I think I'm going to put in a couple of raised beds in my garden area. I want something where I can plant long growth crops like garlic, asparagus, or other things where I can easily pull the weeds without using a hoe. Something tall enough that I work the garden without crawling around. I could also "make" my own soil to put in them. I'd use a mixture of composted chicken litter and topsoil.

New methods of lumber treatment should be safe for using in a raised bed. I was thinking about building something with 2x8's. Maybe 2 or 3 tall. I guess the taller the better?

How wide would you build them? I was thinking somewhere around 36" wide. Or would you make it more narrow?

Need some experienced ideas and I know several of you are avid raised bed gardeners. Thanks.

Fur, mine are against a fence so I have access to one side only. Mine are cement block, three blocks high, faced with wood. lengths are 14 to 16 feet outside, two feet er so inside. If I had both side access I'd go four feet wide.
I put big gravel in bottom and mix of topsoil, black Kow, potting soil in top 18" or so. I add soil every year also.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v166/DTala/garden/IMG_0880_zpslmjn4cjn.jpg

Thanks for the info and picture.

Mine are 3X8 and about 3 feet tall. Takes a lot to fill but worth it!! I love my raised beds. This year has proved to me the beds produce way better than the inground garden. Good luck! Imperative you put some porous material in the very bottom.

Thanks Maggie. I'm glad you posted. I knew Troy, you and Skinny were some of the aldeer raised bed pros. Why do I need to put any material in the bottom? I was just planning on filling them up. Do I need to put landscape fabric or something in the bottom? If so, why?

Mine are 4 x 8, and built out of 2 x 12's. Tall enough to not have to bend over is a good thing (mine aren't!), and as wide as you can reach in without having to step into the bed. Mine have access on all sides, so I only have to reach 2' in anywhere around them. Mine do have landscape in the bottom, but mostly because I tend to overdo anything I build around the house. We raise rabbits, so they are filled with composted rabbit manure, and when the leaves fall, I take out about half the soil, layer in the leaves and wet them thoroughly, then put the soil back in on top of them. The landscape cloth covers the entire area of both beds, and then some, and the beds are surrounded by patio paver stone. When weeds start up between the pavers, just spray some roundup and roll on from there.

Landscape material is great. What I was actually referring to is maybe a bit of sand or gravel so if you have innundating rains they don't become so saturated that they become like bathtubs holding water. With raised beds, watering is tricky. Living in the south, when the summer is so dang hot, you will have to water most every day without rain. They will dry out much faster than an inground garden in the dreadful heat we get about this time of year..

Another though, not sure if I mentioned this or not, I orgered two thousand red worms and put in my beds. They help keep the soil from compacting.

I layered the bottom foot of mine with brick, broken block, gravel to aid in drainage and build em up higher.

Thanks for all the info guys. Greatly appreciated!

Another idea for a simple raised bed would be to take old upright freezers and remove the door, lay them on their back with 4 concrete blocks under them. Drill a few drain holes and they would work great, maybe a little tacky, but they would last a long time.

I built ours with 2x12s two high. They are 4ft wide and 12ft long, I put landscape cloth in bottom to keep any existing grass or weeds from coming up. BTW this size takes about 3 yards of soil to fill.

Yeah, that might be too tacky to be considered yard art. LOL

Thanks for the info volfan.

I did mine with cinder blacks so they never got and have a key hole in it so I can teach everything without stepping in the garden. Added the arch this year for cucumbers. Everything growing well.

I like that. A lot.

I've seen several different cinder block beds and they all looked great! Yours really is functional and the key hole is perfect!!