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what are "gravel boards?" are they wood? can i get them here in the usa?

Gravel boards are actually the bottom board of a fence, the one that lies in touch with the ground, running between the fence posts. Traditionally timber but often these days are concrete, because they do not rot. They are therefore simple concrete planks about 8" x 2".and 6' or 8' long.
In the UK they are a readily available and relatively inexpensive item.......in the US I don't know, you don't have fences so much as us.

I've been wondering what gravel boards were too - fences like UK ones don't really exist in France, as it's either hedges or wire mesh see through fences. You have to apply to the Mairie for permission to erect a fence anyway, same as a garden shed or greenhouse!

noodles wrote:Is 4ft and 12 ft a standard size for gravel boards?

They are actually supplied as metric lengths but they approximate to these and other lengths. One might also be able to get them cut to size at the timber merchants.

When I bought mine I did all the calculations in feet which caused no end of problems with the order as feet were converted to metres and everything had to be doubled (because the frames were to be two gravel boards high) and the wood for some frames doubled (2 x 8' frames) and for the others quadrupled (4 x 12' frames). The order was worked out four times, including me going immediately back in because there was going to be way too much wood and then phoning up the next day because there wasn't going to be enough wood of a certain length, and was still wrong at the end as I have four extra 3" by 3" poles (which I can find a use for). Only 8' and 12' lengths were delivered, so I had to cut the 8' lengths in half to make the 4' ends (so none were the same length nor had a square end!)

The moral? Move with the times.

In addition, the wood was delivered just before I went away before Christmas. The weather was fine until I was ready to cut up the wood - and then it snowed (remember the snow in January?) and rained and the wood swelled and trapped my handsaw when I tried to cut it. The electric saw worked but the blade wasn't very robust and cut at a slant. However, now that the frames are made and in place, none of this is noticeable nor matters.

A&A wrote:Foodinistar: Inspirational use of the backgarden. Do you think you'll ever miss the lawn? In fact, don't answer that

I had no use for a lawn. If new house owners want a lawn it should be a simple matter of removing the frames and spreading the soil out to the level of the concrete path.

We have a large patio area between the house and what can be seen in that photo.

The concrete block beds visible in the foreground of the photo are actually something just over 3' high on the patio side - it is a real joy to weed those beds!

I checked with my local "home depot" hardware/gardening supply store/big box store. regarding "gravel board" the guy looked at me like i was from a different planet.. Sooooo. it looks like i will have to go with regular fence boards/planks.

Often British 'gravel boards' are tannelized (sp?) ie treated to stopthem rotting as they are designed to be in contact with the ground.

Not necessarily a bad thing, just passing the info on so you can make an informed choice.

MW

Mine are wooden gravel boards, not concrete - price was important! The fact that they were treated already was useful as well. Now that they're in, I'm not sure how long they'll last, but the only people I've seen using scaffold boards tend to be those with more spare cash than me (trying to think of a nice way to put that)

I was thinking about putting wood chip down as well, but I guess that eventually it would rot and become a medium for weeds to grow in. I'm covering it with stones - I have very stony soil! Weeds still grow through it though. Most annoying!

I used a pile of old concrete roof tiles that I happened to have lying around. Only did it yesterday though, so no idea how well it'll hold up.

http://www.spod.org/~davet/raised_bed/

Looks OK. Are they sunk into the ground?

What amazes me though is that you were able to do it yesterday. What sort of soil do you have? It would be like the Somme here if I went stomping around outside just now.

foodinistar wrote:Looks OK. Are they sunk into the ground?

Yep, 7 inches or so.

foodinistar wrote:What amazes me though is that you were able to do it yesterday. What sort of soil do you have? It would be like the Somme here if I went stomping around outside just now.

Yesterday was quite nice, but when I went out earlier to turn the grass over a bit (inside the bed) I soon had a couple of inches of mud on the soles of my boots and had to stop.

What are the benefits of raised beds ?

mamos

Mamos: ttp://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/viewtop ... 29&t=12862

MW

MuddyWitch wrote:Mamos: http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... 29&t=12862

MW

edited your link