Raised Beds-Is Length Important

[whistech]

Good Afternoon, I'm new here at Tomatoville and I am hoping some of more experienced raised bed gardeners can give some input. I live in Spring, Texas and will be building raised beds with-in the next 3 weeks. I have read where the raised beds should be no wider than 4 feet and I understand why. My question is this: Is the length of each raised bed critical? What I mean is the raised beds I have seen in the pictures here are normally between 8 and 12 feet long and I'm wondering if the reason is for good looks or if there is a reason not to make my beds between 32 and 40 feet long? I look forward to growing a garden next spring and want to avoid a rookie mistake building my raised beds.

[TightenUp]

the longer it is the more tomatoes you can grow. mine is 4x16. i bought the raised bed and this was the largest one i could fit in my garden area. if i had more room i would have a bigger(longer) one. i put 12 plants in a zig-zag pattern and it got tight.

fyi- the 4 foot width is still tough to get to certain parts of plants. i would personally like 5 foot width with some support beams to walk on. i understand this is not the norm but the extra foot would give the plants so much more room

[TightenUp]

one other thing. a 40 foot raised bed requires so much dirt or whatever you choose to fill it with. keep that in mind. do you know what you will be filling it with?

[davidstcldfl]

One disadvantage to one long bed, rather then two shorter ones....if your in the middle on one side, and say you see a tomato hornworm or something else on the other side...it's a long walk to get there before it disappears.

[halleone]

Originally Posted by davidstcldfl

One disadvantage to one long bed, rather then two shorter ones....if your in the middle on one side, and say you see a tomato hornworm or something else on the other side...it's a long walk to get there before it disappears.

The walking around a looong bed got old, so the my longest bank of beds is 11 feet, the others are between 6 and 10 feet. Works just fine for me, and next year I will start some vertical growing to make all of them more space efficient.

[amideutch]

Check out this thread that shows the growing bed setup one of our members who lives down in your neck of the woods in Elgin. A lot depends on how many plants you are going to grow, do you plan on pruning them, what type of watering system you are going to use and plant spacing. I have a raised bed at work that is 18' x 3' and plant only 6 plants in it because I do not trim them. Ami

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=5688

[TightenUp]

Originally Posted by amideutch

Check out this thread that shows the growing bed setup one of our members who lives down in your neck of the woods in Elgin. A lot depends on how many plants you are going to grow, do you plan on pruning them, what type of watering system you are going to use and plant spacing. I have a raised bed at work that is 18' x 3' and plant only 6 plants in it because I do not trim them. Ami

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=5688

Never seen this thread. fantastic! thanks for sharing Ami

[ddsack]

I suspect the 8' and 12' lengths are just convenient because they are common board lengths that don't usually require much re-cutting or waste of materials. As someone mentioned, when the plants are all up and growing, you may not be able to easily step across to grab something on the far side from you, and it will get old marching around the long way. Personally, I would not want them longer than 16' at most. I like my 12 footers best, but I have 8 footers in an irregular sloping area to better fit into the terrain.

[lakelady]

Originally Posted by ddsack

I suspect the 8' and 12' lengths are just convenient because they are common board lengths that don't usually require much re-cutting or waste of materials. As someone mentioned, when the plants are all up and growing, you may not be able to easily step across to grab something on the far side from you, and it will get old marching around the long way. Personally, I would not want them longer than 16' at most. I like my 12 footers best, but I have 8 footers in an irregular sloping area to better fit into the terrain.

Yep, I chose 10 and 12' long raised bed sizes due to availability of lumber. Well, I think they had 15' but no way I could fit them into my neighbor's van, and that was my transport. Sure did take a LOT of compost and soil though!

[saltmarsh]

Mine are 90 feet long X 4 feet wide with 28 inches between beds. Earth bermed beds have worked well for me. No lumber to rot, no mortar to crack, and if you don't like it, it's fairly easy to change. Claud

[bbjm]

Saltmarsh. I'm very interested in your setup.

how did you form those rows so neatly?

I'm reluctant to invest in the cost and permanency of lumber and building materials when I'm not sure how I will ultimately want to arrange the garden. in an earlier life I had a 4x8 bed (made out of two 12' 2X6s. Worked well, but seemed too wide for caring for the plants toward the middle. At the same time it seemed too crowded for 2 rows of indeterminate tomatoes. I'm thinking I want 3' rows with one tomato row rather than two. But that would take a lot more lumber to get the same number of tomato plants. Earth formed rows seems ideal.

I'm also curious to know what happens to your earth formed rows after a very heavy rain?

It seems we largely have drought then floods around here anymore.

Bret

[saltmarsh]

Originally Posted by bbjm

Saltmarsh. I'm very interested in your setup.

how did you form those rows so neatly?

I'm reluctant to invest in the cost and permanency of lumber and building materials when I'm not sure how I will ultimately want to arrange the garden. in an earlier life I had a 4x8 bed (made out of two 12' 2X6s. Worked well, but seemed too wide for caring for the plants toward the middle. At the same time it seemed too crowded for 2 rows of indeterminate tomatoes. I'm thinking I want 3' rows with one tomato row rather than two. But that would take a lot more lumber to get the same number of tomato plants. Earth formed rows seems ideal.

I'm also curious to know what happens to your earth formed rows after a very heavy rain?

It seems we largely have drought then floods around here anymore.

Bret

Bret, the beds were put in using a tape measure , a line level ($2.00 at most hardware stores), a 24" front tine tiller /with a rear plow attachment and an 8" flat shovel.

The rows run North and South are 90 feet long and have a half inch of fall in 10 feet.

I wanted my beds to be 4' wide at the bottom and 42" at the top of the bed with 28" between the bottom of the beds, so I made several jigs to do the layout. A jig is nothing more than a stick cut to the correct length. This makes it easy to repeat a layout.

When time allows and if there is any interest I thought I'd start a thread on earth bermed raised beds.

4' (actually 42") beds are too narrow for 2 rows of tomatoes, but are well suited for many other combinations such as a row of tomatoes with a row of eggplant or a row of tomatoes with a row of peppers or a row of okra with a row of summer squash. It also is well suited for companion planting.

I haven't found a "Keep Off the Row" sign anywhere in my garden. I step on the raised beds and cross over anytime the need arises. It's not a big deal and remember this is supposed to be fun.

I had several heavy rains and flooded twice while I was forming the rows and didn't have any problems with the sides washing. Here's a photo that was taken after a 4 1/2 inch rain. You can see in the lower right corner of the first picture where the side of the bed washed a little. It's easy to repair if you want to mess with it. A few more photos to show how the rows are laid out and how the sides hold up. Mow the middles with a lawnmower and weedeat the sides and mulch the tops (lots of mulch). Claud

Gardens 6-15-2012 023.jpg New Raised Beds 008.jpg New Raised Beds 004.jpg Gardens 6-15-2012 020.jpg Gardens 6-15-2012 051.jpg

[halleone]

Originally Posted by bbjm

Saltmarsh. I'm very interested in your setup.

how did you form those rows so neatly?

I'm reluctant to invest in the cost and permanency of lumber and building materials when I'm not sure how I will ultimately want to arrange the garden. in an earlier life I had a 4x8 bed (made out of two 12' 2X6s. Worked well, but seemed too wide for caring for the plants toward the middle. At the same time it seemed too crowded for 2 rows of indeterminate tomatoes. I'm thinking I want 3' rows with one tomato row rather than two. But that would take a lot more lumber to get the same number of tomato plants. Earth formed rows seems ideal.

I'm also curious to know what happens to your earth formed rows after a very heavy rain?

It seems we largely have drought then floods around here anymore.

Bret

If I might tell you about my earthberm beds? We built our house 10 years ago, and started the garden from scratch on heavy, heavy clay. With no close/good source for 2' x 12' cedar lumber (which is what my husband built prior raised beds out of and wasn't going to use anything else), I decided to try berms.

Purchased compost was brought in, tilled under, and the berms were formed, using a tape measure, stakes, and a string, easy enough to do. It has worked out fine for me, but we have a lot of wind here and the berms keep getting lower and lower each year, even with me incorporating organics each year, and trying to keep mulch in place throughout most of the year.

I eventually added concrete patio blocks up the middle path (there are four banks of beds, five beds to the bank). As I am now 10 years older and it is getting harder for me to hand dig it twice a year, I am now slowly adding the block pathways around each bed. I'll start using as much mulch as possible and hope eventually to not have to dig much at all.

I have found it easier to dig up the berms each year than the old raised wooden beds; hopefully the new pathways and letting the berms drop lower won't be an issue.

Lynn

[ScottinAtlanta]

Mine are 3 x 25 and I love them. I wish they were longer.

[TightenUp]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Mine are 3 x 25 and I love them. I wish they were longer.

do you plant in a single row or 2 rows?