Palisades are wooden poles of different lengths that have been used to fortify settlements for thousands of years. In earlier times, these piles were also known as “bulwarks”. The material has also been used in garden and landscape design for several decades, and there are now also very beautiful palisades made of concrete, granite or other stone. But whether made of wood or stone: great raised beds can be built from palisades and fit harmoniously into the existing garden structure.
How do you design a raised bed with palisades?
A palisaded raised bed can be made of wood or stone and have different shapes, such as round or square. For stability, the piles should be at least one-third buried and connected to each other; Stone palisades require concrete encasing.
Wooden or stone palisades?
First of all, it is of course a matter of taste whether you want to use palisades made of wood or stone to build a raised bed (or to border the bed, to fasten embankments). Wood looks natural, and it is also the traditional palisade material - but it has a serious disadvantage: the raw material rots within a few years if it is in direct and constant contact with moist soil. Since palisades have to be dug in for stabilization, this contact naturally cannot be prevented. Stone palisades are significantly more durable, but of course significantly more expensive. In particular, palisades made of natural stone such as granite can be quite expensive. It will be cheaper with concrete palisades.
Round or would you rather be square? Palisades come in different shapes
The palisades themselves are available in both round and square shapes, although wooden palisades are usually used in their round shape. Whether you prefer the round or square version is entirely up to you – and your building project. Using palisades, the raised bed does not necessarily have to be rectangular or square; you can also make it round, oval or in many other shapes. You should just make sure that the size and shape of the raised bed is chosen so that there are no large gaps between the individual palisades.
How to create stability for longer durability
So that the palisade raised bed is stable and does not break due to the high earth pressure, you must bury wooden posts at least a third (or even up to half, depending on the size of the planned raised bed). It also makes sense to connect the individual posts together, for example with a screwed-on crossbar or something similar. For wooden palisades, only use weather-resistant hardwoods such as Douglas fir, robinia or larch. A large part of stone palisades should also be sunk into the ground, but due to their heavy weight they have to be set in concrete.
Tip
Narrow gaps between individual palisades can be filled with soil and planted, for example with decorative moss.
