Hi there,
We have finally completed all 6 of our wicking beds. It's been a fun project over the entire Spring season, and thank God we finished just in time to…

Hi Fu,
I also use coir fibre, mostly for raising seeds/seedlings, but I’ve also mixed it with bagged potting mixes before too. The results have been pretty good. If I’m experimenting…

Hi there,
Just wanted to share this link to a great article on the GardenWeb forums:
Container Soils - Water Movement & Retention
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0622171013552.html?60
Al, the author, discusses the importance of a good potting…

Hi there Fu,

Yep, I will be using that black builders plastic to line the garden beds, so there should be virtually no contact between the soil and the treated timber.
Also,…

HI Fu,
Yeah, I can't wait to get it finished and start planting out the vegies.
Regarding the espaliered fruit trees, that's exactly what I was planning on doing. I might have…

Hi all,
Just to show what I've been up to lately, here are some photos I took yesterday, showing how the raised beds are going.
Yesterday, I finished assembling the last 3…

Here are Colin Austin's thoughts about using organic material as the wicking medium / reservoir...
"You do not want to have the organic material saturated all the time. Just…

I have the same concerns about soil (in the reservoir area) being constantly "waterlogged".
Some people say they allow the wicking bed to "dry out" before filling it up again, which…

Hi there,
I found this (very recent) article by Colin Austin in which he discusses the use of rocks vs. organic material, etc.
http://www.waterright.com.au/stones-v-organics.pdf
He definitely suggests using organic material (which along the…

HI again,
Would this be an example of what you were thinking? Fully Wick Mate – Wicking Beds Explained
http://www.sgaonline.org.au/?p=3526
In that type of wicking bed, the reservoir is actually made of of…

Hi Fu,
Yeah, I've been wondering about what would be the best material to use for filling the "reservoir" part of the wicking bed.
So, based on your discussions with those who…

Hi all,
Thanks a lot for your input.
In the end, I chose to go for ACQ-treated pine. I went to see the Ecowood products in Bayswater and their garden beds looked…

Hi there,
I'm still trying to decide on whether to go for redgum or cypress sleepers. They're roughly the same price, but I'm not quite sure whether cypress is as resistant…

Hi again,
Anyone know of a good place to buy metal rods (around Melbourne)? I've only seen the "all thread" in Bunnings. How about if I use reo rods?
On eBay, I've…

Hi there,
Soon I will be building some raised garden beds for my vegie growing in my backyard.
I plan on using chunky redgum sleepers (not the railway ones) that are 200mm…

Hi all,
We built out house last year, and now it’s finally time to start work on the backyard. I’d like to start setting up some raised beds for vegies, so…

HI Joles,
Good question about Jasper window frames. In the brochures, it's not listed among the 8 colours. At Hopetoun, I saw Jasper on the wall displaying the window frames, and…

Hi Joles,
Thanks for your great suggestions. Some interesting points you have made.
Yep, I totally see your point about the windows being visible from the inside. Since my interior colours will…

Hi again,
woodvillesouth, thanks for your ideas. Speaking of Photoshop, last night I tried putting together a few different colour combinations. Thanks to another thread, I was able to find a…

Hi there,
I'll be building with PD, and the house will be the Queenstown 30. I've chosen the Malvern facade, but now the question is which colours to use.
My block is…