoy it.
As you point out there are valid reasons to use raised beds especially where you have no suitable growing ground or areas. Thank you once again for you mr comment which is greatly appreciated. Kind regards. Gary
I have been gradually making my plot into raised beds due to my arthritis. It will help me keep the allotment for much longer. It’s taken me 3 years gradually building them up and filling them. I have used decking planks but started with those folding ones. The other disadvantage is that I can’t plant as much but overall I means I can keep the allotment. It’s great that you covered this though
Thank you very much for your comment which is greatly appreciated. As you point out there are advantages and disadvantages to using raised beds so I guess it will come down to personal preference and circumstances which will determine whether they will be used. Kind regards. Gary
Your timing is perfect. I was just thinking about this yesterday. I have a medium size garden but really is overgrown with shrubs/trees, a lot of clearing needs doing but when we were locked down first I decided to get back to growing veggies and hubby made me a raised bed from HT pallets. When I eventually was able to buy compost I had to buy several bags, so much for 'free' veggies! He made a second bed this year but I half filled it with compost I had built up myself with veg peels/cardboard/grass trimmings so that saved us quite a bit. I remembered yesterday, (a bit late) that way back in the 70's in our previous house I had grown loads of veg in the garden soil and had bumper harvests. Back then, I had never even heard of a raised bed. So after this year I think I'll go back to the soil! Great video!
Thank you very much for your comment which is greatly appreciated. As you can see in the video there are some advantages to having raised beds but if you have decent soil and good veg growing beds then there is no real necessity to build and use raised beds. Of course for those with mobility issue and other medical conditions, then raised beds may be more suitable.
I'm really pleased you enjoyed the video and kind regards. Gary
Thanks to seeing this I changed my mind and decided to do 3 no dig beds instead. Saving a lot of time and money! I think this was best as it's my first year growing and can't say how successful I'll be or whether I'll definitely be able to keep it up...
So a big thank you for all your videos and tips 😊😊
Thank you very much Rachel and I’m really pleased you are finding my video helpful. You will find you will learn all of the time but I’m sure you will enjoy it and keep growing your own veg, it really is worthwhile and so rewarding! Kind regards. Gary
Hello Gary. Thank you very much for sharing a wonderful video. A lot of useful information sharing. My garden is full of stones and tree roots. I have big trees near my house and all the roots are in my garden! So i mainly do containers gardening and got 3 lots of raised bed for my leafy greens and 2 planters for bottle gourds plants. Raised beds are expensive i agree with that 👍🏻❤️👌🏼
Thank you very much for your comment. Yes, with the ground conditions you have with lots of roots and stones then raised beds or containers would seem to be a good option. I’m pleased you enjoyed the video. Kind regards. Gary
Hi Garry.
Great video I did enjoy it, I have a small plot at the side of my bungalow and just started
to grow a few vegetables. I decided to purchase recycled plastic raised beds more expensive but should last a long time.regards stan.
Hi Stanley and thank you very much got your comment. I’m really pleased you enjoyed the video. I agree your raised beds should last a while so that should be a good investment. Good luck with the veg growing and let me know how you get on. Kind regards. Gary
I use raise bed even though my garden is 90ft by 70ft but the ground is so rubbish I decided to put my raise bed near to my house than at the bottom of the garden . I find this keeps the birds away and we look after them more becuse we sit near the house when we are in the garden so we maintain them more and Easy to water . All the veg doing really well this year as our homemade compost was enough to fill 15 beds up last year
Thank you very much for your comment Steven which is greatly appreciated. I use a few raised beds myself as you saw in the video but the vast majority of my veg growing areas are traditional ground beds. I can see the benefits of having your raised beds near the house and you also seen to make a good quantity of your own compost which is a great advantage for raised beds. Thank you once again for your comments and kind regards.
i have some pallet collars i plan to use as my garden is now full, so these will allow me to grow more food! i will also be looking at using branches, grass clippings etc as a base. my compost wont be ready before the new year.
Hi Andrea and thank you very much for your comment.
The biggest issue for using raised beds appears to be the cost of the materials and how to fill them. Using grass clippings and branches to bulk out the base is a good idea however, if anyone wants to use and install raised beds extensively, it can be very expensive. Pallet Collars are a good idea because they are reasonably sized and quite shallow and as you saw in the video I have a few of these myself. Thank you once again for your comment and kind regards.. Gary
Bought 12 pallet collars for a fiver each because the soil quality is awful at my allotment. Still clearing and will put a weed membrane down. Agree with you about the cost of filling them will be costly. Have planted three beds and unfortunately they are overcrowded. It’s a learning curve and appreciate your informative videos.
Thank you very much for your comment which is greatly appreciated. I think soil quality is a good reason to consider raised beds and for a fiver each that is good value. I think the filing part is where most people are caught out or surprised when they do but realise how much material is needed to fill a raised beds.
I’m really pleased you are enjoying the videos and kind regards. Gary
Please tell me where you got them.many thanks
A good video, I am no dig and do not use raised beds because to me they are in my view for most but not for all people cosmetic. One older lady on our plots is removing them as they are a trip hazard. It is also said that they are slug hotels, where the slugs hide between the wood and soil. My second plot I inherited raised beds, which I am slowly removing it is defiantly more sluggy, but this could be due to other factors. One ad engage that I read for raised beds is that the soil cries out quicker in the spring and the soil is supposed to warm up quicker for early sowing.
A lot of people on our site have wooden raised her, but never raise the soil level inside
Ad engage = advantage
Cries = dries
Thank you very much for your comment Kevin which is greatly appreciated. Your thought process is very similar to mine and although I have a very small number of raised beds in my Plot, the vast majority of my growing space are ground beds. Good point about the slugs which is something that I thought I’d included in the video but I’ve obviously lost in the edit! Thank you once again for your comments and I’m pleased you enjoyed the video. Kind regards. Gary
I normally line the wood frame with the packaging that soil come in. Do you think this is not good for the plants or soil re contamination?
Hi Jeanette, it depends on the material you are using but I’d imagine paper and cardboard would be better than plastic. Kind regards. Gary
I'm with you, I think raised beds are a waste of gardening space, and are not maintenance free.
Hi Ken and thank you very much for your comment which is greatly appreciated. As the video shows, there are certain situations when raised beds would benefit a person or a veg garden but the video also shows that there are also other issues to consider if using raised beds. I suppose it’s really a personal preference. Kind regards. Gary
I bought some raised ends and after a few years they rotted! Cant keep buying them
Hi Pauline. Yes that is an issue with wooden beds is that they will eventually rot. As you can see from the video, I choose not to use many raised beds but you could build them out of old concrete slabs or roof tiles. This would last much longer but would taken longer to build and probably be a little more expensive. Kind regards. Gary