Newbie building raised bed

[nomadicbry]

Hi all,

My first post and seeking a bit of advice before I go any further with my project.
The idea is to end up with a 2ish metre sq patch raised 18 inches

I've built the wood structure surrounding it and have a load of soil and garden compost which should fill about half of it then will buy some top

Anyway the question I'm wondering is the soil in my garden is matted with tree roots as it's surrounded by at least 10 big trees
the only realistic spot for the plot is under an old apple tree which doesn't give much a crop in fact I thought the apples were cherries they were so small it's not been trimmed or looked after for years (we moved into the house 2 years ago)

So due to the soil I was wondering should I put down a mat on the soil first prior to filling the bed with soil? is this necessary to prevent weeds etc?

Sorry for the rambling email but hopefully some of you can offer this newbie some advice...I'm very gardening illiterate LOL

Thanks in advance
B

[SarzWix]

Hi

I've moved your thread out of Growing Techniques into an appropriate board.

Many Thanks

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...here_4846.html

[DaveInBraknell]

Hi Nomadicbry,

You say they are 18in's high, are you filling it this deep?

If so I wouldn't worry about weed suppresant like a mat in general it might affect the drainage...

I think rather than put something down the bottom, leave it, it'll allow the worms up and through, use a hoe or fingers to pull the weeds out, proabably be better in the long run.

Dave

[Lazgaot]

If you have weed problem then perhaps a base layer of cardboard would be handy to block it from coming through the raised bed straight away. Hopefully the weed will weaken over time and die off. The cardboard will rot down in a few months.

[Two_Sheds]

A mat isn't necessary.... and it won't stop the tree roots anyway.

Annual weeds will still grow on the top of the soil, but you just deal with them by hand.

Good luck with it. Your trees will suck a lot of moisture out of your bed, so if it were me I would sink some upturned clear bottles amongst your plants, so you can water right down to your plant's roots. The foliage will hide the bottles.

[nomadicbry]

thanks guys for the advice I'll put some cardboard in first then. I've removed most of the weeds I think
though I think I have some japanese Knotweed in around the base of the apple tree which I've had an ongoing battle with the for the last year or so. The bully is almost impossible to get rid of as I can't dig down deep enough to get the entire root system so manage by ripping up everytime it appears on the surface

other than that though most of the weeds have been removed ...famous last words lol
going to start filling today hopefully ready to plant in the coming weeks

thanks again
B

[zazen999]

thanks guys for the advice I'll put some cardboard in first then. I've removed most of the weeds I think
though I think I have some japanese Knotweed in around the base of the apple tree which I've had an ongoing battle with the for the last year or so. The bully is almost impossible to get rid of as I can't dig down deep enough to get the entire root system so manage by ripping up everytime it appears on the surface

other than that though most of the weeds have been removed ...famous last words lol
going to start filling today hopefully ready to plant in the coming weeks

thanks again
B

Jap K'weed.....
that's not fun.

We don't use chemicals, but I'd make sure the soil was completely clear of this before putting any raised beds in....even at the expense of a few more weeks before putting the beds in their final position.

[Jenegade]

Careful with the Japanese Knotweed Nomadicbry, just a tiny piece (shoot, root or anything) can sprout up a whole new clump! It's very nasty, invasive stuff!

There's also legislation covering the removal of JK:

The Environmental Protection Act 1990. Japanese Knotweed is classed as ‘controlled waste’ and as such must be disposed of safely at a licensed landfill site according to the Environmental Protection Act (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991. Soil containing knotweed roots can be regarded as contaminated and, if taken off a site, must be disposed of at a suitably licensed landfill site and buried to a depth of at least 5 m.

Apparently you can poison it with Glyphosate if you have a small patch, but there is new method of injecting the poison into the plant base, which kills it off completely. Think the injection method has to be done by some licensed company though...

Good luck, hope you get rid of it!