Our clients in Norwich, Norfolk,had a large vegetable garden area which had become unmanageable. They needed a way to reduce the amount of work without loosing the ability to grow vegetables.

I designed a low maintenance area with raised sleeper beds to reduce the amount of weeding but also to create an area that the client wouldn’t have to bend down to tend. The clients found a greenhouse they like and we designed a space for it to sit within the vegetable garden area.

The old garden sloped up toward the neighbours fence which we solved with a simple step up and retained with new pressure treated sleeper. This helped to tie the raised beds together making the whole area stronger and built to last.

We used 450×450 riven buff concrete slabs to stop the weeds from taking over and the greenhouse has two water-butts for collecting rain water.

Each path between the new raised beds is paved for easy maintenance. Five new vegetable beds were created, four smaller beds which can be easily weeded from both sides and one larger bed which can be used for potatoes or squashes which need more space. Fresh topsoil was brought in to reduce weed contamination and the beds were topped up to the brim.

A weed suppressing membrane was used across the entire surface before any paving or beds were constructed. This membrane will allow water to penetrate but is designed to prevent most weeds from growing up through the new area.

Most of us would like to grow at least some of the vegetables we eat but with busy lives weeds prove a real issue in vegetable gardens. Raised beds can help, making it easier to weed and causing less back pain in the process.

We have been building sleeper beds for many years they are an economic alternative to other materials and have a long life span. If you would like a quote please contact us for more information.