topsoil raised beds help please

CLARABEL

hi

we're in the process of building some raised garden beds for growing veg in. DH has ordered sleepers which arrive tomorrow.

my q is what do i fill it with?

Should I but proper screened topsoil or not? Have other people got any experience of this and could offer me advice? I'd love some!

the area is about 28 x 0.5 metres. long and thin like my garden!

thanks

clara:A

*MF*

Hi ... first I am no expert, but I am planning to do similar, maybe next year, so I went googling for us both.

Found this interesting comment ...

Once the frame is constructed it is ready to be filled with soil, but not just any soil. The beds should contain a mixture of sand, soil and organic compost material. Using just regular garden soil will cause the beds to pack down and make drainage difficult. Your plants will thrive in the looser soil and it makes an ideal environment for earthworms as well.

Extract from here:

http://www.gardengrowth.com/gardening/vegetable-gardening/raised-bed-vegetable-gardening-for-better-vegetables/

That sounds right to me, because the merit of a raised bed is that it allows you to choose the soil mix etc to suit what you intend to grow.

Hope this helps ... and hopefully there is someone on the forum, better versed in this than me, and will offer more expert comment.

Davesnave

Screened topsoil can pack down, so sand and grit will help, as will adding organic matter, probably best purchased as recycled green waste from your local council. You may be lucky to find tonne bags of the latter for home delivery. Wickes do sharp sand by the tonne.

Lotus-eater

Soil from the paths, well rotted manure, anything you can get hold of really. As an experiment I filled my DD's new raised bed with half well rotted manure and half sub standard top soil and her beetroot are miles ahead of mine grown in an ordinary soil.
Don't forget your beds will rise every year as you need to add manure most years to make up for the nutrients lost in the growing of crops.

clairefun

Ours are filled with some soil dug out from other places (our pond was very useful and great for attracting slug-eating frogs too!), mixed with some sand, as we're heavy clay here, and with lots of added manure. We got the manure free from a local stables (it's 8 years old and hardly looks or smells like manure anymore) and we got lots of topsoil that was offered on freecycle, from some people who were re-landscaping their garden to be more child-friendly!

[Deleted User]

Another source of information on this is SQUARE FOOT GARDENING. I know your plot is a lot larger than this but the book and the website of the same name gives some great advice on growing in raised beds, and the sort of mix of compost etc to use thereby cutting drastically the problem of weeds. Hope you enjoy your efforts.

CLARABEL

Oh, I am thick.... 28 metres! I meant 8 metres!!!! If only I had a biiig garden!


Anyway, the sleepers are now in place, and I'm looking forward to filling them.....shall I buy topsoil? It's pretty dear dear, and also is it too late to put manure in this year? Thought it had to be left a bit first...

oh, I need to get things moving!

Davgirl1

I filled ours last year with compost and organic matter and everything grew very well. This year I have built 2 more and again filled with compost and manure. I planted seeds in them within a week of putting the manure in and have had no problems yet.

paintpot

I've just had one built, it's not very big, maybe 1m by 2m and bought some top soil from homebase, 4 bags for £10 and I bought 8 bags. I have bunged some chicken poo pellets in and planted some veggies today - I am a novice so no idea if it's going to work or not! I took pot luck! The whole lot will probably die lol

Good luck with yours

Lotus-eater

CLARABEL wrote: »

Anyway, the sleepers are now in place, and I'm looking forward to filling them.....shall I buy topsoil? It's pretty dear dear, and also is it too late to put manure in this year? Thought it had to be left a bit first...

You are getting confused between rotted manure and fresh, you only use well rotted manure on the veg garden (unless you are like Gardeners World and want a old style hot bed that is) so the manure should have rotted down anyway by now and thats the stuff you need. I think you are supposed to put it into a bed well before your plant in it, but I've never taken that rule seriously and never had a problem.

growingafamily

we used mole hill tops from the local country park to bulk out the compost and manure for the garden