top soil vs compost for new beds

[queen of the cobs]

I've dug out a couple of new beds and topped up with a mixture of home made compost and a little bit of topsoil. They need some more topping up before I plant out in them, and I'll need to buy something - I wondered if people had any preferences between shop bought multi-purpose compost (presumably enriched for new growth) and topsoil?

I've been taking some strawberries on runners into pots from another bed and am going to plant them out in the new bed. I was going to leave the new plants in the pots over winter but someone on my plot suggested planting them out now, so am keen to finish the bed before I do.

And should I add some well-rotted manure/leafmould too?

[Aberdeenplotter]

Manure/leafmould for me is a definite yes and of course that will also bulk up the contents of the bed. Again, for me, I'd use topsoil especially if you can get yuour hands on it without payment although compost will work perfectly fine.

[Two_Sheds]

I wouldn't plant straight away, myself. The level is likely to drop a bit and your strawbs will be lower down that you want them, I'm thinking.

I'd keep the strawbs in pots sunk in the soil, then planted out properly in April once you're happy with your level

[Two_Sheds]

Oh, and because I'm tight, I wouldn't buy anything. I made our school beds this time last year from rubbish: newspapers, coffee grounds, autumn leaves, homemade compost

Oct '10 bed under construction
layered with newspaper
planted up in April '11


This bed has sunk by half over the summer, so I'm topping it up with homemade compost when the beans come out

we didn't have enough compost to fill this bed, so the lettuces were put directly in the (poor) soil. Nothing has done well in this one, no surprise there, so I'm now filling it with compost ready for winter onions

[oldie]

I'm very wary of topsoil from any source as the stuff I bought came with onion white rot. Go for the lasagne bed method.

[Two_Sheds]

Go for the lasagne bed method.

I'd not done it before, but faced with a topsoil quote of £100 for each small bed, it was a no-brainer

[taff]

I'm with TS, use as many freebies as you can.
If you're impatient though, and you can spare the cash, I'd go for a mix heavier on the topsoil than shop bought compost, just because it's a bugger to wet thoroughly if it dries out, and raised beds do dry out faster.
Don't forget to find something about the place to mulch it in dry weather too.

[Florence Fennel]

I like the lasagne method, but like Taff says if you have the cash it's worth erring on the topsoil, especially if you're planting things like brassicas (sprouts, cabbage and caulie) as they need to be really firm in the ground and you can't get the desired effect with compost alone.

[Thelma Sanders]

I'd go for the top-soil as well if you have the dosh to buy the bagged up stuff.
Multipurp settles to dust within a few months ;(

[queen of the cobs]

all very helpful advice, many thanks!

I shall endeavour to fill with all my own various home made soil improvers and composts, and to wait till next year to plant out.

I was worrying I'd left it too late to plant into them anyway, so good to have a suggestion of watiign to let them drop.

[scarletrunner]

Oh, and because I'm tight, I wouldn't buy anything. I made our school beds this time last year from rubbish: newspapers, coffee grounds, autumn leaves, homemade compost

Oct '10 bed under construction
layered with newspaper
planted up in April '11


This bed has sunk by half over the summer, so I'm topping it up with homemade compost when the beans come out

we didn't have enough compost to fill this bed, so the lettuces were put directly in the (poor) soil. Nothing has done well in this one, no surprise there, so I'm now filling it with compost ready for winter onions

.This method would also give a more productive end result.

[Two_Sheds]

topsoil, especially if you're planting things like brassicas

I should have added, we grew some jolly good cabbages & chard in those lasagne raised beds