Friday, February 14

Cold Frame Courtyard - Raised Bed

I've decided to give the area around the cold frame a name. By giving it a 'posh' name the idea is that we will create an area to reflect this!

If you didn't read the post I published about the state of the part of the garden in which the cold frame is situated and our plans for it, this post will make little sense so you may want to pop back and have a quick read.

We received a delivery Wednesday morning of what will become the raised bed. Just to remind you this is our plan.
When it came to choosing how to construct the raised bed we had a bit of luck. Co-incidentally I was approached by Henry from Woodblocx asking if I would consider giving them an ad on my blog. I do try to limit the advertising but I had read about Woodblocx on Mark's blog here and the product seemed impressive so cheekily I offered to review a kit for them.

To my delight Henry thought that this was a good idea and asked me to send specification for the type of kit I would like. We decided a bed measuring 1.875m x 0.750m x 0.450m would fit in nicely and very quickly Henry arranged delivery.
An email gave us the delivery date and approximate time and the kit arrived promptly early in the morning - well it was early for us.  We now just need to sort out the cold frame area before setting about playing with our giant Lego! (I did love building with Betta Bilda - anyone remember that? - when I was a child so maybe I can relive a bit of my childhood). Must admit I hadn't realised quite how versatile Woodblocx was until I viewed its Flickr page.

I know that we could make a raised bed out of wood or sleepers and nails or screws but remember we want this area to be posh and live up to it's grand title. If we were building a raised bed on the plot it would be a different matter.

So now we are well and truly committed to turning our area of shame into the Cold Frame Courtyard and no doubt you will be hearing a lot about it as it hopefully takes shape.

Just one outstanding matter to resolve, Martyn is trying to bag the pallet to add to his composting bins whereas I fancy making a bug hotel from it! Anyone got another pallet to spare?



40 comments:

  1. Well done you! What a bargain. I look forward to seeing your "not fit for blog" area completely transformed :)

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    1. Oh dear Jenny - talk about setting ourselves up for a disappointment

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  2. Woodblocx are very amenable to this sort of approach. Presumably they reckon that the publicity they get will justify the expense. I do wonder sometimes whether they actually SELL any of their kits!
    Make sure you put the dowels in the right places. I know from experience that it is very hard to get one out if you have put it in the wrong hole!

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    1. Thanks for the tip Mark - noted we will be careful

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  3. Good for you! Looking forward to seeing you assemble his. Do you reckon it could be copied in pallet wood? The material of choice (and necessity) here !
    Gill

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    1. You could probably make something similar Frugal. The thing with the Woodblocx is that they a really chunky bits of wood. Henry tells me that they should last15-20 years in direct contact with the soil

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  4. I've been coveting a Woodblocx raised bed since I saw Mark's review. Your new Cold Frame Courtyard is going to look very posh indeed.

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    1. We just have to live up to the plans, Jo

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  5. I give names to different areas in my tiny plot like The Pond, The Rockery etc. In Spring/Summer Aldi also has sturdy raised beds which slot together for a reasonable price. These have been hugely successful at my seaside plot (not a posh name for an area in my home garden!).

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    1. If you go to this page on my website on my website L you will see that our different areas are named too. I would only use Woodblocx in may garden as it is too good for the plot.

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  6. Wonderful, can't wait to see the Cold Frame Courtyard in all it's glory.

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  7. Oo - this should be exciting - looking forward to seeing the new improved area and finding inspiration for my own garden.

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    1. If this weather carries on, Elaine it will be a long wait!

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  8. I have pallets coming out of my ears, Sue. If you can get to Norfolk, you can fill your boots with them.

    This is a very exciting project! I look forward to seeing how the Woodblocx bed works out.

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    1. Maybe just slightly further than I would want to come for pallets, Crystal

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  9. Can't wait to see this all come together, one of the good things to come out of this horrific weather. Everyone is having to spend too much time inside, but then with inspiration comes new projects, we just need a break in the weather to put them together.

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    1. The trouble is flowerlady that we end up with too many plans to carry out!

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  10. We're just in the process of having some Woodblox beds put in at home. I'm sure you'll be pleased with them Sue and they do look very smart and very worthy of it being called a courtyard.

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    1. You'll have to take a photo and share it when you are finished, Victoria.

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  11. That will make quite a difference and it should be fun to build.

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  12. That's lovely, I shall read with interest. I've often wondered about investing in one for the side of my house.

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    1. Initial thoughts are that the wood looks very chunky, Jo. We will be a while though before we fix it up.

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  13. I'm very keen to here more about the woodblocX sue. I am thinking of some raised beds for my back garden for planting this year as we are having a bit of a revamp and as it is my garden something a bit smarted would be nice and these may just be the thing as I will be able to have exactly the size I want...looking at your flicker link I see that I could even step them that would be even better....really looking forward to your review. As for the pallet....i vote bug hotel...much classier than a compost bin!!

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    1. I was amazed at how versatile they are, Tanya and Henry is very helpful at helping you get what you want. Definitely a garden rather than allotment product though.

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  14. How very interesting, that kit looks the business for sure. I love how you are giving a posh name to the area and it's certainly well on the way now.I'm for bug hotel btw!xxx

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    1. NOw we just need to try to make it live up to its name, Snowbird. The weather isn't helping!

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  15. It's amazing you can buy everything for raised beds and just assemble them. I would love to have raised beds in my garden but I think they would slide down and end up in orchard.

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    1. I guess you would have the secure them with short posts on the corners that were embedded into the ground, Leanan

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  16. It looks like you are off to a great beginning with the Woodblocx bed. I can wait to see how you transform that area.

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    1. We need to clear it up a bit first, Rachel

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  17. Actually I love wooden bed, but in our hot and humid climate, it's a really hard, cause the wood is easily weathered

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    1. The soil would maybe dry out quickly too Endah.

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  18. I have seen Woodblocx advertised in garden magazines before, thought it was a great and versatile product, albeit a bit pricey. Looking forward to seeing your posh area finished!

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    1. It is pricey, Helene, but I can understand why seeing the quality of the wood and knowing how much wood costs through buying fence posts of similar dimensions.

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  19. I just took the pallet that my pergola came in to the tip otherwise you and Martyn could have fought over that too Sue :)
    Your new Coldframe Courtyard is sounding very posh Sue. Will be looking forward to watching coming on. Good luck with your building blocks.

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    1. I wonder whether sounds posh will turn into looks posh, Angie?

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  20. Nice one Sue, that should both be fun to build and great to look at afterwards, though rather a swanky name. Will it stop you dumping odd collections of pots nearby?! If so, I will copy you and give my raised tile area a fancy name, TNG keeps laughing at me when I suggest this could become a lovely evening drinks area...

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    1. I guess the collection of pots will move and mess up somewhere else, Janet. You could go for a cocktail courtyard.

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