Concrete Garden Box 5 Year Update - Block Molds

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

I now have molds ready-to-go here: manabouttools.com/product-category/abs-plastic-molds/

[@savagestyle124]

will they be avail in june?

[@george8873]

Cracked me up when you censored Macy's backside, lol. Thanks for the updates to the concrete planter boxes. Nice to see they've faired very well out in the weather.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Those random moments when a cat shows up is just gold when shooting. Thanks George!!

[@spacewolfjr]

I think he was worried about kitty porn

[@timothywells5048]

Yeah that cracked me up too. Made me share the video

[@thomasvnl]

Unnecessary censor :')

[@NordicDan]

Gotta censor the asterisk 🤣

[@ivancho5854]

At 4:53 the crack could actually be caused by the wire re-enforcement. If any water gets to the metal it will corrode, expand and split the concrete. A very interesting follow up. All the best.

[@jimrobinson7441]

I appreciate the effort you've put into experimentation, testing, and documentation of these concrete raised beds. High quality content!

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Thank you!

[@enok8877]

@@MANaboutTOOLS I just watched 4 of your videos. I remember seeing one years ago and it showed up on KZbin again when my spouse was asking me to build a raised bed for vegetables. I hope you get a chance to reply as we now have a child and I am wondering if it’s safe to grow vegetables for consumption using any of the materials in your videos. I read through so many comments looking to see if someone asked a similar question but I didn’t find one. I feel like your design would allow me to build custom sized raised beds at a lower price compared to the galvanized metal that is sold. It cost over $200 for just two of those 8x4 raised beds.

[@briankloc]

I made 120 of these at the start of Covid. Took me a year. Then we decided to sell our house. Seeing how well these have held up in the PNW, I’m probably going to start making them again for my new house.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Wow!!! Good work!!

[@BernardRitchie]

Since I'll be moving in the next couple years, that's in my future, too!

[@briankloc]

@@BernardRitchie I think they were a big selling feature for our house/yard.

[@Yildun28]

Are you in Portland? Would you be interested in renting out your molds for some pours or just selling me some panels straight up? I've been wanting to build a few of these for a few years but don't have a workshop set up yet.

[@briankloc]

@@Yildun28 Sorry, I dont have the forms anymore. Wish I did though.

[@aaronbird9437]

I made well over 100 of these. Love them! They are about a year and a half. Holding up well. Been through one tough winter, no problems.

[@valentintrusca3373]

Hello! I live in Romania! In recent years, the winters in Romania were short periods of frost and little snow. The days with frost, with temperatures of -18 degrees Celsius can be counted on the fingers of one hand, but it is not known how the winters will be in the following years. Can you tell me what concrete recipe you used? I would like to use your experience. Thank you!

[@gsftom]

Love this design. Cool that u followed up to show how these are holding up. Thanks for sharing all of this.

[@JohnComeOnMan]

Pixelated cat donut for a family friendly environment! 😂 (2:42)

[@thatcrazyguy1971]

I built 32 of these a few years back, vermiculite and steel reinforcement. I remember I played a bit with some additives to the concrete, for colour and plasticity, and well as microfibers because I had some. They came out very smooth. These have been holding extremely well (they're double storeys tall beds, actually veggie planters). I had built 2 molds if I remember well, so it took a little while to complete, but absolutely no regret. The pine I used for the molds gave some nice wood like texture to my panels, but one could consider some other decoration for the outside (like a PU mold of some slate like material for instance)... variations are plenty with a bit of imagination. Your videos were a great inspiration, thank you!

[@phillob2509]

How am I just seeing this? So cool and inexpensive.

[@bobw3398]

As an electrician, I learned to always wrap something around pvc pipe coming out of a concrete slab to prevent cracking the concrete. We normally use rolled foam padding. Might be best to remove the PVC after casting, since the walls are relatively thin.

[@mattevans-koch9353]

Thank you sir for an excellent update on these panels. I can't believe it has been four years since I watched the first episode of you making these panels. They have done very well and I suspect they will last at least another five years. Take care and have a great weekend.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Thank you very much!!

[@semperparatus3685]

My wife and I were just talking about your panels and wondering how they held up. We're both Disabled Veterans and I'm 100% disabled with broken neck, back, sternum, clavicles, and ribs. We use gardening as our physical therapy, so we have to elevate the work. We built a foamcrete generator and will be doing experiments of our own, but with your update, it will help us narrow down the list. Thanks for your work and documentation.

[@beefuzzy310]

We stacked ours two high, normal sakrete mix. Bought some galvanized troughs, made a few wood boxes and wood with galvanized panel boxes. Hands down the concrete bed was the best. Holds moisture better and insulates from the sun. The other beds kept drying out.

[@curtdunlap6818]

I made 4 - 4'x8' frames using your ideas and they are holding up very well after two - three years of service. Three were cast with a basic Quikrete mix and one I tried using a Portland/Perlite blend. I chose to continue with the Quikrete based on price and durability, not to mention my poor concrete skills and the tendency for the Perlite to rise to the top (inside of the panel) during air bubble eradication. One 2"x12" panel takes 1 - 80# bag of Quikrete, so there's really no measuring which makes it "easy". Even I can do it! 😄 It's actually quite therapeutic casting the panels, and a good workout carrying them around. It'll make you strong! I had planned on making more this year to replace my failing wood frames, but some health issues killed my Spring/Summer, so there's next year! Thanks for sharing your builds and all of the trials and variations you did with them. I wondered about doing a vertical stress test, but I guess most of the forces would be outward to the panel and not edgewise. Keep on casting, gardening, (rinse and repeat)!

[@bSun0000]

Five years has passed already? Holy crap! How fast the time is moving..

[@edwardguzik4282]

About as fast as the weeds grow.😅

[@tomrobertson3236]

Same

[@ScooterFXRS]

Well I came to revisit this Big garden box project, then my recommendation YT list came up. Oh boy the number of channels that imitated this. "Often imitated, never duplicated”.

[@alflud]

Awesome to see a return to these Kent - the update is very much appreciated, thanks!

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

You are very welcome

[@idontthinkso666]

I love follow up videos like these. People build so much crap on you tube. It's nice to see what builds can last for the long haul.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Glad you like them! Thank you!

[@Mark_Nadams]

Thanks for the update. I have had issues with ready mix crumbling. Over the years I have come to believe that the ready mix concrete available in our area is old stock or cutting corners by limiting the amount of portland cement in their mix. Either way I have corrected my crumbling issue with the addition of one shovel of portland cement to every bag of ready mix I use. Our front steps which I used this fix on are showing almost no wear even after 15 years of daily use. However I used the ready mix straight from the bag in the posts that I poured 10 years ago for our covered patio and they are crumbling away. I did notice blooming & scaling first before the spalling. It could have been a bad mix by me or old stock from the store. So far everything I have added the fresh portland cement to has held up extremely well.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

I too have hear of this issue of not enough portland cement in the mix. Thx!

[@jamesmartz4755]

Appreciate all the information in these raised bed videos!

[@SunriseKnight]

I nerded out on this so hard. I wish you were my neighbor.

[@hvacsoldier1554]

I made twenty 48” x 2.5” x 12” panels about 4 years ago. I used the decorative inset, QuickCrete, Fibers and imbedded CPVC pins. They are all still holding up well.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Excellent!

[@kevinorr6880]

I am very glad that you continued with the follow-ups and the improvements.

[@dioandronas6269]

This seem like a good way to make garden beds, though one concern would be how they affect the plants in summertime because of the heat. Does it cause water to evaporate more quickly, or make the ground too hot close to the walls? What are your notes on that? I would maybe consider painting them white to be safe.

[@wayne8113]

Thanks very much for the update, they have held up well. Longer than the treated pine here in Australia plus no chemicals to worry about 👍

[@anh-thutu4769]

Thank you for the updates to the concrete planters and for sharing.

[@Token_Civilian]

Loved the original series. Glad to see this update and happy they're holding up so well.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@spacewolfjr]

2:28 WE GOT A KITTY CAT!!!

[@MuttMuttOutdoors]

Looks like they have held up pretty well so far. I am actually borrowing from your design to make some fence panels. Basically going to use a piece of sheet good (the melamine coated snot wood is looking nice because of the plastic coating) and make a panel that will be 6' long overall and will be 3.5" thick and 12" tall using reinforced concrete. It will take 3X 80 pound bags to fill and I will probably use some 6 gauge goat fence panels for reinforcement in most of the pieces. When it's assembled I am planning to put some polyurethane adhesive between the panels and they will be set in place with a piece of rebar at the joints and when the fence is the full height I will have a piece of all thread on the end so I can drop on a washer and run a nut down to help hold things together. In places where it will be holding back a little bit of materials I will probably use 7/16 rebar to reinforce the panels though and may use a piece of rebar through the panels in the middle as well. The first panels set in place will be dug down at least 6 inches and the points where the rebar will be anchored there will be a hole so that I can pour in a bag of concrete to help anchor the bottom which I think will work out well. I am also thinking about mixing up a couple cups of colored concrete to drop in the bottom of the form just to give the panels a little color and character (Black, Blue, and Green sprinkled a little here and there in each one in a kind of speckled pattern) and since the concrete itself is colored it should stay in place effectively forever though it will probably fade a little bit. I found the melamine coating works very well as I had a small piece and have been using it to make some precast concrete headstones for Halloween and I will probably make a few more to sell as well but the 2 I have made so far have been good. They demold very easily with a light oil coating on the melamine and I could easily use some scrap pieces after I build a couple forms to run around the inside of the form as well but haven't decided quite yet. BTW I can't remember if you stress tested actual concrete panels with reinforcement in them. Mine will be longer but should be pretty strong with the reinforcement wire embedded inside and being 3.5" thick will help. Gonna have to build a little crane to pick each piece up but mainly so the guy helping me do the work and I don't have to kill ourselves lifting them up as they will weigh around 250 pounds each.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

That's quite an undertaking but sounds like you have the details worked out. Excellent I say!! I may have tested the regular concrete in the first testing episode. Can't recall the results tho.

[@MuttMuttOutdoors]

@@MANaboutTOOLS yeah. It's a lot of work for sure not to mention all the logistics. But we have been in the process of replacing the electrical system and roof as well as installing insulation and datacomm. But I love to do anything I can myself, has already saved me about 20k in 3 years.

[@BadData400]

2 years ago, I made a concrete garden using your design. I add my own touch to the decorative facing and I can say I am very satisfied with the end result. Definitely was hard work though.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Thanks!! Hard work can really pay off long term.

[@tealkerberus748]

I think when I have a place suitable to try some of your moulds, I'll be scribing the casting date on the inside face of each panel before it sets. Then if I'm experimenting with different concrete blends I'll be able to check my project diary instead of attacking the panels with an angle grinder to see what's inside each one.

[@TheTravelingCatlady]

Thanks for the updates!!!!

[@patriciahammett4197]

As a retired senior I admire what you have done. My skills don't include carpentry work, but the rest seems doable even for me.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Thank you very much!!

[@582tird]

Glad to see this update, I’ve got 30 in the garden now … more to come.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Excellent!!!

[@MrChrisjv55]

I have built your garden boxes version II, I like how they make my gardening so much easier and focused. Thanks for the time and effort you have put into these plans. Speaking on the durability side of the concrete panels. The alignment of the corners should be plumb and level for the rebar pins. A little twist in the fit and the corners can break out. In my excitement to get the first 6 panels pinned in place, the rebar put too much strain on the corners and they broke away. After glueing the corners (PL premium construct adhesive) back together, levelling corners and using a smaller 3/8" smooth pin. the panels have performed great. The concrete is standing up to the test of time. Using the panels for Three years now and moved twice. 👌

[@tishhyde6778]

These garden boxes are lovely. I am so glad that KZbin popped this video into my feed. I am now subscribed. Looking forward to learning more and adding these to my garden area.

[@kameljoe21]

When I watched you make these years ago. I always thought about making a shaker table to get the bubbles out. When I was a kid in school our print shop had one of those shakers to straighten out paper. That is pretty much what I was thinking. While the sawzall tool works being able to shake the entire thing would be better and being able to shake it for several minutes longer as well.

[@jeffreykershner440]

So glad you made a follow up after a long time! You're great!

[@BernardRitchie]

Two and a half years ago I bought your plans and made a bunch of raised beds out of CSA concrete. I bought a vibrating motor from Amazon and attached it to my casting table (which I made from scrap pipe. It worked well to really settle and work out air pockets from concrete. I used these panels to make retaining walls up to two panels tall, so they were set end to end for over 10 feet (3 meters). I don't really recommend that because there's not enough lateral support to keep the walls from bowing out. I also have issues with the ends where the CPVC pipe sleeve is cracking out anytime there's a significant lateral stress--and when I have an errant hammer strike pinning it to the ground. I really like them, but after about 60 or so castings, the wooden forms were getting really beat up. I think I may fabricate from metal next time. I really like your design, and I look forward to your posts!

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Thanks very much for the feedback!! I get a load of comments and just can't back to everyone unfortunately. But, I know other viewers benefit from the comments and discussion. Cheers, Kent

[@DavinStewart]

I will say that I've moved away from rectangular concrete beds to circular beds made from aluminum roofing flashing held together with pop rivets. Super easy to make and ~$30 for a 4' diameter bed. You might want to experiment with that to see what you prefer.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Interesting! Thx!

[@camohawk6703]

I saw the original video about these and was wondering how they held up over the years. I am definitely going to make some now that we have a house we own instead of renting.

[@bobnewkirk7003]

I had just put in my wooden beds when you posted your first video and have followed along ever since. Now its time for me to do a renovation and your beds are still going strong. looks like my material selection will be changing. I like the removable pin from the economical box, but will probably make mine in the CSA style with a reinforcement to get as much longevity out of them as possible. additionally the ability to mix by weight in a 5 gallon bucket takes a lot of the guess work out of it. Thanks for putting this together its a very helpful addition to the series.

[@vDC2me]

Thank you for the update. Nice to see following and progress. We just moved and I'm looking forward to trying this style next Spring

[@Nocare89]

I think I actually learned about aircrete from your channel years ago. Didn't even make a garden until this year. And its not even raised beds xD In my area I think I'd make a high concrete dirtcrete. There is a lot of sand and gravel in it. Since these are modular it could be interesting to do things like a built-in oya or leach tubing. Idea being you just insert your water through the wall to water a bed while getting even and slow distribution. Certainly takes away from the easy aspects of doing this though. Anyway it looks like they are holding up very well. Its nice to see an update.

[@ScooterFXRS]

Well done MaT.

[@reframeyourbody]

This was a great series! very glad to have you report they are doing so well… I was thinking of a similar design but with a feature that would allow to stack 2 or 3 in height…

[@BigBenC1991]

If you have a router and a straight bit, you could probably just add a groove to one side of the mold and then tack a slightly smaller "tongue" to the other side. Maybe 3/4" for the groove and 11/16" or 23/32" for the tongue

[@gindrinkersline3285]

Thank you so much for this great innovation. Have tried it myself & the panels still look great after a couple of years. 😀 👍

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Great to hear! Thx!!

[@nicholasb8799]

Excellent sir!

[@DavinStewart]

Love the followup on this! Excellent work!

[@ruthdoyle9085]

On double or triple stack beds, consider filling the bottom with natural wood for a great filler and good for root growth….

[@gengisPhat]

I remember watching your first video and thinking how cool it was and gave it a shot. I did such a laughably terrible job I should have filmed it just so people could make fun of it. I'm gonna give it another shot at some point

[@littlehousewoodworking5292]

Nice! I may consider this for my winter project. I'm looking for ideas for a better composting bin design. My wood one has lasted 15 years. The last 5 years of that span they have really been deteriorating. This may be a better option then wood and last a lot longer.

[@tedtolentino4955]

Beautiful results. Thank you for sharing.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

If I were younger, this would be the best way to build raised beds.

[@akeleven]

Excellent!

[@spacewolfjr]

Could you do an update on your kitty cats? Is Max still with us?

[@MrStrizver]

Hi Kent. I've made three sets of panels so far made out of forms I made out of melamine inspired by you. My latest version I eliminated the holes for dowels or pipe and simply drill the stake holes after about two days of curing while the concrete is still super-green. I sent a message via your website...I'd like to share my version with you.

[@kameljoe21]

Drilling is a cool idea. I can see drilling in a few day old concrete as it would be pretty soft. The longer one waits the harder it would be.

[@dalung8513]

Thank you so much for sharing...I made an extended version and love😊

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Thank you!

[@michellejames5953]

Great job

[@dgraham4966]

These are great! Do you use any sort of footing or rock base? Thanks for the awesome inspiration & the follow up!

[@robertpeters9438]

I wonder if lime wash coating would improve durability.

[@SomeGuy-xf9bc]

Have you tried using fiber reinforced concrete? I love your work by the way.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Thanks! I've only added a small amount of glass fiber to reduce cracking. I haven't gone any further with reinforced concrete.

[@boots7859]

@@MANaboutTOOLS Just an FYI, IIRC you need to add quite a bit more fiber than you did when your poured yours. I ran across a manf. suggested use and it was 6% or 1.5# 3/4" Alkali resistant GF per 50#. I believe you can also just cut up fiberglass cloth as used in body shops, however it seems like overkill. Decent concrete should last 50-100 years, especially if it is not being mortered. Might be interesting to look into Roman-style Pozzolini concrete mixtures which have lasted 2000 years if one is really, really serious about making millenia-life flower boxes. Would be interested if you do some more experimenting if you could make some 1/2" - 1" perlite and vermiculite samples to do load and wear testing.

[@hera6341]

I have been using styrofoam blended up. extremely lightweight and strong.

[@DIY.with.DianeD]

Good evening! Do you think you might also make a mold for the CSA - 1.5" thick panels? Also, you provided weights of the Vermiculite and Perlite panels, but I don't recall similar weights provided for CSA. As I age - :-) Weight matters! Though, I could just make all my panels 24" and attach as needed for size! Thank you for your content, and keep up the great work. I have bought the vs 4 digital plans, and hope to get making some over this winter to be ready for Spring next year!

[@abdelrahmanmuhammedali7647]

Nice content 🌸

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Thanks!!

[@SleepyKittens]

Please included what your weather extremes are. Vancouver is rather mild weather compared to other parts of N America

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

We have lows of -14C a few weeks ago. And a high of 43C a few summers ago. Most winters we get a lot of rain.

[@SleepyKittens]

Normal Minnesota winters, the multiple freeze thaw freeze thaw cycles can be very hard on concrete and ceramic. Not sure if you have a period of Springtime road restrictions for heavy loads, as excessive soft earth from the thaw, under roads in some areas, like my residential suburb streets (not large streets/county rds) are not reinforced for heavy loads (like carrying construction materials). Hope your recent freeze didn't impact your bed frames. If it continues to occur, you might have to cover up the raised beds to prevent excessive water that expands as it freezes in the bed, causing cracks. Even now, the excessive high winds we have been getting in fall/winter; I plan on covering my beds so the shredded leaf mulch in the beds doesn't get blown away.

[@donaldroybal275]

The one question , I have is you don't have worry about the lye in the concrete . Your plant growth is not effected and water bleed through is not a problem?????

[@romangoncharuk9805]

Thanks

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

You are very welcome!

[@jimbailey5481]

I love these panels! I intend to use my 3D printer to make letters to add to the forms. What are your thoughts on a panel 18"x8'? Maybe 3" thick...? I'm not worried about weight so much and I do like to sit on the edge of my 4x8 garden boxes.

[@ericchin79]

Can you show us some two high boxes? I want to fill the bottom panels with gravel, add a liner and add a drain hole to build waterless flower beds. Not sure how I will drill the concrete for the plastic drain tube but I am open to suggestions

[@Whateveryoutube-cs9gi]

Hmmm this makes me want to send the video to my old custom precast boss

[@bseant420]

wasnt there one made of csa aircrete? im getting ready to make these exact panels and am making the pranatech foam generator machine.

[@chimeforest]

I was wondering about 48 inch panels. Is there a reason you seem to have stopped doing them lately? Excellent video btw ^^

[@anothergoogleuser]

Have you ever thought about doubling or tripling the height of your beds by stacking the sections?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

see this: manabouttools.com/make-concrete-garden-boxes-part-2/

[@MrStrizver]

Hi...This has been on my to-do list ever since the first version came out. I'm trying to do a cost comparison between the vermiculite and CSA versions but your formula for the vermiculate has units of just "parts" so it is impossible to come up with a cost without knowing actual volumes required to fill the form. According to Home Depot's online prices and the volume of your recipe, making a CSA box (either 36x36 or 48x24) would cost around $41 each. For the Vermiculite formula, 18 lbs of Vermiculite can be purchases for $65 on Amazon and 94 lbs of Portland cement can be purchased at the Big Box store for $18.67. How much is required for each panel?

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

Math.

[@J3rs3yM1k3]

In a couple of the shots, I could see what looked like golf tees pushed into the dirt. What are those for?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

I think my wife was marking some bulbs she planted. Sorry for the late reply.

[@J3rs3yM1k3]

@@MANaboutTOOLS Thank you!

[@katelynallers]

Thanks for the update - I remember you made vermiculite panels out of Portland cement, and some out of CSA. Any difference in how those fared?

[@cewaffles]

These are Fantastic. Are you using the basic Red bag of Quikrete? Or does it not matter?

[@juligrlee556]

Did you compact your soils before you placed the panels?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

It's a good idea to do so. I also put down a layer of sand (or gravel) and flatten, level, and compact that so the concrete panels have a firm foundation.

[@CriticalThinking101]

wow 5 years have past and I never got a round to making these. maybe if you give me 5 more years.

[@trevorvampran]

Bro blurred out the cats butt so there would be no cracks in this video. 😂

[@jaket8947]

So, maybe I missed it, but which material has been most resistant? In particular, against string trimming?

[@granvillehorn6832]

On your 96” extended bed, do you have a cross tie to keep the bed from bulging out?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

I don’t. And I think the joint is tight so haven’t seen any movement.

[@kabir424]

@MANaboutTOOLS , you state that the reason you use CSA for the 1.5" panels is because of cracking at the pipe area. Have you considered reducing the size of your pipe? 3/8" PEX in place of the 1/2" PVC should work. That would give you .34" more concrete on either side of the pipe so .68" more concrete total on a 1.5" total width. Since there isn't a lot of pressure on the rods holding these together I would think 1/4" rod would be plenty strong. Do you think that would be sufficiently strong with regular cement and not require CSA?

[@wyosundancer]

Is there an issue with water evaporating excessively through the concrete?

[@willi-fg2dh]

see you again in four more years.

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

Oh way before that! I have a great garden box video in the works right now. Stay tuned.

[@willi-fg2dh]

@@MANaboutTOOLSwho cares about the new stuff? . . . i'm thinking of starting a garden in a few years and want something that will last. p.s. - i'm 75 next month

[@kimboss8721]

I'm wondering if you tried to insert any Styrofoam peanuts to lighten these suckers? Btw how much do they weigh? I'm pushing 70 yrs and not in the best shape,but love to garden!

[@jtkilroy]

That crumbling looks like spalling, possibly from freeze thaw issues?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

It's hard to say but, it's the only panel with that issue.

[@bryanwhitton1784]

So, is there a specific reason for the lightweight variants other than easier to carry?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

I was asked a lot about lightweight version after my first video came out. So I went down that rabbit hole for a while. I think it's just easier to lift and place the panels.

[@bryanwhitton1784]

@@MANaboutTOOLS I wanted to use these to make our raised beds in the back yard but my wife really didn't like the idea of using concrete in the yard. Then she saw this looking over my shoulder and her whole attitude changed. I don't want to use wood as I don't want to be replacing it too often and I don't want to use pressure treated wood as we grow veggies in them. Concrete just seemed like the right thing to use. With her outlook changing maybe I can use these next year.

[@steveroberts4762]

Just curious, does the concrete boxes have any effect on plant PH or growing?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

I have not seen any issues with this. However, I have not done any extensive testing either.

[@zerogee4]

I like your video series on these panels design very much, but i do have one question. We want to build a 2' wide, 2' high planter box around our garden, the planter box would run 54' x 23' around the garden. Would a panel say 5' long, 13" wide and 4" thick be sturdy enough to do a 55' run without toppling over?? Weight is not an issue, I'm just more concern about doing a 55' run of panels and it's stability.

[@dalastjedi1768]

if you ever get into making the boxes to sell so others can make their own boxes, let me know. im up for mixing the concrete, just not making the box molds myself.

[@maryp2747]

I bought your first PDF Plan but never built the form. I was hoping to have a carpenter friend build them for me, but that didn't pan out. I'm thinking about purchasing the ready-to-pour molds. My question is can these be stacked up on top of each other to build a 24 or 32-inch high bed?

[@Raul28153]

have you noticed any sinking? Do the panels slowly sink into the earth?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

I have a bit. I would now recommend adding in some fine crushed stone before placing the panels. And to pack it and level it. This should help.

[@dragoncarver287]

What is your climate in the winter? Or should I ask what your zone is without asking where this was filmed. One of my brother's moved back to northern New York State and made 2 foot tall garden beds. 4x4 I think. The problem is in winter the ground freezes solid about the end of November and stays that way till spring. Those beds will freeze solid. What might that do to the concrete but I would also be more concerned with freezing the beds solid.

[@mycabinlife1291]

There are a lot of concrete roads out in the northern states.... just sayin...

[@mycabinlife1291]

I will also add people have been gardening in the ground even in the north for years and years the ground freezes during the winter so it shouldn't hurt the garden that whatsoever because if the plants were planted in the ground it would be the same end result.

[@dragoncarver287]

@@mycabinlife1291 I was recalling Dad pouring concrete for steps at our house. They never crumbled. The freezing solid in winter in a raised bed would probably expand the whole thing and possibly break it. I live in NW Oregon and I really like it here.

[@mycabinlife1291]

@@dragoncarver287 maybe leave a little room for expansion at the joints?

[@camerongeorge4246]

Those beds are going to still be there for 50 years

[@l2iowacowgirl893]

Do you have any suggestions about adding drip? I would like to add the to the inside

[@bkuker]

What climate is this? Do you have freezes over the winter?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

We are on the west coast. We do get snow and freezing weather.

[@boots7859]

I believe its Canada, so def yes.

[@user-ce4vt1ns7w]

Tell me: if water freezes in the mounting holes in winter, will they not break?

[@MANaboutTOOLS]

I have not seen any evidence that this happens. But, I will do a test in my chest freezer soon. I suspect that with the top of the hole open, there is a place for the water (and ice) to expand into.