Council compost and raised bed

[swansea girl]

Hi all
I am a total newbie to GYO (well gardening of any sort if I'm completely honest) and I'm sure I'll be here asking for advice and help quite often but anyway problem number 1...

I am building a raised bed it will be about 30 inches high at one end and about half that the other (ruddy slope! ) and about 12 feet long by about 4 feet.My problem is how to fill it without it costing a fortune so was wondering what do you think of compost made by the local councils as this is free and also do I need anything else in there stones sand etc

Cant wait to hear from you

[Bigmallly]

Welcome to the vine SG, I don't envy you having to fill a bed of that size. Does it have to be that high or can it be lowered by half........If you can get council compost for nowt, bite their hands off.

[chris]

I filled 3 beds of that size recently, took 2.5 tonnes of soil/compost if that helps any :/

I dug down quite a way mind, I think 3 odd foot - I had extra bags of compost and top soil that I'd bought from the shops too. I turned out to be all rubbish, so I had to go and buy more.. It wasn't cheap, but at the end of the day it's worth it, eh?

It seems you're local to me - the company I used based in Bridgend were called GSL Turf Suppliers - whilst they were cheap, their soil/compost mix was full of rubbish, plastic, car number plates, glass, slate, etc - really really bad, so please don;'t use them.

If you can't afford to fill it in one go, can you fill half now, and then slowly, half later?

If you can get a van up to my house (Caerphilly) you're welcome to take some (I've prob around 2 tonnes left) of the soil that I had delivered (I got most of the cr@p out of it) bar the stones, to bulk it up from the bottom, and then put some better stuff on top. I plan on using it to either give away, or bulk up large beds/holes I dig for fruit trees.

[swansea girl]

Thanks for your quick reply
Unfortunately it does have to be that high,I wont bore you with the details and I don't think I'd be able to explain it very well anyway.

As its going to be used for veg was a bit worried about the quality of council made compost or if there would be any nasties in it,was hoping that I would get the all clear from everyone on here

[swansea girl]

Ooh thanks for the heads up Chrismarks and thanks for the offer but I dont drive and wouldn't really trust my old da' with a van lol
I suppose I could half fill (don't know why I didn't think of that before )

If I do use council compost would I need to add anything else?

[chris]

Do you have any other soil you can dig in to it? I dont see why it wouldn't be suitable... best bet would be to phone them and ask if it's suitable for growing veg in.

Local timer merchant by me does mushroom compost (spent I believe) @ £25/cubic metre if I'm not mistaken - so roughly a tonne.

Looking at: Turf, Topsoil, Bark, Compost, Soil Improver & Topdressing Calculator and How to Measure your Lawn you'll see you'd need 2 cubic meter bags if you went that route.

You could also give jewsons a bell, as they supply rowlawn soil (blended loam is their product - it's amazing and ideal for growing veg in). I got at quote at £64/cubic meter bag, there was a delivery charge on top , but not sure what that was... I went the cheap route, and ended up forking out a lot more trying to correct it.

so to summarise I'd give the council a bell, if not, do some phoning around for some soil (you can alwyas dig in compost/other organic matter/soil improvers) that's suitable for growing veg in... or, dig someones garden up and nick their soil (as that crossed my mind also!)

[oldie]

There's nothing nasty in the council compost as it is done at such a high temperature. I have used it but only to dig in as a soil improver not as a straight MPC. If you don't mix it well with other stuff you may find that in hot, dry weather it bakes hard on top.

[ginger ninger]

I've used council compost and found it to be good quality stuff..much better than some of the named MPC brands that cost a lot of money, if you can get your hands on some it's well worth using, you don't have to fill all your bed up with it, don't forget to save your raw veg peelings (if you don't compost them) in a big bucket and throw those in as well, if you know anyone who can let you have some well rotted horse poo dig lots of that in that will help retain water. My raised bed has broken up house brick's in the bottom to help with drainage. Good Luck with it.

[Happy Horticulturalist]

...what do you think of compost made by the local councils as this is free and also do I need anything else in there stones sand etc...

Hi

I'm new to GYO and this forum too but I also live in Swansea. I know the council did do free compost at the Llansamlet rubbish tip but this has now moved to the Ty John rubbish tip. I have been warned that they might get funny if you 'take too much'.

I'm gonna put my name down for an allotment too but apparently the waiting list is 2 years long!

[swansea girl]

Thanks for all your advice
think I'm going to do a mixture of everything,have spent today digging up what can only be described as a trench at the back of the garden and sieved it well so that will fill quite a bit (couldn't believe what was in there!) also now have quite a few bits of house bricks too put in the bottom.
Have just asked asked everyone to keep veg peelings in exchange for some of what ever I manage to grow
Glad to hear there's no nasties,had visions of no veg but plenty of things that are hard to get rid of
Thanks Happy Horticulturalist was going to send my dad to llansamlet tomorrow so I now need to work on getting him to take a trip to Ty John,well maybe a few trips if they get funny.
I'll let you know how I get on.Raised bed is being built tomorrow hopefully,cant wait!!!

[northepaul]

I wish our council gave away their compost!!
Costs £3 for a 33L bag!

[Mikey]

Hi swansea girl, whereabout in swansea are they offering free compost. I pass through that way most weekends on the way to the Outlaws. Our site has a local guy who drops off about 10 buckets of neat horse manure every couple of weeks, but working for a living means I'm never there to get it. I liken my fellow plotholders to dung beetles, not in a nasty way but within 10 minutes of it being dropped they are there with their barrows transporting it away!!

BCBC don't run a similar scheme near me, and you can never have enough compost well I can't anyway the clay on my plot makes digging a right mare.

[swansea girl]

I wish our council gave away their compost!!
Costs £3 for a 33L bag!

[swansea girl]

Hi Mikeywills
free at Tir John Community Recycling Site,Danygraig Road,St Thomas although you will have to pretend to be a Swansea resident

[oldie]

£2.50 for 50L here.