Topic: Top Soil question - very basic

[dirtyfingernails]

finally got some scaffolding boards to make raised beds and persuade OH to take a day off golf to help make them (and have marked the date on the calendar so no chance he's getting out of it!) - only thing is they seem very deep (probably about 8-10") which makes me think the poor seeds won't get much light - I've had a look by searching on this site about what to fill them with (straw, cardboard, compost, stuff dug from the paths) but at some stage I'm going to need quite a bit of soil - is it ok in allotment etiquette to get top soil delivered? anyone have any other ideas on filling them?

thanks!

[agapanthus]

My raised beds are quite high and I too was a bit worried that the soil level was a bit low. I double dug the beds which raises the level quite a bit and then if you add manure, or whatever you are thinking of using ...that raises it more. It's only my second year on this lottie field but most of the beds ( the manured ones) have seemed to be more raised. Obviously not standing on the beds helps :)

[growmore]

I agree with agapanthus Your beds will soon raise up. As  for topsoil.I Cant see it being against etiquette .But  will the  imported soil contain club root, White rot or any other nasties.. I don't  think I would like to import unknown soil on to my lotty..
What does the others think? ...   Cheers Jim...

[delboy]

Have only had my plots under a year, and because of flooding at one end I have had to put in raised beds(used a mix of timber and railway sleepers) to give roots a chance.

I took out paths round the raised beds until I reached clay subsoil, added horse manure and straw on some but not on others and planted away. Levels were about 8" above ground level.

Courgettes went barmy in the manured beds and we were glutted out. And carrots loved the dug over soil. The higher up the carrots go, the better the chance of avoiding carrot fly..

[TEL]

On my Lottie site we are not aloud to take away or bring on soil.
Why i don't know. ???

[Columbus]

Hi all,

If it were clean, ie not used for veg and preferably just lawn that someone was digging up I would gladly take it. I`d need to know its history because of the risk of importing soil diseases. I might quarentine it in a heap for a while. I need to build up my soil depth and have to consider all opportunities. Bought in top soil used at road building projects seems to contain rape oil seed which is spreading on all the verges here.

col

[Gardenantics]

If you have a heavy soil, then a few bags of river sand from the builders merchant would help a bit.

Brian

[glow777]

Using the soil from the paths will make a significant difference in height.  And as you wont be walking on the soil it wont be getting pushed down as much.

As for the shadows I inherited a bed like this and it didn't seem too much of a problem, just don't plant directly up to the edge. If you are still worried plan your planting so that seeds are raised elsewhere and transplanted near the edging.

Ian

[jennym]

I used soil dug out when I made my ditches. In the first year, I did mix in some topsoil and very cheap B&Q multipurpose compost in one raised bed, just so I could grow something (the base soil was very heavy clay with little topsoil at all). By the end of the first year though, had accumulated plenty of kitchen waste and horse muck in a compost heap and so used that the following season and have never brought in soil since.

[kenkew]

Creating new raised beds does take a season or two unless you have lots of soil/compost to fill it with. Good ideas already mentioned here. I raised mine by adding 'legal' recycled waste from the council. Coarse sand will certainly bulk it up and helps a heck of a lot to stop clay soil binding.
The one and only draw-back I experience is that slugs love to hide and lay their eggs in the beds right up to the wooden sides so its an idea to leave a non growing gap of a few inches there and to run a hoe or such like right up to that edge now and then to flush 'em out.

[dandelion]

very cheap B&Q multipurpose compost [/i]

How cheap Jenny?
For my garden I've been buying 3 x 80 litre bags for £10 from Wyevale, but I'm looking for cheaper compost for my allotment. It needs to come in bags though...

[supersprout]

Slug heaven is why I don't put edges on me beds kenkew, they are all just raised up. Also I discovered I had made them a little too wide for my sproutly reach (at 1m 25), so have reduced their width to 1m (and widened the paths) which would have been murder if they had had edges. No edges seems to work well with no-dig cos the soil stays put better, like cake.

[Curryandchips]

Ah Dandelion, the cheapest time to buy compost is out of season, then the price drops as the stores clear the space for other products. My neighbour bought a lot of bags this way, at about half of your Wyevale price.

[Larkspur]

Dandelion, B&Q have offers on various bagged composts and manures at the moment though I can't quote prices off the top of my head. Might be worth checking? As Curry says these are their last seasons stocks.

[dirtyfingernails]

thanks for all the ideas! - I've been in touch with the allotment assoc and they say it's fine to have top soil delivered - but you've inspired me to dig out the paths, double dig and add manure and sand before going down that route - I don't want to import any problems onto the site plus it kind of fits in with the whole "do it as cheap as possible" thing that I'm trying to achieve

btw - just been to B&Q's website and they don't have any compost at all!

[anneski]

B & Q's website is pants, and never has half the stuff that the stores do. You need to go in and look, I've found.

[stuffed]

Yeah I went to look on the website and all it could say was that stores stock that sort of thing. I don't mind them not selling it on the net but it would do their buisness nothing but good to let people see what they can get in store.
I have just got a wickes booklet through and it says they have an offer for 4x80 litre multipurpose compost for £10.

[John_H]

I wouldn’t bother with extra soil if I were you, concentrate on things you can collect or scrounge to make your own compost. One of the people on our plots has a very nice arrangement with a commercial grass cutting firm. He lets me have wheel barrows of the stuff, which I mix with straw, veg clippings and lime and let it rot down.

Try and do a deal for your neighbours garden and kitchen waste,  (check the garden stuff hasn’t been sprayed with anything first) and mix it with the contents of any window boxes or dead house plants, leaves, a bit of lime, let it rot down and then chuck it in the beds . They will soon fill up with what plants like best.

If you are growing leaf veg, beans, tomatoes,  you can cut them off at the stem and leave the roots in the ground, it all helps fill the bed up.