Polytunnel Arriving Monday - ground prep

[VirginVegGrower]

OK breathe deeply! The poly arrives Monday, don't know what time. The ground prep is pretty much where we left off on Tuesday. I have spent since then shovelling brick ends, hardcore and associated rubbish into a barrow, then shovelling it out again into a skip...rant over. The smaller piles are gone. One huge one left, which needs to get into the skip and away from the gate before the top soil delivery, we think we need 6-8 tonnes (yes I know...don't say anything) can be ordered. Their lorry with a picker has died so we can't have it bagged, just road tipped. I can't face the thought of shovelling that amount again from somewhere inaccessible so how much depth of decent soil do you guys have in your polys? I'm aware most of you belt it straight onto grassland or allotment soil. Not on what was formerly hard standing. Mr VVG has ran out of steam and gone AWOL. I'm just plain fed up trying to get it done.

[zazen999]

Where is this topsoil actually going? Just to grow in? What is the poly being attached to - the ground or are you having to dig foundations?

[VirginVegGrower]

With all the digging we are scooped out to a depth of a foot. That was just to get rid of the cr*p! I wanted a decent 18" to grow in as I want to look at a fig or a vine at some point. The metre border around the edge is going to be built up using the clay underneath, then we will memprex (or whatever it's called) and top with clippings/gravel. The polytunnel frame will anchor into that and the topsoil is purely for the planting. Poly is 6x3m. Would pics help?

[zazen999]

Yes but I am going out in 2 mins....it's the anchoring I'm worried about...hopefully you are compacting the clay with the minidigger so that it's as firm as it can be around/above the anchors.

[zazen999]

OK - got email - will respond through there...

[VirginVegGrower]

Cheers doll

[yekim_4321]

Shame i didn't live closer would have loved to give you a hand....i dont mind the shovelling and barrowing to and fro...good luck with the heavy stuff

Oh and don't forget WE WANT PICS

[OverWyreGrower]

We took off the top inch or so of soil, put in ground anchor plates, then built raised beds. Our soil is weed-ridden (docks and couch grass) so we felt it best to get rid...

Beds are filled with a mix of manure and topsoil.... as the manure rots down, we put more in every year to improve the soil...

[taff]

the ones in the tunnel I was growing in were the depth of railway sleepers, tall side up. He'd put weed suppressant down, then dumped a load of clay soi on top. They weren't completely full either, probably a couple of inches below the top.

[VirginVegGrower]

Taff - my railway sleepers are only about eight inches or so. That little soil? The ground underneath has roots and clay spread all over it. I could do with covering it up with membrane, if only to forget it exists. I know it will be worth it in the end but jeez it's enough to break that camels back. On the upside Mr VVG is over his walking away from it phase and is still out there. He's now planning brick paths and raised beds made out of all those bricks, for outside the poly. I guess I should be pleased.
Photos go on Twitter as I find it easier. I'll try to pop some on here.
OWG - there is no soil - it was twelve inches of Tarmac, hardcore and bricks. If we'd known it would have been raised beds all the way...hindsight!
Yekim - please come on down. There's still three tonnes to shift and hundreds of bricks...

[taff]

yes, that little
he's just taken part of a field and laid weed stuff straight down on the grass

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ear-sorted.jpg

[VirginVegGrower]

Crikey, what crops can you grow in such little depth? I wanted to plant either a fig or a vine in there up one end, leaving the two sides for veg growing. I figured I needed 18" to plant fruit into, which kind of set the scene for digging the hard standing up. I knew the soil underneath would be poor, but didn't bank on no soil, just pure orange clay and old root.
Don't suppose you know where I can get hold of membrane do you?

[taff]

ebay? or do double or triple layers of cardboard...
This is what it looked like the first year [didn't take pics the second year]


there are chillies, cucumbers, butternuts, tomatoes, beetroot, strrawberries, we didn't do root veg like carrots or parsnips though. There was enough room, but we just grew other stuff.
The soil was clay based though, and the top two beds were just manure, and a few inches of soil because there wasn't enough to fill all of them.
If you want to plant a fig/vine, you could always dig down in two places for those, and leave the rest as it is, and build up as you go.

[VirginVegGrower]

Thanks Taff, that's great, given me more of an idea. I don't think I will want to grow root crops in
Mine either. Digging in those areas for fruit is a much better idea and cardboard I can get from the bike shop - thank you

[OverWyreGrower]

Our beds are 3 bricks high... we had an excess of used bricks (over 5000 of them....) so it seemed like the ideal thing to build from. They're not fixed together though, which means I can always move stuff around etc....

I had thought of making some parts a few bricks higher, so I could grow carrots in there....