A raised bed turns a patch of poor or waterlogged ground into a productive growing space, warms up earlier in spring and saves your back from endless bending. Reclaimed scaffold boards make a solid one for very little money.
Why scaffold boards
They are thick, strong and cheap, especially second-hand, and their weathered look settles into a garden well. A board is usually around two hundred and twenty-five millimetres wide, a good single height, and you can stack two for a deeper bed.
Keep the size sensible
The one rule that matters is reach. Make the bed no wider than you can comfortably reach into from both sides, so you never have to tread on the soil.
- About 1.2 metres wide is right for most people.
- Any length you like; longer beds want a stake mid-span.
- Screw the corners to a stout post sunk inside each one.
Putting it together
Cut the boards to length, stand them on edge on level ground, and screw each corner to an upright post for rigidity. A couple of stakes driven in along the longer sides stop the boards bowing out once the soil pushes against them.
Filling it well
Loosen the ground beneath so roots and water can move down, then fill with a mix of topsoil and plenty of garden compost or rotted manure. Mounded slightly proud, it will settle over the first few weeks, and you can plant straight away.