Tips for raised bed creation

drew.rycroft

Hi Everyone.

I am about to create a raised bed in my back garden and would like some advice on how I should go about filling it. It's a B&Q kit with just the size pieces and I would like to know if I need to put cardboard or anything else at the bottom between the ground and compost and top soil mixture I will be using? 
I have attached a photo of the raised bed next to the area I will be installing it. 
 

Fairygirl

HI @drew.rycroft. It will depend on what you want to grow in it, re the soil mix, but a raised bed always tends to be freer draining so a mix of soil and compost is usually best to help retain moisture. You can buy mixes in GCs - one of the John Innes types will work, or you can mix compost with some of your garden soil. 
You don't need anything in the base.
The most important thing to do before any of that though - is to line it. If you have old compost bags or similar, that's ideal. The timber will rot more quickly if you don't, and it will also soak up some of the moisture your plants will benefit from. 

nick615

If I might say, the timber looks to be rather spindly?  Concrete 'boards' would be far more durable - assuming, of course, that you have a good valid reason for using RB's in preference to planting direct into the soil?

JennyJ

I have one of those but I didn't fill it - I use it with the plastic mini-polytunnel cover or the mesh cover that they also sell (depending on time of year) to grow salad leaves in some large square pots (it just holds 6 of them), and to shelter slightly tender things in pots in the depths of winter if we get a really cold spell. I painted the wood with clear preservative and stood it on a rectangle of old bricks to stop it from resting directly on the soil. So far, so good!

If I decide to convert it to a raised bed I'll line the inside of the sides with plastic cut from old compost bags but leave it open to the soil at the bottom.

When you fill it, the levels will settle over time so you'll probably need to top it up each year, which is fine if it's for veggie crops but can be difficult if you're putting permanent plants in it - most things don't like to be buried.

drew.rycroft

Hi @nick615

This area is a heavy traffic area between my shed and trampoline so the growing area needs to be sectioned off as not a proper bedding area and using this as an experiment for growing vegetables as the area gets very good direct sunlight every day. If the experiment is a success will be looking at expanding the area. 

Fairygirl

If you can use a saw and a drill/screwdriver, it's usually much more economical to make your own @drew.rycroft. Bit of timber and a few brackets is all you need. 

nick615

Your call, drew.Rycroft.  Presumably the said 'traffic' will fall over the RB?  I've never had a RB, or polytunnel come to that, and get the impression those that have them find they have problems keeping them moist, preventing rot, growing deep root crops etc.

I wish you well with it nevertheless.

WildFlower_UK

Hi @drew.rycroft! I was in your position last year when we created our first raised veg bed. Ours was placed in our lawn so we took up the turf but otherwise just put the compost/soil mix on top. I couldn't quite see what adding cardboard would have added and I've had no issues. As others have said, do line the wooden boards with plastic - I cut up the plastic bags compost comes in and stapled them in place. When you fill, fill almost to the top leaving maybe 2cm or so. You will find the compost level compacts over time so you will want to top up next year which is good as you will want to replace used and lost nutrients anyway. All the best, and happy gardening! 

drew.rycroft

Fairygirl said:

If you can use a saw and a drill/screwdriver, it's usually much more economical to make your own @drew.rycroft. Bit of timber and a few brackets is all you need. 

Suggested that to the missus and she vetoed the idea even though we had access to several pallets from a loft convertion we are getting gone.

Fire

Maybe you have read about adding layers of cardboard to the base of raised beds, but that is to help down any weeds from coming up through. If you don't have any weeds in that area to start with, you can just add a soil mix on top. Keeping the base open will allow roots to potentially go further down into the soil.

ShepherdsBarn

Pallets are perfect for raised beds - we have ten in our polytunnel! We didn't think to line our raised beds when we made ours, but pallets are always readily available, and free. We made the first beds about 14 years ago and replaced them last year - and that was in a dilapidated old PT (which we have now re-covered) full of splits, no doors and mostly open to the elements. The pallets were untreated.
One thing that I would highly recommend, if you can, is to buy some fleece 🐑🐐 - if you are in a rural area that should be pretty easy to source, but they are always available online and some farmers will happily part with a fleece or two ... plus it is shearing time right now! I am lucky that we keep angora goats and I am a spinner so always have raw fleeces squirrelled away. If you line the bottom of your raised bed with the fleece it will hold moisture really well - and of course, will rot over time. Before I plant anything, I also put a layer of fleece in the bottom of the pit. It's good for all sorts of things around the garden! 🌻