Raised beds

[Pickle]

I'm sorry if this has already been asked. Apologies if it has. I have got some raised beds on order which will hopefully arrive this week (fingers crossed). My question is, can I literally just put them together on existing beds and fill with soil (also on order)? The reason I ask is because of something someone said to me the other day about putting down plastic sheeting underneath the beds. I'd thought it would just be a case of building them, filling them and away you go.

My reason for buying the best is mainly because we are on terrible soil (clay with lots of stones and for some reason tons of broken glass!). I've bought 12inch deep ones so I can grow root veg in them amoungst other things.

Thanks for reading

[cwipnip]

how much did they cost, and how dig are they? i ask because i made 2 2m x 1m beds and a 1m x 3m bed for £12 each beause i bought the wood and built it myself

[cwipnip]

how dig are they?

i mean big

[chocobed]

I'd put them on the soil. Allows for drainage and trace/hair roots to penetrate. A tap root such as a root veg, carrot or parsnip or beetroot, will have a finer root that will run to almost the same length again. A plastic barrier will cause problems.Clay soil holds a high amount of food for plants but is hard to release them from. Allowing the roots to seek them out will benefit your plants.I would recommend some drainage material at the bottom, even if you do leave the plastic out.Fork over the surface first, add a layer of drainage and then the soil. Good luck!

[Creemteez]

Leave the plastic out if I were you. It'll cause drainage problems and as the others have said,your veggies will benefit from having more soil under them however poor it is! Forking over and a good layer of muck before the soil goes in will give everything a boost.
Have fun!

[CarolineW]

They'll be saying that because of preventing the weeds growing through. To be honest, I'd have thought that 12" of soil on top would achieve that anyway, but I'm no expert. What I did with my raised beds in a similar situation, was to dig over and improve the drainage, as suggested above, then put either cardboard or newspaper (about 5 sheets thick all over) on top, and then my soil on top of that. That way they'll break down gradually, actually improve the soil in the long run, and allow the roots to grow through.

The raised beds I (read - my husband :-) ) built were only 6" deep. I am relying on the soil below becoming gradually improved as I mulch with organic matter, grow potatoes, add manure, etc. It was probably overkill for me to also use the cardboard/paper, I don't know. For whichever reason, our raised beds have worked well.

We have put raised beds in elsewhere without digging over to improve the drainage, just the process I described above, and they worked absolutely fine too. But, although the soil was clay, it wasn't so badly compacted as the rest of the plot. That's why we decided to risk not digging it over.

[CarolineW]

5 sheets of newspaper, that is - not cardboard

[Pumpkin Becki]

I'd put them straight on top of your soil.

I'm also on stoney clay, I constructed the beds with timber, cut off the turf and turned it upside down and put it back in the bottom and then gradually topped up with manure and compost. My parsnips were sewn in approx 8" of soil last year and I'm harvesting 15 - 18" long ones at the moment, nothing will stop a determined Parsnip! As others have said, if you don't have nasty weed problems (horsetail or similar) I wouldn't worry about putting plastic or membrane down first.

[Sweepster]

Hi Pickle and others, I'm in the process of cobbling together four mini raised beds (several months behind schedule!) which should be 12" deep, about 2' by 4', in the back garden. Yanking up paving slabs and digging the soil a bit, then planning to fill with a mixture of manure/compost and top soil - hope that will be sufficient. My potatoes started chitting before I'd given them permission, so just hoping I can get the first bed finished in time to put them in. And then stand guard over it for three months to stop the cats mistaking it for a giant litter tray...

It's flippin exciting isn't it?!

[Pickle]

Thanks everyone! All I need now is for my beds to be delivered! Getting very frustrated that they aren't here (or more correctly, impatient!)
We've got creeping buttercup. Would that be OK to put straight on top of?

Sweepster, between the cats, the chickens and the seagulls we decided it was best to buy netting for our beds and cage them in. Hopefully it will be enough to keep them out, at least until things are well established.

Pumpkin Becki, wow at the size of your parsnips! I'm growing parsnips this year. Or at least I'll be attempting them! Also going to try carrots, cabbages, brussel sprouts, cauliflowers and potatoes amoungst a few other things :-)

Caroline, lol at 5 sheets of cardboard! Like you my husband will be building my beds although I think it will be me lugging the soil down to them as he is working every weekend for the next few weeks.

Thanks again for all of your help.

[Sweepster]

Oh creeping buttercup is a pain... I have a horrible feeling that I brought mine in myself, in a packet of wildflower mix seeds, cos all of a sudden last year it was EVERYWHERE. It even flings runners into the middle of the pond - it just doesn't care! Have you had a go at digging the roots out?