Plant boxes

[Mauri Motti]

unbelievable  [scared]
Since somewhere 2012 I couldnt upload images anymore. I have a lot of drafts in my profile (from 2012/13) all including images failed to upload. I gave up on posting images as it was doomed to fail. Peter ( ) has helped me out sometimes and I thank him a lot for this. Not so long ago I replied on a thread with a photo sent from my phone. Today it came to me...I use tapatalk replying to that post. Now I made a test and indeed, through tapatalk there were no issues uploading photos.
So.. from now on you may stumble upon a new thread just containing images. But no worries, text will follow soon!

We finally are getting to designing the yard. Ground is being leveled to accommodate the rainwater and stone paths and planting borders are being made. Last week I've made four plant boxes for our vegetables. They are made of Larch, 2500mm X 1500mm. Cut (kapex), domino'd, glued, drilled (t12), routed (of 1400), flushed (japanese flush trim saw), screwed, sanded (rotex 150) pegged (Oak) and oiled. The insides are dressed with somekind of plastic material (this material is new to me and I have no idea what this might be called in English, the Finns call it patolevy) In the last photo you'll see the boxes outside but they are not in there final place yet. I just cant have all them in the shop. I made one box and carried another one out. The boxes will be partly buried under ground. Maybe more pics on that next week  [big grin]

 

[Michael Kellough]

Those are some heavy duty planters.

I also like the solid wood sheathing in your shop.
I guess it's not called sheathing when it's the interior surface.

 

[Mauri Motti]

Thanks Michael,
about the sheeting, I thought one would call it cladding. Duno really, but yeah, like it too  [laughing]

 

[Slappy]

Hey,
What are you using as a liner on those  ?  ?

I build some not quite as nice about 8 years ago & now they are rotting
I treated them with the same green stuff that they  use to use in pressure treating .
I plan on rebuilding them but am at a loss for slowing down the rot .
I have dogs so the ground contact rated  pressure treat wood is more toxic than I like . the last beds were Cacti use (toxic was not a concern) 
& this time it's gonna  be vegetables & now I have dogs as well .
I was thinking of the black film with the waffle pattern stuff they use around cement underground foundations that allows the cement to stay off the dirt contact & keeps the water from flowing into the cements cracks .

 

[sancho57]

Those are very nice. Im going to bookmark this thread and save it in my idea file for future ref.

 

[andyman]

Looks like the corrugated plastic you can get in most builders merchants 8x4 sheets about £ 5 each

 

[PreferrablyWood]

Quite a nice project. Tools put to good use. You are very skilled.

Design wise for vegtable growing I suppose they need to be that big. But they won't be movable, will weigh a ton..

I'll be up for making something similiar at some point. Your work here gives me some inspiration, and something to aspire too..

Thanks for showing!

 

[Mauri Motti]

Thanks for the kind comments. The liner is new to me too. They use this stuff on the foundations of buildings in finland. See picture below for a better look. We have a child and two dogs. Besides we will grow strictly vegetables in those boxes. Therefore Larch was my first choice. It's kind of natures own "impregnated / pressure treated wood" Nevertheless with the instalment of the lining I hope to extend the lives of the planters even longer. While I was at it I made a sandbox for our boy too. Next week everything should be put to their places.

Lining. (what you see is the side put to the wood so theres airflow)

And here is the sandbox. It's rather hefty at 2000mmX2000mm. Half of its height will de dug underground. Sandbox is placed on top of the last (fourth) planter box. Both just oiled.

Detail.

 

[Mauri Motti]

Quite a nice project. Tools put to good use. You are very skilled.

Design wise for vegtable growing I suppose they need to be that big. But they won't be movable, will weigh a ton..

I'll be up for making something similiar at some point. Your work here gives me some inspiration, and something to aspire too..

Thanks for showing!

Size wise I don't think theres a standard for it. We have the space for it and ... want lots of veggies! Advantage of the height of the boxes, almost 600mm, is that even though dug partially underground, the soil will heat up quicker in spring which obviously helps growth living with the climate we live in.

 

[PreferrablyWood]

Quite a nice project. Tools put to good use. You are very skilled.

Design wise for vegtable growing I suppose they need to be that big. But they won't be movable, will weigh a ton..

I'll be up for making something similiar at some point. Your work here gives me some inspiration, and something to aspire too..

Thanks for showing!

Size wise I don't think theres a standard for it. We have the space for it and ... want lots of veggies! Advantage of the height of the boxes, almost 600mm, is that even though dug partially underground, the soil will heat up quicker in spring which obviously helps growth living with the climate we live in.

Interesting idea. Finland has somewhat harsher climate than here in Denmark so it really makes sense to take advantage of the growing season with tricks like yours here..

I also like the advantage of raised boxes for making gardening easier on the back.. It's more beautiful too look at too..

 

[Slappy]

Thanks for the kind comments. The liner is new to me too. They use this stuff on the foundations of buildings in finland. See picture below for a better look. We have a child and two dogs. Besides we will grow strictly vegetables in those boxes. Therefore Larch was my first choice. It's kind of natures own "impregnated / pressure treated wood" Nevertheless with the instalment of the lining I hope to extend the lives of the planters even longer. While I was at it I made a sandbox for our boy too. Next week everything should be put to their places.

Lining. (what you see is the side put to the wood so theres airflow)

Yes,
that's the stuff I was referring to  [tongue]
should stave off rotting way longer than direct contact with the soil

 

[jeep jake]

hey if you were to make a raised planter box what would you use to keep the soil in the box but still allow for proper drainage?

 

[Slappy]

hey if you were to make a raised planter box what would you use to keep the soil in the box but still allow for proper drainage?

that would cut down on the yield of the crop , having the roots be able to dive in the earth is optimal & keeps them healthy as well .
I used to grow  Veggies in Alaska & we used similar beds  . The idea is to get the box soil warmer earlier in the spring than the surrounding soils so that by the time the roots reach the soil below it's warmed & the plants have a real headstart .
at least that's how we did it . the process would double or triple the yield over plants in the ground
I myself would use a array of bricks between box bottom rails & the ground so to at least limit the ground contact

 

[jeep jake]

My old lady wants me to build one. just for recreational gardening. I doubt she concerned on the yield. What part of Alaska did you live in? I lived on the peninsula a few years ago.

 

[Slappy]

My old lady wants me to build one. just for recreational gardening. I doubt she concerned on the yield. What part of Alaska did you live in? I lived on the peninsula a few years ago.

Anchorage for about 20 odd years , You mean the Kenai peninsula ?  I was down there every weekend fishing
Yeah we also used a dark color on the outside of the box to get the sun to warm things up quicker .
interesting thing was they used stacked old tires 4 high filled with compost for potatoes  worked great .

with the raised beds & 20 hour sun the yields were stunning  [scared]