Author Topic: help with raised beds  (Read 3727 times)

mpdjulie

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help with raised beds
« on: July 24, 2008, 15:31:06 »
I have had an unsuccessful season growing my veg.  It's my first time and I've made a few mistakes which I have learned from.  This Summer, Autumn and Winter I am going to dig over all my allotment and build raised beds.  My allotment was previously covered in weeds and ALOT of brambles.  I am going to lay weed fabric and then cover that with bark chippings to form all my walkways.  What can I do to stop weeds and brambles growing back over other then weeding constantly in my raised beds? I was thinking maybe I could use some kind of weedkiller that would be non reactive by next spring time ready for sowing and planting again.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Fork

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Re: help with raised beds
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2008, 15:45:32 »
You need to dig out as much bramble as possible.It is very strong and wont take long to break through the membrane.

A possible weedkiller that may help you is called SBK,its for the tougher things like brambles etc.
You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends nose

mpdjulie

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Re: help with raised beds
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2008, 15:47:19 »
does SBK stand for anything in particular and where would i buy it from?

Sparkly

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Re: help with raised beds
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2008, 16:31:51 »
We took on an overgrown plot that was covered with bindweed and brambles.The brambles we managed to dig out. It was quite heavy work, but we have managed to get most of them. When a shoot appears I just dig it up and we have only had a few come through. The bindweed is another matter though!

This was what our plot was like originally:

http://bp2.blogger.com/_SXMv2XhorB4/R91f0acefEI/AAAAAAAAADg/E9PHowFa2p8/s1600-h/IMG_1698.jpg

This was the same area after we had dug out the brambles and as much of the bindweed we could find:

http://bp1.blogger.com/_qHKPzDEdq6c/SAdgKfP3CFI/AAAAAAAAAMM/loP6sRmJgl4/s1600-h/IMG_5680.jpg




Deb P

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Re: help with raised beds
« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2008, 16:57:25 »
Inspiring photos! ;D

If it's not pouring with rain, I'm either in the garden or at the lottie! Probably still there in the rain as well TBH....🥴

http://www.littleoverlaneallotments.org.uk

allaboutliverpool

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Re: help with raised beds
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2008, 22:17:31 »
Do not be too concerned about weeds.

The advice so far is correct (SPK is the brand name).
 
I found that because beds are compact, then weeding one at a time is easy. The paths can be controlled by going round once a month with Glyphosate (Round up). They soon give up.

I did not bother with membrane, but put the chips straight on the ground.

You can see it on

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments1_homepage.html

naff

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Re: help with raised beds
« Reply #6 on: July 24, 2008, 23:23:55 »
Dig them the way I did mine at home, it,s hard work but you only do it once!!
First decide the size , the idea is that you can work on them from all four sides without walking on them.
I make mine to suit B+Q gravel boards which are 2.4 mtrs long (8 ft) and 1.2 mtrs wide (4ft).
Mark out the area and dig as deep as deep as you can, remove the soil and place to one side.
Line the base with double thickness membrane or Geotex, fit the frame and line the sides again with membrane or Geotex. Tack or staple the side lining to the framework.
Now thew hard work!! Seive the soil, I use a homemade seive made with 20mm weldmesh and cover the base with three good barrowloads. Follow these with compost or manure to the same quantity.
Repeat until within 100mm of the frame top. Using a fork , mix by "corkscrewing" vertically. Finish with seived soil to as great a height above the frame as you can manage. If you wish you can mix pelleted
chicken or farmyard manure into this layer.
Water it well!!
Leave for a week to settle (it will) then rake and sow/plant.
Doing it this way means that for three years you do not need to do any thing but weed and feed.
If like most of us you can,t leave it alone, you can only improve the bed by adding more and more organic material.
Because you have the depth of cultivation crops can be sown and grown at much closer spacings.Carrots are sown very close (I allow about 40mm between seeds, and take my time doing it!!)
Parsnips, Onions,Leeks,Beetroot,Shallots,Garlic all perform well in a bed of this type. Brassicas also do well but I,ve found that the Italian varieties do best here ( N Wales), they do however grow tall.
Beds this size are also easy to protect with nets against Cabbage White, I use fleece to protect against Carrot Fly.
You really can,t go wrong with this type of growing as long as you get the depth in the beds,mine are all about 600mm deep (2ft) and it,s really worth the effort to do it right from the start.
Once prepared, weeds pull out far more quicker than your crops will !!
Hope this helps.

 

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