Most plants in my raised beds havent done so well, probably due to me neglecting garden so much this year :( but I also think I need to improve the soil. Whats the best way to do this ?
Mulch with well rotted manure/compost if you have plants in situ or fork it through if you dont. You could also sprinkle on some fish blood and bone and lightly fork this into the soil.
Steve...:)
I meant to ask this this am - thanks for the reminder.
Starting from scratch, if you have no plot to take soil from, what mix would you use??
Will be emptying two of the raised beds very soon as had only put in summer bedding plants this year. Should I start the soil improvement now or wait until the spring when I intend to dig out the other two which are full of hostas that have grown too big and need to be split and relocated.
I had filled these beds with multipurpose compost a couple of years ago when they were built. Have used chicken pellets in them previously but just feel now the soil is very poor.
I filled this new raised bed last year with rotted horse manure, couple of inches of soil on top to plant into and that was that. At the end of last season I also emptied all growbags, hanging baskets and pots into it...and forked it through.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c71/photocumbria/002.jpg)
Angel, if adding manure add it when you empty the beds, if adding FB&B add it next spring.
Steve...:)
I made the mistake of using m/p compost - you can flood it with water & it won't go in an inch.
Yes - manure - not always easy to find. Soil? Top soil from the Garden Centre?
Yes Tim, I know that problem :(
Steve, I will wait until spring to make the improvements :)
Think they will need topping up as well, maybe use topsoil instead of more multipurpose compost !
Thank you guys, hopefully next year I will have much better result :)
My plan with my raised beds which should be going in late spring is to put in
Base Layer on the existing soil - layers of news paper/cardboard and over that a mix of shredded paper and waste from a friend who has rabbits (hay, sawdust, poop etc) mixed with hopps and soil improver obtained for £30 a skip full am also looking at adding some horse manure but might not be well rotted but at that deept (2ft) should be ok
Middle layer - soil improver with a mix of vermiculite and perlite which will help with drainage and water retention
Top layer - bark chips to cut down on curface weeds
I will start collecting paper, cardboard and the rabbit waste from christmas which should give me a good supply
Do you think i am on the right lines?
Louise
Cambourne..that sounds really good..
Ideally raised beds should mimic the soil structure with different layers. Multipurpose compost is good only when it is mixed up with soil as improver and in top layer/root zone.
I would add some grit too/instead of perlite/vermiculate. All the other additions like paper and waste will help holding up the moisture but grit will give the drainage and weight..helps against shrinkage of the soil and keeps light particles on place.
But keep adding grit throughout the layers..it will keep the layers 'open' and if anything shoud create hard 'pan' grit will allow roots better access.
Saw dust maybe better composted first..or it will take couple of year before it start changing anything good if in soil.
How about using grass clippings and (home made)compost as mulch on top layer. Bark chippings and veg (if that's what you are going to grow) don't often agree with each other.
Few weeks before planting you could add some fertilizer on top layer as well..but that depends what you are going to grow there.
Hmmm..... maybe I should consider some of these other suggestions when I empty them next year. :)
We've been composting spent mushroom compost with grass clippings this year, it will be added as a top dressing on 2 of our raised beds. The 3 we have phacelia on will have it chopped down and weed control fabric placed on top.All the bottomless pots with tomatoes in will be emptied onto the raised beds in the poly and a good layer of well rotted muck will go on next years potato beds. We also dig trenches and put not so rotted own compost, newspaper and all sorts of veggie peelings and pea/bean haulms covered with the removed soil for our beans, peas and make pits for the squash, this builds the beds up from underneath, hope this makes sense :)
Hi Angel
Lots of great ideas above, i would also add you could try getting a delivery of the council compost. I used to live in a flat and had 5 raised beds outside on the concrete. I got 6 tonnes of council compost for around 70 delivered. It was a bit sticky for the first year but brilliant every year after this. So if you have a big volume to fill its a good cheap option.
If they are on a hard suface like mine were some water retaining crystals can be useful - and picked up cheap in the sales at the moment. oh and cardboard at the bottom.
Good luck for next season
x sunloving
Our council doesnt sell compost back to us householders..... LOL considering the amount of garden waste I give them !!
I know I should make my own but to be honest I dont have room in my garden.
A few weeks mixed in a load of shredded paper/shredded brown paper and shredded cardboard, also bfb and dried manure. Then covered it with weed fabric
Quote from: cambourne7 on September 07, 2011, 13:48:44
My plan with my raised beds which should be going in late spring is to put in
Base Layer on the existing soil - layers of news paper/cardboard and over that a mix of shredded paper and waste from a friend who has rabbits (hay, sawdust, poop etc) mixed with hopps and soil improver obtained for £30 a skip full am also looking at adding some horse manure but might not be well rotted but at that deept (2ft) should be ok
Middle layer - soil improver with a mix of vermiculite and perlite which will help with drainage and water retention
Top layer - bark chips to cut down on curface weeds
I will start collecting paper, cardboard and the rabbit waste from christmas which should give me a good supply
Do you think i am on the right lines?
Louise
I should coco!! That sounds lovely - where on earth do you get the skip full of stuff for £30??
Quote from: Angel on September 07, 2011, 19:21:41
Our council doesnt sell compost back to us householders..... LOL considering the amount of garden waste I give them !!
I know I should make my own but to be honest I dont have room in my garden.
Have you tried bottomless dustbins? Turned a couple of times and in spring I move them elsewhere and plant squash on top of the compost. A drop of household liquid fertilizer would help or failing that a springling of sulphat of ammonia to help it rot down.
Angel
Raised beds usually suffer from drying out so you need plenty of rough stuff to retain moisture, spent mushroom compost is a good soil conditioner, stable manure also, it has a lot of straw mixed in , what you need is a large well stocked compost heap next to the beds, collect all the green waste during the growing season, ( don't add diseased stuff or perennial weeds or let the heap get too wet) also add layers of the manure , come next spring add the compost heap to the raised beds and dig in ... then the cycle starts again.
Hi picman, I havent ever tried make compost.
It all seems complicated to me. At work the kids have got a composter which is like a barrel on its side on a stand and they turn it each day. I havent really looked to see if it works, must make time to go check it out.
Maybe one year I will become a 'proper' gardener and start making my own compost ;)
HI All,
BarriedaleNick - http://www.donarbon.com/Composting this is where i get it from :)
goodlife - Am going to try and acquire via freecycle more sand than the bag i had saved from having the garden done (rotivated 1/2 a ton into the garden). Unlikly there will be grass clippings but will depend on when i get the raised beds done. Greenhouse needs to go in first. Yes to growing veg and i understand the issues with bark chips its only a idea it might change i like the idea of covering it with something if i can get enough sand it might work as a alternative.
sunloving - definatly putting the raised beds on soil i have stuff growing in now and not a hard surface
Also talked to a friend of mine who has a pet hare and the plan is when my beds need clearing and i have built the raised beds were going to pop the hare in for a few hours with a cover on (will have buit the frame over the raised beds by then and the hare will clear and dig over my beds she loves digging :) we might throw a few G.Pigs and rabbits in as well as she has loads of them :) In exchange for the outside leaves from my cabbages which suits me fine :)
I am very excited about this were hoping to seal the floor of the garage in a few weeks and once thats done and i have had a clear out i am going to start stockpilling stuff in there so its nice as dry over winter :)
just picked up 9 bags of spent mushroom compost(70ltr) from a farm, cost 18.00, lots cheaper than m.p ;D
Have you heard of Lasagna gardening?
Basically make a lasagna of whatever you can get hold of and grow in that! Which sounds like what you are trying to do with your raised beds!
have a look on Ebay for topsoil and mix that with a peat free compost :)
Quote from: manicscousers on September 08, 2011, 16:54:20
just picked up 9 bags of spent mushroom compost(70ltr) from a farm, cost 18.00, lots cheaper than m.p ;D
Lots more alkaline than MP too..... bassicas will love it, spuds won't :D We can get compost frmo local recycling place for cheap, top soil is the same price from them so you can mix and match, they even do a 50:50 mix ready made... Load it yourself and it's 26 quid a tonne (or 28, can't remember).... I've got a transit sized vasn and an 8x4 trailer.... if I put three builders dumpy bags in each as load-liners and shovel will I don't really want to lift the shovel any higher I can get about 800Kg in a load, and it's an awful lot of compost...... Will be doing a run later this year once I've pulled out the toms etc in the GH as I will replace the soil on a cycle, what comes out will go onto the veg plots (and I'll put the raised bed collar round the other bed. Not a fan of rasied beds per se but they will happen at mine simply cos I'll want to dig out the GH each winter and replace, plus I could do with the depth, my soil is pretty thin....
chrisc
Our mushroom compost is to top dress the fruit beds and fill up a brassica bed for next year. we also put lots of decaying leaves in the bottom of our parsnip and carrot raised beds with our own compost and then peat free compost over the top to smother the weeds
Husband has a mushroom allergy so have been avoiding that stuff just in case