filling a rasied bed with compost - now or spring?

[bikermike]

I've built it, put cardboard down, and have the compost. But is there any advantage to filling it now or before spring planting?

I'm concerned about leaving it out to have nutrients washed away, and/or animals digging etc in it - is the first of those really a serious concern?

Most green manures seem to recommend being sown before now.
or I could cover it with woodchip.

What do people think?

[nickdub]

Depends really on how rich the soil is and how much rain you get over Winter.

On the whole where you live I doubt nutrient leaching will be a major problem - here in the wetter West I would either not do the work until Spring or keep the bed covered to keep the worst of the rain off.

[bikermike]

thanks!

It will be going on top of cardboard, so soil isn't an issue I'd think?

I might duck the question by top-dressing all the other beds first and seeing what's left/if the next batch of homemade has come up yet.

[burnie]

I add the bulky stuff now like manure and compost, then add a slow release like BFB in the spring prior to planting.

[rary]

If you have the compost and no problems storing, I would keep it till January, then put it down to allow the bed to settle, though if it's home made compost I would be inclined to put it on now to let the weather break it down a bit

[jackarmy]

Myself i think whack it on now, compost is basically just a soil improver with a couple of weeks goodness added.
Chuck it over now and let nature sort it our, come spring its hopefully part of the furniture so to speak.

[veggiechicken]

Do it whenever you have the time. If you leave it until spring you'll have other stuff to do.

[4Shoes]

Depends on size of raised bed. If it is just a couple of bags (with added fertilizer) going to take you couple of minutes to bung it in. If bags going to be outside, and they get wet, fertilizer will leach out anyway, so bung it in now and cover.