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Re: Bed Construction

My beds are about 8-9 inches above the paths, and they are dug at least
another 4-5 inches below that. They just... stay up! The only place I've
had any problems is at the corners, when I pull on the hose too
vigourously, so now I've hammered in attractive lengths of driftwood at
each corner to make a hose guide. That's it. I laid boards across the tops
of the beds to walk on for weeding, planting and harvest, sort of like the
square foot system except not in any particular number of feet and not
square! :-) Just where I wanted to walk between the rows and groups of
veggies. The sides don't slope much, though there has been a tiny bit of
natural crumbling, it settled down and stabilized just fine. Of course, I
had them dug back in January/February, and then they stayed untouched until
mid-March, when it warmed up enough for me to get out and plant a few
summer bulbs, some radishes and caroots and peas. So it might have been the
long resting period through the spring rains that did the trick.

Denise McCann Beck
USDA Zone 7
Sunset Western 4
Coastal Bristish Columbia
> >	How high are your beds?  I am afraid I would lose a lot of space since
I
> would think the sides must slope if there are no sides.  Have you found
> this to be true?  How do the beds stay without sides?  I would like to
try
> this - I find the sides a nuisance in many ways.  Are you going to till
the
> whole garden every year, or just dig up the beds?  I find that a great
many
> things grow in my paths, despite my efforts to keep them clean, including
> some plants that I don't seed themselves in the beds-so much mulch and
dirt
> has fallen into them over 8 years that the paths have become good soil.  
> Judy Warner
> warner@ultranet.com
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