Raised bed

[Spunky]

Just found some timber on top of my garage so I'm going to have a pop at building a raised bed
Has anyone got any advice on what to fill it with? I was going to fill it with compost but remember reading somewhere it dries out easy and you should use top soil too, just a bit confused about what goes where many thanks

[briggsy2011]

I dug over the soil that my raised bed was going on, added compost and manure (all bought from b and q) I then dug it all in to mixed it up. I did this will all 3 of my raised beds and my veg all grew well. I will be doing it again this season and for my 4th bed.

hope this helps. happy growing x

[Spunky]

Thanks, do you have to dig in to the old soil I was going to lay a weed barrier down also what proportion manure to compost?

[Two_Sheds]

Loosen the soil, yes, by forking it over: better for drainage.

I used flattened cardboard boxes at the base of mine, straight over the weeds, then lots of top soil & garden compost, topped off with the soil from molehills (nice & clean & crumbly). No MPC at all, it's too dry and fluffy

[Spunky]

Thanks does it matter too much with ratios or just get it in there

[cazp]

Hi. Had a similar dilemma a few months ago - there was not enought good quality soil in my own garden to utilise so had no choice but to buy.

I bought a bulk bag of topsoil specially for raised beds which felt to me as if it has a higher ratio of topsoil than compost, really fine and I have not had a weed problem. I ran out of the bulk stuff and topped up the beds with a mix of Westland Organic vegetable compost and Westland topsoil - see their link about raised beds:

Growing Fruit And Veg In Raised Beds - Growmore | Garden Health

I was mindful of getting stuff from reputable screened sources as I didnt want to ruin everything with diseases or troublesome weeds.

[Two_Sheds]

I'd just like to add that I didn't pay a penny to fill any of the school's raised beds: but it does take a bit of elbow grease & time to do it the "lasagne" way.

I have about 40 sacks of autumn leaves rotting down to top them up with: there'll be a few weed seeds in there, mostly dead nettles, but they're easily pulled out

[Spunky]

Thanks cazp cheers for the info and advice