Compost, etc, for raised beds

moneyistooshorttomention

1. I'm wondering which is the best supplier for this material and roughly how much it will cost. (What I am thinking of using is a mixture of:

1 part topsoil
1 part manure
1 part multipurpose compost

for filling these beds.

What suppliers have other people used (and been pleased with)?

2. How to calculate the amount I will need to fill these raised beds. Each bed will be 4' x 4' and 2' high. If I know how many litres (or whatever) of material I need per bed then I can easily multiply up to see how much I need for the beds in total.

glasgowdan

That seems really deep/high to me! What are you planting in them? Make them 12" high instead, unless you're trying to grow big carrots. Half the amount of material needed.

moneyistooshorttomention

True that that is high at 2'.

But I'm making them easy access - hence the extra height. My back can sometimes be a bit "awkward".

This house is likely to be my last one - bar that "Lottery win" type event we all hope for (in which case = all bets are off LOL)....hence getting it as near to "exactly as I want it" as it's possible to with this particular house/location.

moneyistooshorttomention

A follow-up query is that it gets very confusing wondering exactly what to have these beds made of. I'm studying the website https://www.uksleepers.co.uk and there are all these different types of railway sleeper and at widely differing prices and I dont know which to choose.

I can see which ones they make their raised beds from - so thats obviously one possibility (just cant get theirs - as they arent the right height). I know I need ones that havent been treated in some nasty chemical way I wouldnt like and cant be quite sure whether that means I am restricted to choosing from the "eco-treated" ones or no. Even with that - there are still several "eco-treated" choices.

My head hurts...

Scottish_Mike

Hey! I combined two 4ft square, 6inch deep raised beds to make one a foot deep. It's been handy for cut flowers and salad this spring, and the height meant it got a bit more sun.

I had a quick look at a Compost Calculator (there's several on-line) and it claims for your dimensions you'll need approx 0.9 cubic metres of compost, so it may be worth buying a 1 ton bulk order of compost, rather than bags and bags and bags of compost, depending on your garden's access.

I used a lot of bags (5 or 6 70 litre bags) filling up my raised bed, and I think yours is double my depth. Over time the compost will sink and you'll probably need to top it up at the end of the year. Keep an eye on it in the sun too; I have another raised bed, full of compost that sits in the sun all day, and it is SO dry. I feel that I'm constantly watering it!

Good luck

moneyistooshorttomention

Thanks for that - so in my way of thinking that's 12 x 70 litres per raised bed of the size I want. I can do the maths on that - and then times it up by the number of raised beds easily enough. I get a bit confused by cubic metres (both the "cubic" bit and the "metres" bit) - but I can handle thinking in terms of litres.

Re constantly watering it - it's one of the "roll around the floor laughing" moments when someone from outside the area queries whether things will get enough water here. I fell prey to making a load of assumptions based on normal rain levels to start with - and then I moved here to West Wales and found I'd got it all wrong. There's never a problem with inadequate rain levels here:rotfl::(.

The only problem here that I can see is that - when there has actually been a few days in a row of no rain then the soil that's down there on the ground in the garden cracks - as it's clay soil.

Part of what I'm thinking of why I worked out that one-third of each mixture (and plan on getting my topsoil from elsewhere in the country) is to avoid the "cracking earth" problem. But I doubt I'd have the basic "dry out like mad" problem I'm used to previously generally iyswim.:). I've already made the mistake of buying in new topsoil locally - and then finding that was clay too....I'd been visualising nice loam-y type soil like I'm used to.

malebolge

I'm disabled and can't stand so my garden is a mixture of raised beds and tubs (well over 100 large tubs, eek) There's a lot of advantages to them but you do learn by experience. Here's a few things I've found:
- raised beds can be handy for growing specific plants, e.g I have beds for acid loving plants and changed the compost/feed in them so I get a good display.
- beds, particularly smaller ones, need watering/feeding more than if the plants were put straight in the ground.
- vine weevil grubs seem to thrive in tubs/small beds :mad:
- There's no limit as to what you can grow (ok apart from really huge stuff) - I grow a wide range of flowers/shrubs, soft fruit, patio fruit trees, asparagus, salad veg...
- I have lots of those green kneeler/garden stools so I can happily garden away sat down for ages.
- My raised beds are higher than some people's, but that suits my physical condition. If you make them as high as suits you, you'll be able to enjoy gardening and not think about your back

Ebe_Scrooge

In terms of sourcing the compost - does your local council have any ? Where I live, they collect the biodegradable waste ( food peelings, grass clippings etc. etc. ), take it to be composted, then deliver the compost to the local tip ( sorry, "recycling centre" ), and the public can just go and help themselves for free. I know not all councils do this, but it's worth finding out.

moneyistooshorttomention

As I recall - the Council I have now charge for this. Add that I'd be very nervous about doing this anyway in this particular area - courtesy of how much Japanese Knotweed I can spot and just how "un-bovvered" even ordinary householders are here about having it in their gardens. I don't recall particularly noticing couch grass round the place right, left and centre till I moved here either - and I'm having problems with it in my garden anyway - so I also dont want to risk importing anyone else's.

I dont want to take any chances here.

Add that I've not got a car.

All round - that's 3 reasons why I'm not even looking to the Council here to get my compost etc for my raised beds.

Something screened/sorted out/etc from outside Wales and that's brought literally to my doorstep is the way I've decided to go.

moneyistooshorttomention

I've been offered some manure for free - described as "well-rotted". I dont quite like to ask whether its organic or no - as person offering is doing me a favour and offering it for free.

Does it matter with manure of the "well-rotted" variety whether its organic or no? As I will be growing organic food in it.

I've got a vague idea that I read somewhere that some people have experienced problems with food they've grown in manured soil - and it was something to do with it being non-organic. I can't recall the details now though - wondering if it was something to do with the antibiotics the animals producing the manure had had.

DaftyDuck

wrote:

Less the antibiotics - which will linger - but more the treatment the pasture underwent.

We are back to those pesky weedkillers, where I assaulted your feelings a couple of weeks ago. Triclopyr, beloved of many horsey people, can last in the poo for many a year. At VERY low concentrations ...