Well they sell the metal staples for it - 4-5" long that you stick trough it and into the ground below. Those you can use right up next to the side boards. Called landscape fabric staples I think.

Or you can make your own out of any heavy gauge metal wire. That's what I do - make them in an upside down U shape and then use a double fold of the plastic at the edge to stick them through.

Or you can use bricks or large stones along the outside (they add extra heat sources to the bed) edge, lay a strip of 2x4 along the edge, lay mulch on top once the soil has warmed, or last (and least attractive) use duct tape but it won't stick long if it gets wet.

Dave

That's not a bad idea with the heavy gauge metal wire, never thought of that - thanks for the tip - I just may try that one :)

I'd rather not lay bricks etc, as I'm trying to find the most economical use of space in the beds. And yes, duct tape fixes everything! But to your point, it's very unattractive and most likely won't hold during periods of rain / watering the garden.

Any other ideas out there?

I gave up on the wire clips as i didn't want to lose one in the soil and have the tiller find it in spring. Am using bricks or boards now instead.

If you have wire mesh strong enough to press into the soil you can make plant rings, like small tomato cages, and stick them through the plastic where plants can grow in/over/through them. Or just wedge the plastic between the soil and the raised bed edges.

I do what Digdirt does - cup staples out of a roll of wire.

Here, through the soil conservancy, we can get a box of 500 x 6" staples for about half what they cost in any nursery outfit, but you wouldn't need that many.

Could you lay chicken wire strips about 6" wide flat on top of your plastic mulch around the inside perimeter of your raised beds and then pin the chicken wire in place with those metal staples (through the plastic beneath) in a few places? Unless you plant right at the perimeter of the bed, there should be enough room for your plants to grow.

I've wished there were something like carpet tack stips with long nails since I'd like to do the same thing.

All good ideas :)

My concern is how loose the soil is, as it is 100% compost in raised beds....

I like the staple idea, but might need to do a combination staple / heavy object (that hopefully doesn't take up too much room) deal.

Still trying to be creative :)

As bricks take up so much space, you might want to hold the plastic down with rebar. It is very heavy, about 1/2" thick and you could wrap the plastic around it to add extra security. If you placed it right against the siding of the raised bed, you will not lose much growing space. It comes in several lengths and is readily available at Home Depot, LoweÂs, etc. Look in the section with concrete reinforcement wire. Side note to the West Coasters: Do not try to find rebar in late August in Northern California. It will be sold out. Buy it earlier.

I gave all mine away when I moved across country. I'm still kicking myself, as I now know so many places to use it in the garden.

Bellatrix

Here is a link that might be useful: Rebar

Ok you've gotten me intrigued with this problem. I have some ideas but when you say the beds are recycled plastic, what kind of plastic? I mean describe the beds.

Off hand you could use long pieces of heavy small diameter pipe to hold the edges down. Or fill PVC with concrete or wet sand instead. If the plastic is thin, you could use clothes pins or those clips they use to hold tablecloths on picnic tables.

I'd love to see the beds so I can consider other possibilities.

I never thought of loading the edges with rebar - you're right that wouldn't be too expensive, and would do the job. I use rebar all the time (anchor trellis', stake down my CRW tomato cages etc).

As far as the beds, I got them from Craigslist. They are hollow 6 X 6 timbers, anywhere from 4 feet to 8 feet long, stacked double high. I made several 4 X 8 beds out of them, and a couple 4 X 12 beds. The original manufacturer i think is "Pasteak" - they charge $37 per 8' timber, but I got them for about 1/10th that price from someone on craigslist that was getting rid of a bunch of them.

They work quite well, are anchored together with rebar and are quite attractive. I'd take a picture for you and post it, but they are all covered with snow at the moment!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pasteak Landscaping Timbers

Oops, that's supposed to "Plasteak", not "Pasteak"

Nice looking stuff to make beds out of. I think rebar would work good too.

Well they sell the metal staples for it - 4-5" long that you stick trough it
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Trough?

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:-)