Raised Garden Bed made out of plastic?

sutho

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Hi all,
I'm looking to get into veggie growing and I was wondering if there a reason why I couldn't make a raised garden bed out of polycarb roofing like the Suntuff stuff at Bunnings?

I would like those birdies beds but they're a bit pricey and was wondering if I took a 3.6m bit of roofing, make a circle and fasten it together, could it do the same job for 40 bucks instead?

I tried having a google to see if there are any problems but couldn't find anything online.

Cheers, any ideas?
 

AndrewB

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I can't see why it wouldn't work, it won't degrade like normal plastic- it does move a bit when it gets hot though.

I don't think you will be able to bend it around on itself either.

There are some cheap beds at bunnings if you don't mind them being shorter, they are only $19.90 for 1200x900x300 high. They work well as long as you don't have dogs/kids that like to jump in them.
 

GKW

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One benefit if using clear poly is that you could see the worms doing their thing.

As noted by AndrewB above, the el-cheapo 1200x900x300 raised bed from Bunnings is good value for money.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/120-x-90-x-30cm-merino-raised-garden-bed_p3321654

I use one with the knowledge that in a few years the PVC corners will break but that's okay, I'll just stake and wire them up and get a few more years out of it. Was even considering buy a second one to put on top of the original one to get some more depth for plants like potatoes.
 

AndrewB

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I did a comparison not long ago on costs per M2 for various types of garden beds.

All based on the 380-400mm high range.

Treated pine (200x50 sleepers) $30 per M2 - You can stack these up easily too.
Birdies colorbond $64 to 94/M2
Concrete sleepers $151/M2
El cheapo Bunnings $18/M2

I chose to use the treated pine so I could make big beds, however do have a couple of the little bunnings beds that I'm growing spinach & silverbeet in.
 

sutho

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Wow that one is cheap. I was thinking about the polycarb one because it would give a height similar to the big birdies beds but at that price I might be leaning that way instead. Thanks for the ideas.
 

ClissAT

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Why not just use second-hand roof iron. Generally can be got for free on gumtree freebies (if you are in Australia)

But I'm sure you can find secondhand corrugated iron in any other country also.

Plus you will be able to find old sawn timber from the old roof or shed the iron came off.

So you will get it all for free. Just need to transport it.
 
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