Foundations for sleeper beds

[Beanfingers]

Really grateful for any advice here. I've spent way too long reading too many blogs etc and getting wildly contradictory information.

I'm making two raised beds for vegetables, using untreated oak sleepers. The beds will be 2.4m(L) x 1.2m(W) x 40cm(H). In other words: one sleeper long, half a sleeper wide, and two sleepers high.

My question is: what should I put under the sleepers?

I'm on heavy clay soil that gets boggy in winter. I was planning to dig a trench about 50mm deep, fill it with 20mm gravel, and tamp down, to keep the sleepers dry(ish). HOWEVER, lots of online articles suggests I should first lay MOT1 under the gravel. But I also read that MOT1 doesn't drain. Would the water fill up and ultimately threaten the sleepers?

 

[oneeye]

Really grateful for any advice here. I've spent way too long reading too many blogs etc and getting wildly contradictory information.

I'm making two raised beds for vegetables, using untreated oak sleepers. The beds will be 2.4m(L) x 1.2m(W) x 40cm(H). In other words: one sleeper long, half a sleeper wide, and two sleepers high.

My question is: what should I put under the sleepers?

I'm on heavy clay soil that gets boggy in winter. I was planning to dig a trench about 50mm deep, fill it with 20mm gravel, and tamp down, to keep the sleepers dry(ish). HOWEVER, lots of online articles suggests I should first lay MOT1 under the gravel. But I also read that MOT1 doesn't drain. Would the water fill up and ultimately threaten the sleepers?

I wouldn't use MOT1 because it lacks nutrients. As long as water has never flooded the are you should be ok with just basic drainage.