About Raised Beds
Raised Beds
Our raised beds are made from high grade, pressure treated timber and are built to last. Perfect for growing your own vegetables or perennials anywhere in the garden or polytunnel. Our wooden raised beds are made from safe treated timber, and once assembled they will retain their natural timber finish, this makes them ideal for any outdoor space. They are comprised of spruce timber boards and corner posts and certainly won't overpower any existing garden type. The treatment we use is certified by the soil association as safe for use with organic food crops.
Raised gardens and planters are much better for growing your own vegetables than directly in the ground. They are neat and tidy, and much easier to maintain and provide a more controllable area to keep pest free and watered. Our kits are easy to assemble and come with full instructions and fixings included where necessary. We stock raised beds in a multitude of sizes from 90cm up to 360cm long, these can be added to in height to accommodate different crops or design requirements. A 'Build Your Own' parts picker is also available in each of the bed sub-categories to choose your own dimensions.
Last season, we introduced a new line of metal raised beds. These are long lasting planters, finished in powder coated steel to prevent rusting. They have a corrugated profile to prevent buckling and won't expand and contract with our changing weather.
Why use raised beds for growing vegetables?
1. Plant Protection. The increase in height of your crops when using raised beds makes them easier to work on and helps remove the chances of accidental damage from animals and passers by, which is the last thing you want after spending so much time and money nurturing your plants and vegetables.
2. Use More Specific Soil Types. Make a custom mix of soil to suit the crops you want to grow. For instance if you require a heavy well manured soil for one type of crop and a light dry soil for another crop then this is easily achievable by using this system of growing plants and vegetables. Using raised beds also allows you to add limited or exact amounts of specialized plant feed/fertiliser throughout your plants and vegetables growing season, so this feed/fertiliser goes exactly where it is required with minimum waste.
The most important part of a vegetable garden is the soil. If your garden has poor quality, tired soil it can be time consuming and quite expensive improving it. Raised beds allow you to concentrate your time and resources on smaller areas to create the perfect soil environment for growing vegetables. Certain vegetable plants require different soil types and raised beds are ideal for keeping these various soils separate.
3. Different Depths & Sizes. The greater depth of soil in a raised bed will enable better growth for root vegetable crops. If you want to grow deep rooted crops such as carrots, parsnips etc, then this is easy to do by just using deeper raised beds with more soil. This is much harder to do with a ground based system, If you add more soil to make your vegetable plot deeper it will just spread side ways and level out over time as it isn't contained like in a raised bed. Our raised beds come in a wide range of sizes to fit any gardening need.
4. Extend Your Growing Season. By using this system the growing season for various vegetable crops is longer. The soil in a raised bed will warm quicker in the spring from the sunlight on the exposed boards and from the slightly warmer air temperature. Bulk or mass will also act as a heat bank as the cooler or colder nights draw in. This mass of soil will stay slightly warmer for longer which will give your growing plants an extra advantage. It is also helpful against the chance of mild frost, especially when using purpose designed fitted covers.
5. Raised Beds For Tidier Gardening. Raised beds are a lot neater to use and they also make any garden appear so much more tidy and pleasing to the eye. Your garden can be a joy to walk around with segregated growing crops of flowers/plants rising from your lawn or paved areas of your garden.
6. Used By Professional & Novice Gardeners Alike. Quickcrop's raised beds are probably the best in the business. Why? .... Well we started off many years ago now designing and manufacturing raised bed systems for professional vegetable growers and domestic gardeners alike. We actually put lots of thought and research in to what we were doing and listened to what the end user, be it a professional or hobby gardener, had to say. We discovered that raised beds need to be different sizes and depths for different reasons.
7. Width. In most cases they need to be no more than 3 ft wide because otherwise it means climbing up on them or reaching awkwardly to work the other side. By having your beds 3 ft wide it means that they can be worked on, with all parts reached, from one side only. This is especially important if you are in a polytunnel or greenhouse where the centre aisle is the only work/walk way.
8. Treated Timber, Safe For Food Crops. We also use thick strong treated timber which is passed by the soil association as safe for use on and around organic vegetables. The timber is high quality Irish and English Spruce which has been air dried rather than kiln dried making it far less likely to split or crack.
9. Cheaper Raised Beds. Some of you will say you are able to make your own raised beds and it works out cheaper than purchasing them from suppliers like Quickcrop. Well, we agree with you, yes you can .... but in materials only. The important thing about using treated timber is that the treatment only forms a protective barrier 5 mm deep into the timber. If treated timber is cut the exposed untreated end will rot from the inside out thus compromising the integrity of the bed. If you were to buy treated timber and cut it to size you will also require a safe preservative not to mention the extra tool and transport costs. We have found that taking transport costs etc... into account the Quickcrop raised bed is at least a third cheaper delivered to your garden than if you sourced and cut the timber yourself.
10. Weeding is much easier in raised beds, the extra height makes it more accessible and easier to manage. The soil in the bed itself will be looser and more aerated than the heavily compacted ground soil, this makes pulling deep rooting weeds much easier. The soil in your raised beds will never get compacted or weed/grass covered unless neglected, so your vegetable beds are plant friendly where the soil will be loose enough for those roots to grow unhindered. If ever the soil should need aerating then a light twisting with a hand fork should be all that is needed.
11. More Efficient Pest Control. Raised beds can actually produce better vegetable crops because they equipped to withstand pest attacks.
Other insect, fungal, or bacterial attacks on your plants and vegetables can be eliminated, reduced and easily treated because you can confine and cover the raised beds with protective mesh covers, and if you do have any of these problematic attacks you can treat and isolate the raised bed in the same way. The application of any organic or chemical treatment depending on what type of gardening you may be involved in will be localised and isolated by using a raised bed system. Raised beds are ideal for economical soil sterilization techniques as used by a lot of professional growers.
12. Save On Water Charges. Water only as much as you need exactly where it is needed, saving water and lowering water charges. Automated watering systems are available and can be used in any raised bed for extra ease. These can be placed in the soil at root level and can deliver water and plant feed/nutrients directly to the roots where they are needed most.
So whether you have a vegetable garden, allotment, grow organically or simply want a beautiful neat well designed modern garden, there really is no better way of achieving your desires than with a Quickcrop raised bed growing system.
Our Range Of Raised Bed Kits
All our timber raised beds are supplied in easy to assemble kits with full instructions and fixings included where necessary. Quickcrop are passionate about growing food and we have designed for you our :-
"Allotment Range" For those who are on a budget or just getting started. The classic beds are good quality and work exceptionally well in allotments, polytunnels, greenhouses or anywhere in the garden. We have even heard back from a few customers who have used the 4ft square beds as sand pits for their kids.
"Premier Range" The timber boards and corner posts used in these raised beds are thicker than in the classic range. These beds will last for 10 years and are suitable for a wide variety of crops. Also included in the premier range is the 2 tiered raised bed with attached bench seat. This innovative raised bed has 2 separated levels for growing in and an attached garden bench for working or admiring from.
"Deluxe Range" Again thicker longer lasting timber and different depths but also sturdy metal bracket supports on the corner posts. Deluxe raised beds are top of the line and look the part in any garden both indoors and outdoors.
"Metal Raised Beds " These provide all the same benefits of timber beds and are a stylish improvement on traditional metal planters.
"Vegtrugs" Garden furniture that grows your food. Table height gardening with no more bending and certainly impresses the neighbours and friends. These raised vegetable planters have a clever 'V' shaped design to accommodate the growth of deep rooted crops along the centre. Vegtrugs are a stylish addition to any contemporary garden. These raised gardens stand on legs at waist height eliminating the need for bending down, perfect for those with bad backs
"Easy Assemble Raised Beds" As the name implies these beds are easily assembled and can be done so without the use of any tools or screws. They are made from thick timber with a tongue and groove system that just slots together by hand. These are available in many different shapes and sizes.
"Raised Bed Accessories". Our accessories are a collection of liners, frames and covers for raised beds, including products that easily transform your veg bed into a miniature greenhouse or polytunnel. These covers are great for pest and weather protection and for getting a head start on the growing season, they can also be used in an existing poly tunnel or greenhouse to give a double glazed effect. A necessity for growing warm climate crops in Ireland, or for extending the growing season.
Square Foot Gardening & Planting Plans
Recently, we have been adding a lot of content centered around square foot gardening. The main reason behind this is to help our customers achieve the highest yield possible from their raised gardens. The method is, as the name implies, to divide a raised bed into square foot sections using garden twine, thin pieces of wood, or bamboo canes and plant various amounts of different veg in each square foot. We have developed quite a few planting plans that adhere to this method, and are free to view and download / print out in our square foot gardening section. Each planting plan comes with an explanatory guide. Our hope is that these plans will provide an easy 'in' for the beginner vegetable gardener, and maybe some new ideas or inspiration for the more seasoned vegetable garden.
Allotments Raised Beds
Our classic range of raised garden beds follow the traditional allotment design. Some of our best selling allotment beds are 6ft by 3ft which is the perfect size for working on as the far side can be worked without having to step on the soil. As stated, there is a range of sizes available with more being added all the time, we are confident our raised garden beds will suit any allotments, community farm and rooftop garden.
Filling With Soil
There are very different soil requirements when filling raised beds because they come in such a wide range of shapes and sizes. We have created an easy to follow chart detailing the various soil requirements for raised beds. The calculated soil volumes will also apply to any bed of the same dimensions.
Use Quickcrop Timber Raised Beds - For Better Vegetable Crops and Garden Design
