Building the Beds
Building the beds was fun until the compost arrived.
Compost Chaos - the storm before the calm
From February to April in 2025 we constructed the raised beds for the balcony. We chose metal beds. We debated over wood or metal. One is cooler (wood) but will eventually rot and also holds water (weight is an issue for any roof top grower). Metal lasts longer and is thus more sustainable. Metal is hot to touch and we know heat will be an issue for us. The metal beds matched the cladding covering the Dolphin Centre and we wanted the garden to feel it suits the building and is part of the centre. So metal beds won.
Given we had seriously considered the weight issues and resolved to load the bottom of the beds with hard polystyrene, we had to consider how we might move the beds knowing the weight of wet soil (see post on weight bearing). The answer was wheels! It was a stoke of genius on my part to put wheels on them. I was worried about the lack of shade on the balcony and imagined moving the beds to avoid full sun.
In reality there is no shade! At some point in the day the balcony gets the full sun, we rarely move them for shade purposed, but we are pleased we can move them for other reasons such as events and to fill the beds as we need to.
We ordered over 80 bags of sandy soil and compost. They were filled over two days and I never want to see another bag of compost again!
Beds that we can move
We placed wheels on the beds so we can move them to suit our flexible needs. Yes it was my idea I’m a genius.
Kingspan - packs walls and gardens!
Measuring the depth of the beds using a bamboo cane