Superior Raised Beds - A Quick Guide

Firstly, if you require a size of bed which we stock as standard simply select the relevant sized starter kit. This will include planks, corner posts, aluminium brackets, fixings and an instruction booklet – everything you need to build your bed.

If you'd like to extend an existing starter kit, or wish to construct a bed size we don't offer as standard, select from the additional parts listed above. All planks come complete with joining brackets and fixings and you can even cut them to create a bespoke bed to your own exact specification. Here’s an example of how to achieve a 1.2m x 1.2m (4ft x 4ft) wide x 40cm (16”) high bed with an adjoining 1.2m x 1.2m (4ft x 4ft) wide x 40cm (16”) high bed including capping:

Select your starter kit: 1.2m x 1.2m (4ft x 4ft) x 40cm (16”) high with capping (GDN-474) = £176

Then choose from the additional components list to create the adjoining bed:

3 x 1.2m (4ft) planks (GDN-583) = £55.20

2 x 20cm (8”) high posts (GDN-590) = £5.30

2 x post caps (GDN-594) = £3.20

3 x 1.2m (4ft) capping (GDN-587) = £18.90

Grand Total = £258.60

Superior Raised Beds - Planning and Planting Information

 
To help you make the most of your raised beds - and most importantly enjoy growing in them - we've compiled a list of factors to consider when choosing, siting and filling your beds.

For starters, raised beds can be placed directly onto soil, lawn or paving and can be filled directly with a fertile, organic rich, light & friable topsoil/compost such as the vegetable and fruit mix that we supply via our partnership with Rolawn.

Calculating the quantity of soil you will require to fill your beds is relatively simple; you just need to multiply the length of your bed by the width and the depth and the figure you arrive at is the amount of compost you'll need in litres. To make things even easier; all the Rolawn soil we supply is delivered in 1000 litre tote bags so you can tell immediately how many bags you'll need to order. The example below should help you with this;

2.4m long  x 1.8m wide  x 20cm deep = 864 litres - 1 x 1000 litre tote bag required

For the best growing results, we'd advise you to fill your beds with 75% topsil and use a bulky organic matter - such as farmyard manure or home-made compost - to make up the other 25%. For more details on filling your raised bed, please contact our horticulturist.  

One of the benefits of a raised bed is the fact you can tailor the growing medium to the plants you are wishing to grow. For example you can use ericaceous compost for acid loving plants or you may want to grow carrots in a predominantly sandy soil.

If you want to increase the drainage of your bed you can add a layer of  gravel approximately 5cm / 2” deep at the base, but note that the level drainage will be dictated mainly by the ground that the bed is sitting on. If for example the bed is sitting on a free draining sandy soil you may want to lay down a semi-permeable ground sheet beneath the bed to reduce the drainage.

We'd also advise you to use one of our specially designed Raised Bed Liners  when positioning your bed on a patio, concrete or other hardstanding area. Not only will these thick, one piece, non-woven polypropylene fabric liners protect the timber frame of the bed even further but they will cut down on the leaching of sand and other fine soil particles - and they make emptying a bed much easier at the end of the season too! 

We've also produced a quick guide to the depth of bed you'll need to grow favourite Kitchen Garden crops. This list is by no means definitive but if you're unsure of how many tiers to go for, the over-riding advice is to go deeper - this gives you the flexibility to grow a wider variation of vegetables in the future and also helps with crop rotation.

Here's that list;

If you’d like further information on the Superior Raised Beds, or would like to discuss any feature of this product, please call our Customer Services Department on 0845 218 5301 or e-mail us at enquiries@harrod.uk.com – we’d be delighted to help!

View our helpful video clip below: