Topic: New Beds...please help

[Jane the Novice]

I already posted in Basics but more people seem to read in here. Yesterday I managed to lift about 15 paving slabs from around a paved area in the back garden as I have run out of planting areas. I have dug down to about 8 inches and have hit a shelf of builders rubble (house was built in 1978 but we have never used this area for serious planting). Realistically, how much deeper do I have to go? I am about to order a yard of topsoil to replace the mounds of thick, heavy, sticky clay which I need to finish removing today (body allowing)

[Marley Farley]

Hi Jane, :) Wow I think you have given yourself a hard task there. I would try to see how deep the rubble layer is first >:( Then I would give myself at least 12 inches of good soil to plant in you must not forget about drainage though, I would leave some rubble in the bottom. :) It does also depend on what you are intending to grow here.   :-\I myself have run out of beds at the moment & I'm creating one where no planting has gone on but I don't have the builders rubble. Just ground elder horrid stuff. Well good luck!!!!!!! ::)

[Jane the Novice]

Hi Marley..am currently trying to get the motivation to go out and get digging again...quite stiff from yesterday. I managed to get through some of the rubble with a cold chisel and a club hammer...it will take quite some time to get through the whole bed in this manner. Only have the skip for one week and have a second border to cut in the front garden also. I contemplated raisine the bed a little but so far have been unable to find edging which would be suitable that I also like.
Would like to plant some bamboo in one corner to add some height and movement up there and the rest would be perennials with the possibility of a climber or 2 to hide a brick wall and some fencing. The problem I have is that the back of the bed gets virtually no sun so the challenge will be to choose planting for a shaded area which will bring some colour and height.

[aquilegia]

I'm doing raised beds for my veggies. They go down about one spit and are raised about another spit, so approx 2ft deep in total. You could probably go for less for ornamentals.

I would definitely get topsoil to replace the clay, otherwise you'll have to dig in loads of grit or sand and compost to get it decent. I'm using topsoil left over from the ton we had for the pond and loads of compost in mine.

All my clay goes on the skip (after I've removed the decent pebbles!)

[Jane the Novice]

OH CRUMBS!! I only have the skip for a week...that would take me 6 months to dig out...perhaps I'd better go back to the drawing board. I have loads of hard standing areas in my garden due to the fact that my hubby used to be a police dog handler (retired 2 years ago) and we needed places for the kennels to go. I have currently got about 75 pots of all shapes and sizes with my plants in but decided to make borders instead. I appear to have taken on a mammoth task and only took 2 weeks leave from work to do it in. ( Ground Force would have manages it in 2 days no doubt)

[wardy]

Jane looks like the best plan would be to use the hard standing and put pots on it.  I have some hard standing which I have managed to make a some planting holes in but it's hard work if you have to chisel through concrete  :(
You can make bare concrete look quite attractive if you put something else on top, ie gravel or slabs etc. 

Having said that I gardened on heavy clay and enriched it with everything I could get my hands on including home made compost.  Some plants seem not to mind heavy clay and I even grew some respectable carrots on mine so don't get disheartened.  I managed to grow, roses, clematis, honeysuckles, trees, hostas, fuscsias etc  I did struggle with perennials which used to rot off.  I made a garden pond in a particularly wet bit of the garden  :)

[Jane the Novice]

Thankyou Wardy I am about to go out and restart my mammoth digging task. Will try to get some snaps of it when I either can@t dig any deeper or I run out of energy...whichever comes first

[aquilegia]

Don't panic Jane - I didn't mean that's what you had to do, just what I did.

If you want to go with raised beds - how about putting them directly on the concrete (just make sure you have lots of drainage in the bottom!) And make them high enough so you can sit on the walls.

[Marley Farley]

Hi Jane, :) I have just read about all the concrete pads you have :( I have covered some very successfully by turning them into plunge beds. I built the sides up using old railway sleepers held in place with some long metal pins ( they are attractive ones) to make the rectangle ( or whatever your shape is), until I had a depth of 12" on top of the concrete. I then filled with gravel to  about 4" below top. Then plunge your potted plants of your choosing in, because it's gravel you can use all sorts of shapes & sizes to make your display. The gravel keeps them moist. I give the bed a good watering in dry spells. That way you can either plant it up for Winter, Spring or all year round. :-\ Just a thought, it would be less strenuous. Good Luck. ;D

[philcooper]

Jane,

You haven't said what you are trying to grow but I grow on about 6" soil above soil chalk without too many problems (I even have one rhododendron)

So I don't think that 8" isn't too much of a problem.

Phil

[Jane the Novice]

Time for an update. I have nearly finished all the digging which I hope to complete tomorrow. I reckon I will have dug out about a yard and a half so may need to order a little more topsoil. I have been shopping and have managed to buy some narrow bamboo edging rolls which are about 12 inches in depth which should then raise my bed another couple of inches. I reckoned that the plants which have been happily growing in pots for the last couple of years would be ok if the bed was as deep as the pots they are in.
Digging in the rain today hasn't been too pleasant and I must have dug up enough clay to model myself a few statues.
Perhaps I could include a few barrow loads of it in the swap shop!

[Jane the Novice]

Morning all. Today is day 3 of what has now become a reclamation project. Started the day with a nice cup of tea and some pain killers. All this digging appears to have exacerbated mt old tennis elbow but I'm sure it will all be worth it. I'm planning on finishing digging my "trench" today and hope that the topsoil will be delivered today also. I also plan to erect 2 more trellises to support my passion flower and a clem which currently resides in a pot. Yesterday managed to buy a climbing Hydrangea and a quite unusual obelisk to place in a shady corner (to add a little extra height). That's all for now. If I manage to figure out how to post photos I will do so as I have taken a few snaps as I have gone along.

Jane