Idea: Crinkle crankle raised beds

I recently spied this image on pinterest where they used corrugated metal window wells for raised beds in a geodesic greenhouse.

(For those who don't live areas where basements are common, those are intended to go flat against the foundation of a house and provide a gap for the basement windows to be.)

Not a bad idea for raised beds, because those things are designed to be buried and I'm sure will last a long time.
After all, the material is about the same as the prefabricated metal beds people do all the time - only in a potentially more versitile form.

Then I got to thinking of the British crinkle-crankle walls (wikipedia).

More examples on barnorama: https://www.barnorama.com/15-examples-of-weird-british-wavy-brick-walls/

If one metal section curved outward like in the original pic above, the next could be bolted on to curve inward.  Add a parallel copy of the same thing an arms reach away and fill in between with logs+dirt.  In this way you could design a modular bolt-together raised bed as long as you want!


Making a squiggly raised bed like this would:
1) maximize "the edge" (as in the permaculture design principle)
2) use the minimum amount of bricks (if built with bricks instead of the metal)
3) be less prone to bowing or bursting like the sides of straight-edged beds
4) provide a series of mini sun-traps on the sunward side

Thoughts?

I love it!
I guess the metal sheets would be a bit dear, but quick and easy (also zinc coatings not always that earth friendly in production). They'd have to be a fair distance apart because of the radius I suppose, so wouldn't do for narrow beds.
The possibilities of niche planting spots outside the walls is intriguing.

This thread reminded me of this picture:



From here: https://permies.com/t/146023/aging-homesteader#1142159

Those walls in England are stunning like something you would see on the TV Series:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyles_of_the_Rich_and_Famous

Using stainless steel sheets would be better, healthwise.

Though I am not sure if either the window wells or the stainless steel would be cost-effective.

I looked on a big box store's website and plastic window wells cost $20.00 each and the galvanized steel ones were $25.00 each.

An 8' x 12" x 2" piece of lumber costs $15.00 and two of those will make a 4' x 4' foot raised square bed for $30.00 plus the cost of nails.

That website only had stainless steel laminate for kitchen counters and the prices were out of sight.

I used to have a friend who made the stainless steel counters used in restaurants though I don't know where he got the sheets.

Stainless steel has never been cheap. McMaster Carr is a reliable source for many materials & tools.

Reminds me of fruit walls. They're essentially the precursor to greenhouses, created in an attempt to lengthen growing seasons and develop microclimates that foster citrus plants further north. Think of each pocket created by the fruit walls as one "extra-large window well" in your example. Here's a link from Low<-Tech Magazine (where I first learned about them), including many photos and examples:

https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/12/fruit-walls-urban-farming.html


Regarding the window wells: seems like if you wanted to have something started in a hurry then these would be worth considering. But if they were intended to be used as a wall (and not as the edge of a raised bed) I'd say the utility is outstripped by the cost rather quickly. Plus they're a bit too short to be a useful wall, IMO. However the same design principles of the crinkle-crankle walls can be used to minimize the materials used in the construction of sun-facing fruit walls, so in general I'd think these would make a good combination.

I'd also like to see crinkle-crankle walls combined with a terraced set-up and see how that would affect the health of the gardens there. Additionally, I'd also like to see some keyhole gardens dropped into these fruit wall pockets. I could definitely see a long array of these walls with keyhole gardens in each pocket...

At MSRP they may be pricey, but something to look out for when you see a bargain. I have seen window wells on clearance for a buck because they were damaged. A whole pallet of them. I would have bought them if  I would have thought of raised beds.

Don't know about raised bed but I plan on a trellis for squash this way. More length in a given space and more resistance to high wind than a single straight row. I will put stakes on the convex sides.

I'm not sure those curvy brick walls could handle dirt piled up behind them.
Seems like it could cause them to expand and crack.

Thanks for posting this.
I had never seen them and find this whole post very interesting.

I have a four foot tall one sitting where I am planning on putting a larger (egress) window. At over $200.00, those bricks start looking a lot cheaper.  And they'd last longer than the galvanized metal in constant ground contact.  The metal ones would go in much quicker.

R Scott wrote:At MSRP they may be pricey, but something to look out for when you see a bargain. I have seen window wells on clearance for a buck because they were damaged. A whole pallet of them. I would have bought them if  I would have thought of raised beds.

I think the crinkle cranckle walls look fantastic.  As a new permie and still learning, about to move to a new property, with nothing on it yet, I am now trying to imagine how I can incorporate something like that into my garden design. And then of course persuade hubby to build it.

I think a lot of how you would use such a wall would depend on location.  I am torn on whether I think in my location it would work more as a heat store and windbreaker to increase the chance of tropical plants surviving winter.  Or a a windbreaker and shade from the hottest afternoon sun that could help more heat sensitive plants survive our summers. Placed right it might be able to do both and do them better because thriving plants on both sides of the wall would help mitigate sudden temperature fluctuations.

I wish I had the energy to try something like that this year. I am firmly of the opinion that the more barriers I can find to slow water across my the better.  Wind I am not so sure about.  When there was a solid hedge in the front yard it was unusable due to mosquitos.  West Nile and Zika are just a couple of the mosquito born pathogens that we now need to watch for, so if I did build this I would have to decide how to deal with that.

Hi Cassie,

You have just given me some more good ideas to think of - ie protecting from the hot midday sun and slowing down of water.  Thank you

craig howard wrote:I'm not sure those curvy brick walls could handle dirt piled up behind them.
Seems like it could cause them to expand and crack.

I would expect this as well.  The shape is sufficient to keep the wall from falling over, but to fill them with dirt I would put ties between the walls to prevent the outward collapse.

What a timely post! I had an idea the other day and have yet to experiment with it.
I've been picking up the sections of an old concrete silo from the farm my husband works at.  I would put five in the back of our SUV when I dropped him off each morning and now have a nice stack that I knew would someday be useful. Each piece is 2' wide and 3 1/2' long. They are corrugated, formed concrete with tongue and groove channels on all sides. They are meant to interlock in a circle, and then be stacked. The silo itself has metal bands every four courses to hold it together. Of course a silo holds all the weight inside. I know I can make round raised garden beds from one course. I'm wondering if I could make this kind of wall for a bed and just secure it by partially burying it?

Marjorie Vogel wrote:What a timely post! I had an idea the other day and have yet to experiment with it.
I've been picking up the sections of an old concrete silo from the farm my husband works at.  I would put five in the back of our SUV when I dropped him off each morning and now have a nice stack that I knew would someday be useful. Each piece is 2' wide and 3 1/2' long. They are corrugated, formed concrete with tongue and groove channels on all sides. They are meant to interlock in a circle, and then be stacked. The silo itself has metal bands every four courses to hold it together. Of course a silo holds all the weight inside. I know I can make round raised garden beds from one course. I'm wondering if I could make this kind of wall for a bed and just secure it by partially burying it?

Because they are separate pieces, I think they would need to be fastened together to stay together.  Partially burying them would help, especially if the soil at and below ground level is well compacted both inside and out.  But you may also have trouble with frost-heave forcing them to move.  You could try it, and if it doesn't work save them for another project.

Great idea. And since my property came with 17000 red brick from a project they never finished looks like this would be a great use for them. I love the information about it being stronger also. I have a retaining wall to put in and it makes sense to do it this way.  Thank you

I've never heard that name for the walls.  Serpentine walls are what I know them as.  You can find these examples of the brick masons art in the older sections of some southern cities and towns.  The colonial areas of eastern Virginia still have many, some colleges have them also, at least near my home.

If I stay here at this location, I may try the window well thingy for a few beds.  It would be interesting to see how they hold up once filled with soil.

Peace

K Eilander wrote:I recently spied this image on pinterest where they used corrugated metal window wells for raised beds in a geodesic greenhouse.

(For those who don't live areas where basements are common, those are intended to go flat against the foundation of a house and provide a gap for the basement windows to be.)

Not a bad idea for raised beds, because those things are designed to be buried and I'm sure will last a long time.
After all, the material is about the same as the prefabricated metal beds people do all the time - only in a potentially more versitile form.

Then I got to thinking of the British crinkle-crankle walls (wikipedia).

More examples on barnorama: https://www.barnorama.com/15-examples-of-weird-british-wavy-brick-walls/

If one metal section curved outward like in the original pic above, the next could be bolted on to curve inward.  Add a parallel copy of the same thing an arms reach away and fill in between with logs+dirt.  In this way you could design a modular bolt-together raised bed as long as you want!


Making a squiggly raised bed like this would:
1) maximize "the edge" (as in the permaculture design principle)
2) use the minimum amount of bricks (if built with bricks instead of the metal)
3) be less prone to bowing or bursting like the sides of straight-edged beds
4) provide a series of mini sun-traps on the sunward side

Thoughts?

I love them! Great idea!