digging up my garden?

[QuizicleBoy]

Hello,

I've wanted to grow my own food for a while and this year i've decided to go for it!

I think i want to do a raised bed but im not sure how to go about it!

My garden is mostly grass and i plan to put the raised bed on the grass, but should i did up the grass and put the raised bed with compost and soil all mixed? Or should i just plonk the compost ontop of the grass?

All the guides i find seem to assume i have an old allotment so i dont know what to do with my grass! can anyone help!?

thanks!

[Newton]

Lift it an stack it upside down for a year or two. It will turn to lovely loam. Good luck with the project.......if you like it get yourself an allotment.........

[chris]

Welcome to the forum

Like newton says if you stack the grass upside down somewhere it'll rot down and can be dug back into your beds in a year or so! If you don't have the space to do that, bury it upside down at LEAST a spades depth down.

If you're not sure of if you want to do a raised bed yet, why don't you try just digging out a couple of beds, you could edge them if you wanted - see how you get on with them. You may want to move them later, and it'd be easier to do this without having to lug the raised bed about - or even change the side, orientation etc (best orientation is running north -> south).

[Two_Sheds]

I didn't dig up or stack the grass, I built raised beds on top. Photos here: lasagne bed 1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

(there are many, many old threads on the subject, if you fancy trawling through)

[QuizicleBoy]

Thanks for the replies!

Two Sheds, did you grow food on the raised beds or just use it to make compost??

and chris, I'm not sure what you mean about digging out a couple of beds? do you mean i could did a pade depth down and put my grass upside down, then refil it with the soil and then just plant my veg in there?? but i dont understand how i could then move them??

another question:

if i did do that, how much compost would I have to mix with my soil from the garden, I dont have any compost of my own so i would have to buy it, although i do have a big pile of grass clippings from last summer, would I be able to add that even though it hasn't rotted down?

Thanks!!!

[chris]

Yes, exactly that, or just remove the grass and put it somewhere else. If you don't like the beds/what not you can always re-seed it with grass seed or re-turf it.

How big are your planned beds going to be? A bag or so of compost mixed in each bed would start you off, depending on your soil type (do you know what type of soil it it? sandy, clay, loam? etc)

[QuizicleBoy]

Thanks for your reply! I was thinking of making one big bed, maybe a metre across and a 2 or 3 metres long? Does that sound ok, and could make enough veg for 2 adults and a toddler but not overwhelm me?? I think i wont make raised beds since its my first go and it will make it easier!

I'm not sure what type of soil it is yet! Do you think adding the grass clippings would be ok?

Thanks!

[chris]

If you have a compost heap, I'd add browns to the mixture (paper, cardboard, toilet roll inners, etc) and keep mixing it up. Grass clippings are a good source of nitrogen, but by themselves they'll rot down to a sludge/mess if they can't get air into the mix.

You could, however use it to mulch with (keeps moisture in, prevents weed growth).

You won't feed your family for the year with that one bed, but you may, for example grow a few different types in it to see what sort of veg you like and find easy enough to grow... in the grand scheme of things a ~3' x 6/9' bed isn't large - but plenty enough to start you off with

You could go down the square foot gardening route (there's a good thread on here about it) - where you bed it divded up into equal squares, and in each square you plant a different crop.

[QuizicleBoy]

So if i added browns to it, I could use it straight away or it would have to rot down before i use it? Or should i just save it to mulch?

I have plenty of room in my garden so i could make a bigger plot, so I may doa bigger one, but say if i did keep to that size how many bags of compost would i need to mix in?

I'll have a look at square gardening but then i read it has to be really good soil for it to work?

Thanks for your help!

[rustylady]

Quixicle, you really don't need to worry about bags of compost. Fruit and veg grow quite happily in ordinary soil. If I were you I would just skim off the turf, dig the bed and sow or plant straight into it.

[veggiechicken]

As Rustylady says ^^^^^. Don't get too concerned initially at getting everything perfect. If you have plenty of space, as you say, you could do a bit of everything. Start a compost heap, dig out a patch of lawn, stack the turf, plant in that bed, maybe start a raised bed if you wish. Next year you'll have plenty of compost to put in it. Happy growing!

[QuizicleBoy]

thanks for the advice! I think i will just dig it up like you said!

Should i leave the grass clippings to turn into compost for next year??

And do you really think i don't need to add any compost? not even just a few bags? I always assumed I would have to!!

Thanks

[Bigmallly]

Welcome to the vine QB, you could always use your grass clippings to earth up your tatties assuming you are growing some, I did it one year and worked well. Stop trying to worry it, if you want to add a bit of compost or well rotted manure then do it. You could ask 10 people the same question and get 10 different answers. Chill out a little, enjoy, plan and good luck.

[Two_Sheds]

Two Sheds, did you grow food on the raised beds or just use it to make compost? ... I dont have any compost of my own so i would have to buy it

You didn't look at all the photos did you ?
Yes, we filled the beds with all manner of compostables, topped with a good layer of molehill earth (you could use topsoil) and then immediately planted our crops.

We didn't buy any compost or topsoil (it would've cost £100 per bed to do so).

It's called lasagne gardening

[Two_Sheds]

Just for clarity, I did this for the raised beds:

- marked out the bed shapes on the grass
- forked over the bottom of the bed to reduce compaction
- put a layer of cardboard on bottom of beds
- skimmed off the turf from the paths
- put that turf upside down in the bottom of my beds

- added layers of leafmould, grass clippings, coffee grounds, garden compost, weeds etc
- topped with molehill earth (you could use clean topsoil or bought compost)
- immediately planted the bed up with veggies