Raised Bed & Greenhouse

Polytunnels, cold frames, greenhouses, propagators & more. How to get the best out of yours...

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OscarSidcup
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Colin2016 wrote:Following advice from magazine I intend to make 3off raised beds 2ft x 4ft either 12in or 18in deep. Reason behind this is I am hoping it will keep the dog away as she does not like investigating at a higher level, easier on the body and I have 2 bulk bags of dirt, both have been de weeded and one has been de stoned. My thinking is to make them all the same depth, so I can rotate veg over the years without the worry of how deep the soil is. Any suggestion on what to mix with the earth would be appreciated.



Hello

On the topic raised beds, I built mine earlier this year with a height of 12 inches - 5 of them of a 4ftx8ft size. I hesitated a lot about getting 18 inches height, but in the end the added cost of the beds and the extra soil made me decide for what I have now. As I did not put a membrane at the bottom and turned the earth, the idea is that deep vegetables can grow roots down there. The deepest I have are carrots - some are monster like- and grew very happy.
In terms of soil I bought 2 different types of soil - manure, compost and top soil. It was all beautiful and fine and weedless, but after one year is now full with stones that came up from the earth on which my beds are placed...
Your comments on the height keeping the dog away made me smile as I hope it will work for yours. I do not have animals but at the beginning there were a few cats and a couple of foxes thinking the beds were nice to play in... I was not amused so also invested in cages and netting protection.
Now, a year on, would I have done anything different? I am still in two minds about having higher beds but I do not think my harvests would have been any better. The big lesson for me is the soil. When new, it is very rich in nutrients, so I will try to keep that up and refresh it for next year. Oh and yes a I would like more raised beds too...

Best,

Oscar.
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Colin2016
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Thank you all for your comments, they have been very helpful.

It was a great weekend weather wise, so got to making up 3off 4ft square beds 18 inches high, which are now in place.

I have gone 18 in so I could sit whilst attending to the beds, it may be easy to get down but difficult getting up.

The bottom is soil with no membrane, so thinking of using stones depth of about 4ins on the bottom to act as a drain off for excess water.

Going to create a mix of stone free sifted dirt, sharp sand (left over from building project), bags of compost from garden centre and Vermiculite.

Wondering if stone idea is ok & if so is 4ins enough?

Can get Perlite cheaper than Vermiculite but research seems to suggest vermiculite is better. Anybody have any experience with using either?

I can get bags of horse manure but wife has concerns that it will smell. Is there a way of using it without it smelling?

Anything I have missed?
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