Monday, November 9, 2009

Raised Beds - Collective Wisdom


OK folks, it's collective wisdom time (which is a fancy way of saying I'm stuck and I have a question). (Ps, this picture gets a little bigger if you click on it.)

How level do I need to make these things?

The left end is about three inches higher than the right end (over 12 feet) and a big rock is preventing me from digging the left side down any more. The long piece is roughly level, but you can see that the end pieces won't match up. If I have to make the tops absolutely level, I'll need to cut the bottom of the wood off on the left end, which I'd prefer not to do unless I absolutely must.

I'm going to post this on Facebook too, and see what my FB friends say. I got a huge (for me) number of replies when I asked another raised bed question a few months ago.

Soooo ... what do you say?

4 comments:

  1. Personally, I really wouldn't worry about being three inches off. When we put in our original 27 raised beds (each 4' x 8') we took the time to make them all level . . . they are on a gradual southern slope with the 8' length running east and west. Now that it's all said and done, did we gain that much by making each bed level in the slope? I suppose they look better than if we hadn't done it that way . . . but we took more pains (and time) with it than I think we should have. Just my 2 cents worth.

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  2. You know Jordan, God didn't make the ground level but stuff grows anywhere. if you had a lot of difference, where it was a question if there was enough good new dirt on one end, then it might be an issue. I didn't level the last one and I have no idea how off or on it is. The peppers didn't mind a bit.. Don't sweat the small stuff. Have a glass of cider and smile about it..

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  3. I like your thinking! I was supposing that the major reason for level-ness is so water won't run off. As long as it's not too far tilt-y, it's probably OK. Plus - now I have blisters and I don't want to dig any more!

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  4. My two cents is that if you want it to be level (or close to), to RAISE the lower end . . . rather than trying to dig down the higher end. Either raise it with dirt or cement blocks or another section of wood.

    Keep us posted! :)

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