Allotment Week - Day 2 - Materials

Not a very photogenic day today. All I did was spend money acquiring the necessary goods ready to build the raised flower bed. Well sort of...

These are only 2.4m (8ft) boards. What I really wanted was 3m (10ft) boards, but a) the didn't have any and b) there were enough problems trying to get these to the allotment. No way the longer boards would fit in the car.

So this means I have to seriously revise my plans. What I wanted was a space 10ft long by 7ft wide. Chopping 3ft off the 10ft lengths would give the 7ft lengths. Chopping 2ft would give 8ft. So 5 boards would yield 2x10ft outside (black), 1x7ft top (blue), 2x8ft inside (green), 1x3ft inside (red), and 2x2ft bottom (orange). Essentially a 'U' shape with a 2ft width all the way around.

All nice and neat. But with only 8ft boards available, this design will have to undergo some re-structuring.

Fortunately there does seem to be a way out. I need 3ft sections for the other beds. So chopping 3ft lengths gives me a couple of 5ft sections. Joined together they should make up the 10ft side. But obviously I'll be needing some more wood. Back to Wickes in the morning then.