Those look to be very long boards, every time I do this in ~1-2 years they tend to flex outwards under the weight of the wet compost and start to collapse.
Just wondering if you have anything in place to prevent flexing?
I’ve been considering plastic pipe or stainless rod bolted to each side through the soil.
12’ long and I built them in 2020, I expect them to bulge this time though, they are taller and less well built for their size.
Picture below you can see the two cross supports and I had a 2x4 on the top as well. When I added the height this year I just added more cross pieces like that. I expect it to fail and I’ll hopefully be able to dig down and concrete in some posts and make a greenhouse or something at that point. These are too large, I can’t really reach the middle of them, 4’x12’.
Wow nice! I have done the same but I always forget and stick a fork through them at least once a year!
Every time I consider the plastic/stainless pipe option I think about drilling holes all down it and putting a hose fitting on the ends for integrated irrigation… then the project gets to complicated and I stick a 2x4 across instead.
Those would just get filled with water and burst during the winter for me. If anything I would just go with some readyrod/allthread across. It’s also something I can slap in emergency wise anytime, just disturbs the root zone as I jab a rod indiscriminately through it….
July 5 is the expected completion date, while they were inspecting the rest of the main they found 5 other spots that wouldn’t survive being repressurized. So while the original break is repaired and filled back in, they are still underway on the others.
It’s supposed to rain 30-40mm tomorrow, so my barrels and totes should be refilled at least.
I've had good luck making my trellis out of electrical conduit, a 90° bender and some non-trade connectors to make t-joints. I just wish I had gone with the bigger 3/4 inch diameter EMT pipe.
Emts not a bad idea, got loads at my shop. The rigid is great since you can thread it, and it supports itself decently too.
If anything I’ll just screw some boards in to hold the metal grid better. It’s just supported by some bamboo stakes as an emergency fix.
I’ve got ideas to use some pvc for my garden critter guards, so wouldn’t be much to get some lengths for a trellis for this. Still learning as I go, which is awesome.
I’m really liking that way this arches over though, I think I’ll make sure whatever I do isn’t too tall so it can continue to do this.
Ok so I just bought a raspberry bush and the recommendation on it was to plant it in the middle of the yard so it gets caught up in the lawn mower to trim it back so this is a apparently a popular strategy.
I don't know exactly where you live but Praire Moon Nursery, my favorite midwest native plant store, has wonderful seed mixes. You can just cut low and overseed if you don't want to do anything. They recommend mowing over for the first few years anyhow and should survive and thrive for periodic mowing.
If you want to go crazy I recommend building something on it but that is more work. You can even start with a native meadow and replace it with fruit trees etc. If this is what you want to do to create a Food Forest I recommend Gaia's Garden for an intro into permaculture and maximize productivity for the land
Put some planters and a shed on it and grow stuff, and make a small house to escape from the world in, also mow the grass so the city isn't breathing down your neck
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