An other question about no dig

[rary]

One of my raised beds, which stands 30inch. high by 42in. wide 6ft. long is against a fence, was planted with potatoes (which I lift by digging) when I started to lift my potatoes I had great difficulty getting the fork out of the ground,( the tatties were huge,) but the cause was roots from near by trees, directly behind the fence, now if I continue with the no dig the bed will be full of tree roots, so how do I cope with that, my main bed is on concrete because of the tree roots, but I am not fit enough to empty this bed and fit a barrier, so I am looking for suggestions on what to do

[veggiechicken]

in my opinion, you have to be realistic about "no dig". It doesn't mean that you never again use a fork or spade as there are times when you have to dig things out - like tree roots, rocks, deep rooted weeds like dock and hogweed, and to plant trees and shrubs. I do all of that but I don't dig beds over annually as a matter of routine.

[burnie]

Those roots will take moisture and food from the bed, they have to be removed if you are going to have long term success, can you sever them from outside the bed rather than trying to dig live roots out?

[rary]

Thanks Burnie, but no I couldn't sever them as the bed is against the fence, the bed beside this one has a trampoline mat below it and that seems to be keeping the roots out, so I may have to clear the bed out completely and start again, I am now wondering if my grandsons would notice if I took mat away, I would leave the springs

[Mr Bones]

Could you save that bed for shallow rooted crops Rary and grow spuds in bags.

[SelkirkAlex]

Probably a daft question, but are the roots thin enough to be dealt with by decent rotivator? maybe a hired rotivator once every 5 years or so would make it liveable?

[Thelma Sanders]

Trouble with roots, in my experience, is that cutting them and digging them out - only works for a little while. You have root pruned them and they seem to grow back with a vengeance.
I think you'd be better off digging out the bed, filling it with big pots (use the earth you have dug out)and growing in those.

[lottie dolly]

Sounds like a rebuild job lad,have you the space to make 2 or3 shallower if not smaller ones,so this will be easier for the future,would the little darlings like to help granddad,

what roots are they from

[Penellype]

I can appreciate your problem, Rary, as I have a very similar one with my veg garden bed and I'm currently trying to decide what to do with it. Originally it was patio, which was taken up around 4 years ago and the sandy underneath was mulched with a thick layer of compost, some of which was dug into the lower sandy layer. It drains very quickly and the first couple of years it grew superb onions, courgettes, peas and tomatoes. But it is only 3ft from a probably 10ft high leylandii hedge, and now quite clearly the bed is full of tree roots. Most of the crops I grew in it last year were poor and despite adding more compost this year's were little better. The current surface of the soil is about a foot higher than the base of the tree trunks, so the roots are clearly growing upwards to get at the nutrients and water. I daren't cut the roots too much for fear of killing the trees, which are not mine and would be irreplaceable on any sensible timescale.

One end of the bed meets a wooden fence, and the current soil level is upto the top of the concrete gravel board. If I build the bed up against the wooden fence panel it will soon rot. My DIY skills are limited to assembling simple pre-made kits that do not require a drill. I also need good access to the hedge in order to cut it from a step ladder, hence the 3ft wide path. I don't really want to raise the soil level any higher - it is already a good 4 inches higher than anything other than the path, as was the old patio. I think a higher raised bed would look odd from the house as there would be pots behind it on the path, and it would make moving stuff around for hedge cutting much harder. The bed is 30 inches wide, which is not a standard size for pre-made raised beds in any case.

I'm currently using it as a surface to put pots and buckets of veg on, which seems a waste somehow. Suggestions (drill free and bearing in mind that I am a 58 year old female with no access to help of any kind!) welcome.

The bed, path and hedge on 1st September:

[veggiechicken]

I think you'd be better off digging out the bed, filling it with big pots (use the earth you have dug out)and growing in those.

That's what I've done ready for next year.
I planted spuds in the old chicken run which is completely overshadowed by next door's trees. I knew it was full of roots when I planted them but it was an experiment
The spuds grew well but digging them out was difficult so I turned to Plan B - filling buckets with the dug out soil. These are now ready to be planted with next year's spuds or carrots.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Trouble with roots, in my experience, is that cutting them and digging them out - only works for a little while. You have root pruned them and they seem to grow back with a vengeance.
I think you'd be better off digging out the bed, filling it with big pots (use the earth you have dug out)and growing in those.

In total agreance with Thelma on this one Rary!

Could you not set it up as an herb bed? Something simalar to this?



That way you can control the growing media for each pot and interplant with various shallow rooted plants such as onions, spring onions, radish and a variety of lettuce.

An idea I am toying with for next year!

[Snoop Puss]

I know it's not what you want to do with the bed, Rary, but might it be worth making life easy for yourself by turning it into a rockery?

[vixylix]

If you don't want to remove the roots, I'd be tempted to use the bed for shallow rooted veg that don't really need digging up - peas, salads, radishes etc. Ideally things that won't be too concerned about nutrients being leached by the tree roots

[ESBkevin]

Trouble with nature is that when you give ideal growing conditions something wants to invade the space and grow there!

Some kind of lining may help, removal of the offending trees is a favourite but the neighbours may not approve ;-)

I was once told that hiding a copper nail or two low down in a tree trunk would cause it long term health problems but I wouldn't know for sure.

[Penellype]

I don't want to lose the trees though - I value my privacy.

Thinking of the possibility of using one of the layers of one of my raised beds to create a temporary raised bed (filled with horse muck) for onions next year. I will lose area though as the bed is only 20 inches wide whereas the soil area is 30 inches. Maybe the extra 10 inches would take a row of peas or beetroot (or just some smaller onions) not sure.