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Brian 8451
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18-06-2018, 05:44 AM
1

Raised bed.

Good morning gardeners,
I have what is probably a simple question to answer but would value your opinions. I am building what is to be a raised flower bed and when finished will fill it presumably with top soil and general purpose compost. What I am wondering is do I put the compost in first and then the soil or the other way round or do I mix the two before filling the bed; also should I include manure or does that depend on the plants that will live there.
Thanks, Brian.
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18-06-2018, 06:01 AM
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Re: Raised bed.

Gosh Brian you make me realise how little I know about gardening,

I have a couple of raised beds but all I did was hard core at the bottom for drainage and then filled with good quality top soil and I didn't put compost in at all. I do use fertiliser every so often and I keep topping up the top soil but that's it.....I know it's probably all wrong but tell you what plants do seem to thrive in it
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18-06-2018, 06:49 AM
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Re: Raised bed.

Put newspaper or cardboard at the bottom then manure compost and soil the worms will mix it up for you .
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18-06-2018, 06:50 AM
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Re: Raised bed.

Hi

My raised beds have no topsoil in them at all.

I make my own compost from the garden and lashing of manure.

It works for me.
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18-06-2018, 07:01 AM
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Re: Raised bed.

Originally Posted by swimfeeders ->
Hi

My raised beds have no topsoil in them at all.

I make my own compost from the garden and lashing of manure.

It works for me.
That's luxury swims...I don't have the space to do that so I had to buy topsoil. Where my raised beds are used to be a working garages forecourt so before putting in the beds I had to remove about 4 inches of tarmac and then the hard core underneath...great joy the barn I live in used to be a garage and apparently at one time it was also a store for Leyland Buses...very chic
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18-06-2018, 07:17 AM
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Re: Raised bed.

That's a tougher question than you may think Brian, so many variables, but in essence as long as you have good drainage then a decent topsoil is all that is needed, and if you resist filling the bed right to the top then you can add good garden compost as you go along to raise the level.

When the beds are established I continue to use garden compost as a mulch, which then breaks down into the soil over time. I also raise the edges of the beds as necessary over the years by fixing another couple of inches of timber to the perimeter.
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18-06-2018, 08:00 AM
7

Re: Raised bed.

I top up my raised beds as the soil level sinks every year.
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18-06-2018, 08:20 AM
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Re: Raised bed.

I just chuck in whatever gets delivered to our allotment site...compost from the London Waste company, and horse manure. I do hold on to the manure as it can burn if applied straightaway. I have a bin full of compost ready to put on. A fellow plot holder helped me clear my bed yesterday, and I just need to fork it over and get rid of small bits of weeds. And discard of the resulting green waste! Argh...a huge pile of it. (Hoping Diane and Lynda offer to put it in Diane’s car, which transports so much rubbish to the tip.)

Whatever I put on my beds is trial and error. It either germinates/grows, or it doesn’t.
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18-06-2018, 08:25 AM
9

Re: Raised bed.

Hi

Absolutely no soil in my raised beds and no chemicals either.

This is how I run them.

https://www.quickcrop.co.uk/blog/squ...r-raised-beds/
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18-06-2018, 09:05 AM
10

Re: Raised bed.

My raised beds which I use for soft fruit and veg started off with a foot deep of the original soil from under the bed which was clay based.To this I added compost from the garden centre, my own compost bin content and well-rotted horse manure all mixed up together.

The content of the beds has improves by the year and I top them up yearly by adding the content of my compost bin and well rotted farmyard manure .
 
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