Building raised garden beds makes gardening easier for disabled and elderly gardeners
Raised garden beds can be made from tyres, sleepers, almost any material that wont rot, making gardening easier if you have a disabilty that makes bending over difficult.
Raised garden beds make gardening easier We supply and fit wheelchair accessible raised beds, raised garden beds for disabled and elderly gardeners and for people with a handicap that makes bending over painful
Sleeper raised bed, I prefer the sleepers laid sideways to form a seat
Simple to assemble raised bed kit
No bending with this raised bed made from tyres
We Build raised garden beds for disabled and elderly gardeners and people with a handicap that makes bending difficult. making gardening easier
The best raised bed, either made from sleepers, tyres or concrete blocks will have a top, forming a seat you can sit on as you are working or just sitting enjoying a break in your garden.
Sleepers are just the job but anything that wont rot quickly will do, from sturdy plastic sheet, planks to old slabs old car tyres, preformed fish pond liners and bricks.
Anything that will hold soil can be used to build raised beds.
Breeze blocks laid on sides, not pretty but will provide a good seat to work from.
Upturned lawn turf. If you know anyone turning a lawn into a patio or stripping a lawn, ask them for the turf,they are removing they will be pleased to drop it round for you, saves them hiring a skip.
Raised beds are simple to make and will save the back and can be reasonably cheap to build a 6ft sleeper costs about £30.
How many sleepers do I need to make a raised bed.
Depends on how far your back will let you bend. You will need Four to form a sixfoot square about a foot high cost £100. Eight to form a two foot high x six foot square raised bed cost £200 .
How much top soil will I need to fill a raised bed
About one ton of top soil will fill the foot high bed and about two tons the higher bed.. Don't buy this in bags from garden centers it is full of additives, is no better and will cost a lot more. Find a local supplier who will deliver and possibly tip it into the beds for you. You can advertise on freecycle for topsoil and stuff to form a raised bed but will need transport to collect it Remember clay is actually very good stuff to grow in as there are so many nutrients in the soil . Its the digging that is so hard. Digging in lots of grit sand makes it easier to dig. If you want to improve clay soil read this. Also remember, deep digging is a thing of the past as long as you keep it weed free and fork it over now and again,tips here no dig gardening
wheeled gardening seat
This rolling gardeners seat can help avoid painful bending or stooping when working on your raised beds, The swivel tractor-type seat lets you sit and work up to 23" above the ground and roll along the beds on four wheels.
click on the picture and select raised beds from the menu.
Raised Beds make life easier for gardeners with a disability that makes bending difficult and this selection of robust Wooden Raised Beds Kits and easy to assemble plastic Link-a-Bord Kits take the hastle out of building them. Raised beds are great for 'grow-your-own' gardeners as they allow you to grow in otherwise unsuitable soil or locations These Wooden Raised Beds also make stylish planters ideal for a colourful flower display.
Every time you hoe, rake or fork the soil over try to add some grit sand and home made garden compost until the texture is how you want it. You might want to consider no dig gardening I have explained how to start here gardening without digging
No real need for weed suppressant fabric, weeds will struggle to grow though a foot of soil without light to feed it. Most weeds are airborne, so will grow on top of the weed suppressant fabric anyway.
If you have a bad back or a disability that stops you bending or getting down low, a raised flower or vegetable bed makes it a lot easier to keep on gardening. I have included some simple DIY ideas and tips on this page. Or you can order simple to assemble kits from the gardeners shop.
Used bricks, broken slabs, old planks around a simple frame of corner stakes well hammered in and any container, even old pre formed garden ponds, are all cheap alternatives to make raised garden beds from. If you think you are going to find it difficult to reach or stretch across the width of your planned raised vegetable bed have the side sleepers or whatever you are going to use to form the bed cut in half so you end up with a long narrow raised bed.
You can also use old tyres as an addition or an alternative to building a raised bed vegetable garden , two or three tyres stacked on top of each other make ideal raised containers to grow your vegetables in, they absorb the heat in the morning and radiate it off at night. This helps to keep your plants warm. Because of the heat retention stacked tyres can also be used to make great compost heaps.
Raised gardens made from hay or straw bales are interesting and well worth a try. I have included some hay bail garden tips on this page hay bale garden No dig raised beds are worth considering too, more information here gardening without digging
If you have a bad back,disability that stops you bending or getting down low,garden from a wheelchair, building wheelchair accessible raised garden beds, makes it a lot easier to keep on gardening. Hope you found the DIY ideas and tips useful. If you are not into DIY, order simple to assemble raised bed kits from the gardeners shop. More about garden layout for disabled,elderly and wheelchair gardening here disabled garden layout
If you found this page useful,please share with others who might find it helpful too. 1 Copy and paste this url http://www.flowerpotman.com/disabledgardening/raisedgardenbeds.html 2 Add a note of your own, 3 Paste it into your blog, Web page, forums, a blog comment or your Facebook account, anywhere that someone with a soggy garden would find it. Thanks if you do.
