is 3 tonnes of topsoil a lot?

[ckfe]

I agree with Hazel, take the turf off and stack it to rot down. My OH digs a spade or 2 deep then adds chicken pellets then in goes the topsoil and yes 1/2 tonne should do a bed that size depending on the depth. 3 tonnes did 5 raised beds for us which in area are about the same as 4 beds the size of yours.
We tend to get our topsoil delivered to our drive and then have to barrow it round to the back. It looks like hard work, luckily OH does it all

so do i need to take a spades worth of soil out? with the grass on top and then stack it

or do i just skim a bit of turf off and then dig over the rest?

[Incy]

You can see our raised beds here. OH made them by attaching a piece of 2x2 on the inside of each corner which gives extra stability and makes the planks easier to attach to each other.
Good luck!

Oh and you can buy chicken pellets, ours came from a garden association shop but I would have thought a GC would have them too, possibly even somewhere like B&Q. Be warned though, if left uncovered your garden will have a good ol country smell about it

Just take the turf off and stack, then dig over the area to be filled to loosen the soil to a depth of 1 or 2 spades worth.

[Hazel at the Hill]

can you buy chicken pellets or do you have to have chickens? sorry if that sounds a bit dumb

You can buy tubs of pelletted chicken manure at the garden centre/wilko

just tried finding bilbowaggins blog but it says she doesn't have one

Here we go the view from bag end

[Hazel at the Hill]

so do i need to take a spades worth of soil out? with the grass on top and then stack it

or do i just skim a bit of turf off and then dig over the rest?

I'd just skim the turf off (about 1-2") - I think it comes away fairly easily (not that I've done it myself!) - just 'chomp' down with the spade in a square shape then scoop flatways under the turf, and hey presto, a turf of grass.

[ckfe]

wow those beds are awesome!!.. thanks for all your advice guys, i'm off outside now to start digging!!

[sweetiepea]

Take the turf layer off - a couple of inches or so should be ok. Then dig over the ground under it, adding manure if you can get it. Half a ton sounds about right. I have raised beds at home, but used my own top soil, compost and manure to fill them. We built beds at DS school in March and each of those took approx. 1 ton, but they are bigger and about 20cm deep (very poor ground).

[gadgetman]

You can buy tubs of pelletted chicken manure at the garden centre/wilko

Wyevale have an offer on one 10kg tub, get another (or bonemeal etc) 1/2 price. Bout £8 a pop IIRC.

[ckfe]

dug the raised bed yesterday and got the chicken pellets, it says to put them in 7-10 days before planting but i'm too impatient.. would it be alright to plant straight away? i'm going to put the pellets near the bottom then fill the bed up with topsoil

[Flummery]

I sometimes do! But then, I'm a naughty gardener!

[ckfe]

I sometimes do! But then, I'm a naughty gardener!

and does it do any harm to the veggies? .. also the topsoil i got last night has got some old (and hopefully dead weeds in it).. will i have to sieve it all???

[Hazel at the Hill]

The chicken pellets are supposed to be in the ground a bit so that they don't burn your plants (on contact) - but by the time you've planted up the bed and the roots have grown down, the pellets will have calmed down a bit (sorry, not well put!)

Don't worry about weeds in the top soil (unless they are really big long ones that you can pick out - you'll get them anyway, whether you seive or not!

[ckfe]

thank god for that, didn't really fancy sieving half a ton of topsoil!!

i've put some blood, fish and whatever else it's called fertilizer in the raised bed as well so the chicken pellets will go on top of that, does it matter that there'll be a combination? again there'll be about 5 inches of topsoil on top of it all

[Hazel at the Hill]

Sounds good to me - don't go too mad with the feed, only the amount it says on the packet.

What are you planning to put in the bed?

[ckfe]

not thought that far ahead to be honest.. prob caulis, lettuce, broccoli, spring onions, few radishes.. have you got any other suggestions?

[Hazel at the Hill]

not thought that far ahead to be honest.. prob caulis, lettuce, broccoli, spring onions, few radishes.. have you got any other suggestions?

Whatever you like to eat!

It's getting on in the season for some things from seed (like parsnips), but the garden centres are full of young plants at the mo.

Having said that, you'll be fine to sow lettuce, radish, french beans, carrots, early peas, turnip - and more - from seed.