Topic: How high to fill raised beds

[George the Pigman]

I now have my 4ft by 8ft by 6inch high raised beds in situ and need to fill them. They are parked directly on the allotment soil.
How deep should I fill them bearing in mind I will be adding more soil/compost over time and they are already on decent allotment soil?

[Plot22]

Over the years I have made my wife several raised beds one running the entire length of the bottom of our garden at home and then two more that she wanted in the centre of the garden. I started planning how to fill them months before I built them. Bearing in mind that our allotment is a mile away from where we live. I saved all my compost bags the previous season so I could transport the stuff. First we saved all the leaves from the 6 sycamore that are in the garden then I added bag after bag of composted cow muck and finally we emptied both pallet size compost bins and transported that as well. The following year we again added cow muck and some more compost because it does settle down quite dramatically. Just a tip I laid all the raised beds on hardcore and lined them inside and at the bottom with supermarket type banners. Having done all that I had to replace the ones at the bottom of the garden after 10 years because the old ones had rotted.

[BarriedaleNick]

If you fill them to the top then as mentioned above they will settle down by 2 or 3 inches over the year so you can add more muck anyway...
That reminds me - time for another trip to the stables!

[Paulh]

How high to fill the raised beds?

Not too much, so that you don't overspend on soil and compost,

Not too little, so that the soil depth isn't adequate.

In other words, just the right amount or the Goldilocks solution.

Never let it be said that I'm not trying to be helpful.

[Deb P]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U2vxgPyTrs8&t=0s

https://youtu.be/qiynadxrrPE

Great link from an Australian ‘Self sufficient me’ site about making and filling raised beds….

[Plot22]

I looked at the video nice amiable bloke with huge raised beds particularly in height. He filled the bottom with tree off cuts which will take decades to rot down but they went some way to filling the bed. The cow manure looked particularly dried out. I am fortunate on our site that we can obtain a load of well rotted cow muck for £15 in fact I had two loads last November. I have used some today in planting my second earlies and it is the best I have ever had and the two loads will last me 3 years.
I don't do raised beds on my allotment in that they cut down on my planting space and productivity however my neighbour does so each to its own. With raised beds it is easier to rotate crops each year but its not for me. My advice for what it is worth is that you have to plan well in advance on how you are going to fill them no matter how good the soil underneath is you still have to fill them up to the brim. With the raised beds that my wife has we have to dig all the tree roots out each year from the adjacent sycamores and also top them up with leaves or spent compost so it is on ongoing project.