Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design Re: Questions about building raised garden beds 2Jul 11, 2011 12:09 pm The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Questions about building raised garden beds 4Jul 11, 2011 12:22 pm The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Questions about building raised garden beds 8Jul 12, 2011 3:44 pm The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Questions about building raised garden beds 14Aug 09, 2011 12:07 pm I posted a stack of links somewhere on it. No time to find them for you though. Re: Questions about building raised garden beds 15Aug 09, 2011 10:00 pm Fu, would you be OK using something like expanded perlite/vermiculite or a mix of both (ala hydroponics) as the media for the water reservoir rather than blue metal? I'm just looking into it now for my raised garden beds Re: Questions about building raised garden beds 16Aug 10, 2011 3:07 pm Hi there, I found this (very recent) article by Colin Austin in which he discusses the use of rocks vs. organic material, etc. http://www.waterright.com.au/stones-v-organics.pdf He definitely suggests using organic material (which along the lines of what Fu was saying). Here is an excerpt: “Many people have seen my very simple single chamber system and tried to convert it back to the much more complex two chamber system by filling the bottom half with stones which are then covered with a geotextile fabric.” “After a time the soil will still get through the geotextile fabric to fill all the holes between the stones which then turns into a form of concrete. The only advantage I can see for this system is that you will get much slimmer from the large amount of energy used to dig out this concrete.” Cheers, Pete Re: Questions about building raised garden beds 17Aug 10, 2011 4:10 pm pete_melb Hi there, I found this (very recent) article by Colin Austin in which he discusses the use of rocks vs. organic material, etc. http://www.waterright.com.au/stones-v-organics.pdf He definitely suggests using organic material (which along the lines of what Fu was saying). Here is an excerpt: “Many people have seen my very simple single chamber system and tried to convert it back to the much more complex two chamber system by filling the bottom half with stones which are then covered with a geotextile fabric.” “After a time the soil will still get through the geotextile fabric to fill all the holes between the stones which then turns into a form of concrete. The only advantage I can see for this system is that you will get much slimmer from the large amount of energy used to dig out this concrete.” Cheers, Pete I read that, but I'm not so keen on using soil that will be constantly wet - personal preference. Re: Questions about building raised garden beds 18Aug 11, 2011 9:17 am I have the same concerns about soil (in the reservoir area) being constantly "waterlogged". Some people say they allow the wicking bed to "dry out" before filling it up again, which gives the soil a chance to breathe in between refills. Re: Questions about building raised garden beds 19Aug 12, 2011 7:12 am Here are Colin Austin's thoughts about using organic material as the wicking medium / reservoir... "You do not want to have the organic material saturated all the time. Just fill them up and leave until the water has been used so the organic materials cycle from wet to dry. Convincing people not to over water is one of my big problems. The other is making the beds too deep, in that case the water will not be sucked out so you will always have a wet zone at the base which never dries out. 60mm is the maximum you want to go to using a closed bed used for veggies etc." Re: Questions about building raised garden beds 20Aug 12, 2011 10:43 am Does anyone else NOT like that they have suggested shade cloth. Have you guys seen that stuff break down over the years. Use a natural fabric and it will still break down but it wont leach anything into the soil (hemp/un colored cotton??) The beds will have to be pulled down every now and then anyways, so every few years you can replace it. You should check your detail drawings, it may show downpipe within brick pier. 14 14234 Hi Suku18 In NSW the statutory required insurances are: 1. HBCF ( Home Building Compensation Fund) - This is if the builder dies or goes broke. But this only covers 20%… 1 2783 Personally, considering your layout (study/work desks in bedrooms), I don't think you have any other option but to leave NW windows and make them as big as possible e.g.… 7 10583 |