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+--- Thread: Bed size? (/showthread.php?tid=831)
Bed size? - Vinny - 24-01-2021
First of all, for the younger readers I apologise for using imperial measurement as even though I can work in both imperial and metric I THINK in imperial.
.From what I can gather the generally accepted norm in bed size is 4 foot wide and a 2 foot path in between. This is because the average person can reach 2 foot to the centre of the beds for planting so there is no need to walk on the beds. Taller people might manage with wider beds.
The problem with this is that we need to walk along both sides of the bed to plant it up or stretch to the full width (not good for the back)
I reckon I would manage better with 3 foot beds and cut down the path size to 18 inches. 18 inches is enough to walk along and get a wheelbarrow along if necessary. 3 foot beds COULD if need be, be managed from one side cutting down on the walking (and the back injuries)
Just thinking out loud here but even a row of 2 foot beds with a 1 foot paths would be even more manageable? As potatoes or brassicas could be planted in a single row of this width it makes a bit of sense to me.
If possible I want to get my bed sizes right the first time as I am nearing the end of my life and probably won't have the energy to change them again
Your ideas pleas?
RE: Bed size? - Scarlet - 24-01-2021
I think 18inches path size is too narrow. We made ours to fit the ride on mower - that didn't work when we had to update the model and it wouldn't fit!
Sorry, going off on a tangent.
When the beds have stuff growing in them they encroach into the path. So I think 18inches is too small?
My beds were 4ft. I walked down one side and then up the other - never even thought about it.
RE: Bed size? - Vinny - 24-01-2021
I can't believe this. After I my first post I went onto youtube and look what I found!
https://youtu.be/j-SA8uSSuk0
Great minds think alike!
And being American, he's another imperial guy!
RE: Bed size? - Vinny - 24-01-2021
And yet another one!
https://youtu.be/zIw-tPjM4GA
This one is beds without sides but at 75cm is a bit wider. Still veering towards the first video but with un-sided beds up til now but plenty of time to be swayed otherwise (until the snow goes at least!)
RE: Bed size? - Scarlet - 24-01-2021
I used scaffolding boards for my beds, but my garden gets very wet and waterlogged in the winter. They just lasted 5years.
I just have a patch now. I walk all over it
I'm not very disciplined.
RE: Bed size? - Veggie - 24-01-2021
Straddling a bed and bending from the hip is easier - according to that video!! Bet he rode a horse in those old cowboy films.
My kitchen floor tiles are about 12" square so I've just tried straddling 2 of them and bending over at the same time. No way could I stand like that for long. I know I have little legs but.............
Again, practising on the tiles, a 3' bed, accessed from both sides works best for me, as I'm a kneeler or squatter.
I actually think that the width of the bed should be suited to what you are growing in it. If its something you need to pick over frequently - like salad leaves it should be narrow. If its something that doesn't need regular maintenance like spuds, make it wider.
If you're weeding use a long handled hoe, then the width doesn't matter.
RE: Bed size? - Veggie - 24-01-2021
(24-01-2021, 05:20 PM)Scarlet Wrote: I used scaffolding boards for my beds, but my garden gets very wet and waterlogged in the winter. They just lasted 5years.Just an open space here with a plank laid down to walk on, as a path, if needed.
I just have a patch now. I walk all over it
RE: Bed size? - Vinny - 24-01-2021
(24-01-2021, 05:20 PM)Scarlet Wrote: I used scaffolding boards for my beds, but my garden gets very wet and waterlogged in the winter. They just lasted 5years.I am sick of dealing with rotted sided beds which are a harbour for slugs,snails .earwigs and all sorts of creepy crawlies. I have gardened on beds without sides before until I sourced material to put sides on them. In retrospect they were OK without sides and I don't know why I bothered.
I just have a patch now. I walk all over it
I am looking more at mounded beds than raised beds and hopefully this little bit of extra height will get me above the water table?
I just watched another video where his beds were 30 inches and his paths 14 inches which apparently is standard for a market garden?
Decisions, decisions but the 2 foot bed / 1 foot path is my favourite up to now. Herring boned on a gentle slope to the bottom of my plot should enable water run off as well, although the plot holder behind me may not be to happy about that!
RE: Bed size? - Vinny - 24-01-2021
(24-01-2021, 05:36 PM)Veggie Wrote:That's basically what I intend doing veggie.(24-01-2021, 05:20 PM)Scarlet Wrote: I used scaffolding boards for my beds, but my garden gets very wet and waterlogged in the winter. They just lasted 5years.Just an open space here with a plank laid down to walk on, as a path, if needed.
I just have a patch now. I walk all over it
Does this mean I have to a buy a scaffold board? 
RE: Bed size? - Veggie - 24-01-2021
I'm sure you can find a scaffolding board that's fallen off the back of a lorry............or, how about strapping big pieces of wood to the bottom of each shoe then you could move you shoe-planks with you wherever you walked..........like those tennis racquet snow shoes the Eskimos wear.