OK this question will let you understand how little I know about gardening.
I have a concrete base in my garden from when I used to have a garage. Its pretty ugly and other than getting pneumatic drills to dig it out, its going to be staying.
Looking to disguise it a bit and I see the attached raised flower bed on offer
tinyurl.com/crwcwqs
Now silly question time, could this be sat on top of concrete, filled with compost or whatever and actually be able to grow anything, flowers or veg, in it? Or would all roots go more than 30 cm (the height of the unit)
Thoughts?
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I'm no gardener either, but if you see something growing in a pot no deeper than your raised bed, then it ought to grow in the raised bed - all other things being equal.
As regards what to grow, have a look at the neighbours' gardens - they will already have worked out what prospers in your area.
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What happened to the garage? Burn down?
:-)
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No Humph, when we extended the house we cut the garage back and that is where my wee "man creche" is with beer fridge, dartboard, wood burning stove etc
Thus have a slab of about 15ft square looking like, well a lump of concrete!!
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Yes you can, but drainage is going to be an issue. Not only because you don't have any, but because it'll cause a mess as it leaks out of the bottom and across the concrete.
You should punch as big a hole as you can manage through the concrete before placing the raised bed on top of the hole.
Even drilling will be better than nothing, but the bigger hole the better.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 15 Aug 12 at 20:14
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Mmm never thought of that, well I did in a way, thinking there will be no difference between rain falling on the concrete directly or onto the flower bed - but of course, it will then come through as dirty water to the concrete.
Instead of buying the flat-pack raised bed, thinking I could do it cheaper with some lengths of decking board, two high. I could also perhaps try to put a sloping base like pond liner or something that would then direct the water through to a given couple of points? Could work well if I put on the edge of the concrete next to the soil so that the water could be directed that way?
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You should almost certainly try to punch a hole through the concrete. Doesn't need to be neat or pretty, but does need to be there and as big or as many as possible.
If you try to put a base like a pond liner then I can forsee two difficulties; it'll never drain in the way you expect. It will eventually fail to drain.
A club hammer and a chisel will go through most things in the end.
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Just have a bonfire on top of it. Might crack it. Second thoughts, maybe not...
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You have the perfect base to build a stone/brick walled raised bed and incorporate a feature or a bench seat you could put drainage holes in the side so the water flows out to muck or grass etc.
What do you want to grow?
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Good point although the washing line also goes across this. Not really bothered what grows, its just the rest of the back garden is block paving and decking so would like something with a bit of colour / feature / different from paving!
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Grass goes well and easily on top of concrete. Put about an inch of dirt, doesn't have to be good stuff, lay some really tough turf and you'll be walking on it and mowing it in 12 months. All the sophisticated instructions about grass is for the delicate stuff. The tough, older grass with moss and clover and goodnes knows what will grow on anything.
Down the bottom of my garden is a concrete path and you'll never find it. 18 months and the grass was right across it.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 15 Aug 12 at 23:33
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Our next door neighbour has both front & back "gardens" fully paved with not a blade of grass to be seen!
Mind you, he is a single chap who goes away on business quite a lot!
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As the magic advert at the foot of this thread says, railways sleepers make good edging to raised beds. Any other timber will rot in a remarkably short time.
I don't think you need drainage holes in the concrete - you will never get enough to make any difference, and if you did, you would have half-removed the slab anyway.
It needs plenty of holes round the side, and a bottom layer of small stones, broken rubble etc across the whole base - like a giant flower pot.
I'd go for a feature brick wall along the front, and sleepers round the sides and back.
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Have you thought about filling some very large tubs with compost and planting them up with small shrubs?
The end of the season is coming up and they will be available as sale items soon. Feet can be bought for these and that would help the drainage and they could be positions in groups to disguise the rectangular shape you have and round off the edges a bit.
Plae a small stone bench among them and you have a pleasant feature area to perch in for a while!
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Thu 16 Aug 12 at 08:29
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It will always look like an ugly slab of concrete whatever you stick on it. Bite the bullet and get the thing broken up and carted away.
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Why not use the concrete slab as a barbecue area? Depending on your preference, either park a gas-fired grill on it, or build a permanent charcoal fired one there. Then add pots and seating as Pat suggests.
A planted bed needs minding, which is just a chore if you don't like gardening. Otherwise they get unkempt looking very quickly.
Whatever planting you decide to do, ask some advice from a good garden centre (not a DIY warehouse) - look for hardy plants that will survive in your part of the country with minimum care. Flowers, for example, look well but will demand a lot of feeding and watering during the growing season.
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Raised flower bed - silly question time - Iffy
