Using blocks for garden beds etc

[3ps]

Hi,

I have alot of fruit and veg garden space. At the moment I have used joists to make large raised beds, with wood chipping in between.

In some other areas I have used round poles as edging.

I want to put something more permanent in place. I was thinking of using solid concrete blocks as they are cheap, and a good height for a raised bed/ I don't know the dimensions but about 18inches long, 9inches high, 3 inches wide.


My question is this:

One section of my garden is about 60 foot long, but it is on a slight slope. I would guess it is about 6 foot higher at one end.

I need to put in a foundation for the blocks obviously. I was wondering if I can just lay these blocks on the slope. It will only be 1 block high, so not a wall per se. Otherwise I have to stagger it all and I don't have the energy to tackle that.....

It's really just a cheap edging I'm looking for, that is solid enough.

Any tips?

[seanandruby]

what about railway sleepers, you can peg them save you digging out and concreting footings?

[henpecked]

I'd go with Sean, makes a cheaper, easier, DIY job.

[lutonlagerlout]

old joists and sleepers are more organic ,plus if you do blocks they are a bugger to move
i tend to use old 7 by 2 joists for my raised beds at the allotment and chipped wood in-between
cheers LLL

[mickavalon]

agree with LLL mate, don't mess about with blocks, see if a local re-claim yard has some joists, won't hurt to treat them either, nothind oil based though, just something like a timber water seal, I've done the same and they work a treat. If your any where near Brum, Hockley Metals do 7"x2" and 8"x2" joists at about £1.50 a meter, just need de-nailing and treating(not absolutley neccessary)

[3ps]

I did get sleepers at one point... but they were creosote and I have kids (and vegetables) but I managed to sell them on.

I have some modern sleepers in places. I'm reluctant to use them to be honest as a) I have to treat them and it is a no chemicals garden and b) weeds grow in, around and under them. I have a pretty big place in terms of layout and weeding.

I was hoping that because the blocks have foundations and mortar that it would solve all my weed/creeping grass problems!

[lutonlagerlout]

i too have the weeds creeping grass problem!!
i used to like grass till i had an allotment!
a concrete block laid on a 225 by 225mm concrete foundation will be ok ,but be aware a lot more work
try weed fabric and mulch to try and keep the docks down,another plant i used to like
LLL

[mickavalon]

If you want to reduce weeding between planters, either try weed fabric and Mulch or, at my last House, turfed between the planters, wide enough to pass a mower between. This gave me a good surface to walk about on, no weeding and just neede a cut with the rest of the lawn. Obviously, not knowing your site, this mightnot work, but tthe old man has it at his allotmentand a couple of friends do it also. At my new place I've just seperated the Beds with pathways of old Paving slabs, off jobs we've done. You could also do this, just look around in your local Bargain Pages or at Paving suppliers, you may find some cheap or even free old Pavers, it's a bit of graft but it cuts down on the work later.

[3ps]

Hi guys,

I do have weed fabric down in the pathways, and wood chip/bark. The problem is that there are grassed areas beside it, and the grass creeps. I also have some shrubbery areas and weeds etc creep. With the round poles... they tend to degrade over time and need to be replaced. All these poles/sleepers are essentially lying on bare earth so will degrade.

I personally like the idea of massive sleepers... but the modern ones don't tend to look as nice as the old ones and they would be alot more expensive than block, I would think.

I don't mind the effort of the blocks as I have all summer! I have lots of other gardening to attend to so I really want to make this a long term solution.

The initial solution was to make it nice and fancy.. i.e. a low brick wall to match existing brick around the house but that would be expensive and time consuming so herself agreed to blocks. We can always paint them white or something and they are easy to refresh every year or two if necessary.

So my questions are

1) is it OK to lay the foundation on a 1:10 slope for a purpose like this?

2) If the foundation for that part is 60ish foot long... do I need to split it into sections to stop it cracking?

Thanks!

[lutonlagerlout]

foundation needs to be on subgrade,remove all topsoil
on that length it would be wise to split it in 3 parts
cheers LLL

[mickavalon]

Visually, laying blocks to a slope looks a bit rough, would you not think? Just my opinion.
We use Oak sleepers on a lot of our projects, 2.4mtsx200mmx100mm and coming in around £30.00 a go, last a bit longer than ordinary sleepers and look good. Dig some Gravel drainage channels under the Sleepers first,sit them on that and that'll take the water away from the underneath of the Sleepers, you could even put a bit of land pipe in, it'll act as a mini soakaway.

[3ps]

I'm not coming around to the sleepers idea.
a) to get them to last I would have to coat them. I can't do this when they are beside out fruit and veggie sections
b) gaps & gravel drainage channels all mean creeping weeds/grass etc.

I think I will have to bite the bullet and build proper stepped foundations! Oh well there goes my summer!

Thanks for the advice guys!

[mickavalon]

Not sure I agree, but there you go. Oak doesn't need treating, and if you can get a weed free garden, good luck to you mate, just trying to stop your hard work, but hey ho

[specialbranch]

What about concrete fence posts and gravel board, hire a stihl saw for the weekend and cut some 10ft posts down to 2ft. Dig some nice tight holes concrete 1ft in the ground and have a 1ft high raised bed. It'll take you half an hour to install a 6ft length, will be cheap as chips and wont need treating or a footing. You could do it stepped or on a slope. cost about about £15 quid per 6ft including postcrete and dosent really require skilled labour.

[seanandruby]

What about a paving flag standing upright buried in the ground?