Filling raised beds?

[Corris]

I have two new raised beds - they are fairly big too - where I have taken out the footings from the greenhouse that was removed before we moved in.

They are on the 'patio' part of the house, and will become herb gardens I think, and grow quickly/near the house type beds.

But they are flat - not raised.

I've put the wood around them (for 'I' read OH) - added two bags of composted manure and the contents of one huge black dalek - and still they are flat (they are around 3.6 metres by about a metre each).

How do I make them full like Monty's?

The soil here is clay, and heavy. And there weren't many worms in it when we dug it over, but then it was under a greenhouse and is surrounded by concrete - I'm sure they will find their way in though (the manure was full of them).

[arpoet]

I am building raised beds in my back garden using recycled wood. These are large and deep and i am putting rubble in the bottoms followed by a couple of foot of cut up twigs and branches etc, then a layer of old sacks, then shreaded paper, spent hops and spent mushroom compost. Next spring i will get some topsoil and MPC and mix it for the growing medium.
Roger

[chris]

There's various ways to do it as roger says.. (few threads on it too!), you can go down the lasagne route (veg peelings, cardboard, veg peelings, etc - it'll eventually rot down - though doesn't look pretty (but, it is winter )). Buy in some topsoil/comp/mix of the two (expensive, I did this - wish I hadn't it was terrible), I then dug all that out, and replaced it with bags of compost, top soil, soil improver when on special offer.

It doesn't have to be full from the start, you'll find you have spent compost when you're other potted plants/veg/beds are done too. Don't go all compost though, when it dries out (which it'll do reasonably fast) it will shrink and not look nice

[Polly Fouracre]

Do be careful if you buy in top-soil! I ordered some to fill my five 12ft x 3ft 6in. beds so calculated I would need a lot. Yes, I could have a load delivered, would one load be enough? One for now and then when I've used it up I'll order some more.
Well, I went off to do the animals and the haulier 'phoned me. He was at my house with the top-soil, Should he tip it in the drive? Yes, said I, thinking I would barrow that load up the drive, through the garage and into the garden that morning and then calculate how many more loads I would need.
I was thinking of a load of top-soil being the size of a load of logs, but..................... I got home to find that a load consisted of SEVENTEEN TONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It took both of us plus dear, kind neighbours, seven of them two days to barrow it up, fill the beds and stack the remaining mountain in the garden and even after topping up the beds when they settled there is still loads.............anyone wanting top-soil, come and help yourselves!

[Two_Sheds]

I have two new raised beds - ...They are on the 'patio' ... they are flat - not raised.

I just can't picture it. Can you post a photo Corris? When you say "flat", do you mean shallow? Is the soil you have only a couple of inches deep, is that what you mean? (sorry, it is early for me)

Are they on concrete (the patio) or on the soil?

[Florence Fennel]

Can't add to what the others have said, apart from do make sure you use more than bagged compost. I did that in the first bed I made. It dries out and sinks really quickly.

Polly could you put your location into your profile please? We can't come and help ourselves if we don't know where you are!

[taff]

the worms in the manure are probably the tiger worms, little red ones, not earthworms. You don't need raised beds, call them edged beds for now [that's what mine are, they've become fuller over the last 3 years, but still not raised beds - photos on my profile for info].....If you have a reasonable depth of soil and stuff to grow in, say 6 inches or so, that's enough for most plants, you don't need to fill to the top of the edging.
If you throw on what compost you make every year, they will fill up slowly. Clay soil is fab anyway, unless it's pure clay, loads of nutrients, but it does crack in dry weather, so it could do with a lot of mulch too [I have clay too]

[Polly Fouracre]

Top-soil

Can't add to what the others have said, apart from do make sure you use more than bagged compost. I did that in the first bed I made. It dries out and sinks really quickly.

Polly could you put your location into your profile please? We can't come and help ourselves if we don't know where you are!

Near Newton Abbot in Devon. Bring bags, bring a trailer. I'll help you load, I'll make you a cup of coffee. If I know you're coming I'll bake a cake

[dave_norm_smith]

If you can drop a trailer full in Doncaster I'll make you the cake! Pity your not closer.

[BUFFS]

as polly fouracre says,find out how much is in a load ,some years ago i wanted to improve my soil and ordered a load,when i got back from some seed buying i found a rather big load on the drive and my wife on the drive nearly in tears,she asked the man why so much and he said i had asked for a good load,i had, but 30 tonnes,6/8ft high and the length of the drive...started early next morning and barrowed it all thru to the back,i actually lost count somewhere near 200 barrowfuls and finished 11.15 that night and slept for nearly a day afterwards,and in those days i was young and energetic,never again,i now always want to know exactly how much stuff weighs,i was lucky that i wanted to build up the levels in the back,but i hadnt planned on 3ft across the whole area,all at once,but as the wife said,i did ask for a good load and that just what i got,and it was very good topsoil too,so i had to bite my tongue,learn my lesson and get the barrow out...and wear a path out of the slabs leading to the back..and what kept running thru my mind,over and over again ?..."stupid boy pike"...

[Zenithtb]

Having recently built one (loads of views, not one reply ) I can say what I did;

• Lots of rubble
• Normal (bad, dust) Spanish soil on top
• Add loads of weeds, dead plants, whatever you have
• Add a large bucket of compost (real, not bagged) into a cement mixer, then shovel in 'bad' soil until full
• Repeat (again and again) and add this to the top

I have high hopes anything I put in this will grow well

[scarletrunner]

Having recently built one (loads of views, not one reply ) I can say what I did;

• Lots of rubble
• Normal (bad, dust) Spanish soil on top
• Add loads of weeds, dead plants, whatever you have
• Add a large bucket of compost (real, not bagged) into a cement mixer, then shovel in 'bad' soil until full
• Repeat (again and again) and add this to the top

I have high hopes anything I put in this will grow well

Like the cement mixer idea.

[Polly Fouracre]

Having recently built one (loads of views, not one reply ) I can say what I did;

• Lots of rubble
• Normal (bad, dust) Spanish soil on top
• Add loads of weeds, dead plants, whatever you have
• Add a large bucket of compost (real, not bagged) into a cement mixer, then shovel in 'bad' soil until full
• Repeat (again and again) and add this to the top

I have high hopes anything I put in this will grow well

Oh, come now, you're not that far from Devon!!

[Corris]

Sorry Twosheds - it was early for me too

We have at the back of the property a large concreted area - at the far end they had a huge greenhouse which they took with them, leaving me with the aluminium base and material on the floor. That has all gone leaving dirt, OH double digged it, it was fairly compacted - and then he put two beds (3.8 metres x 1 metre) with a path up the middle (not yet, it's still dirt!). So now I have the 'wooden outer' which is creocoted, but the dirt inside is fairly flat. It's lumpy because it's dug over, and I'vea dded some compost and some horse poop - but they are definitely NOT raised. It is a flat bed inside a wooden frame.

I wanted it to look like Monty's. All level with the wood - but didn't know what to do it with. And I'm too impatient for lasagne waiting - and my herbs are all in pots waiting!

And to add to my issues OH is buying me a polytunnel for christmas (I love him very much!) and he says I can have up to another 50 beds in our side garden if I want. SO I have to fill up a LOT if they are to be up to the top of the wood .......... perhaps I'll just have a big bed like my grandad did in the side gardens.

But these two are quite near the back door, and I thought I'd herb them up, and perhaps plant some radishes and things at the right time so they were near the house.

[susieq100]

Near Newton Abbot in Devon. Bring bags, bring a trailer. I'll help you load, I'll make you a cup of coffee. If I know you're coming I'll bake a cake

Polly - you made me laugh out loud! And Buffs - lovely stories and I feel your pain!