Kitchen Garden Forum

Sometimes I just cant see the point.
I have always been firmly of the belief a raised bed should be filled with soil
Something like this:-



Why make what are referred to as 'raised beds' and then not fill them with soil but carry on planting as normal in the existing ground.
That to me is more like making a low height virtually ineffective wind deflector or expensive bed marker.
Can't see that it gives the advantages that a raised bed does.


Or am I missing something ?

Your thoughts ????

It gives weeds a better chance of survival, I normally find people who only half do things are lazy and certainly won't weed ,or am I wrong

Bit harsh generalisation maybe robo.

For instance I don't think I'm lazy up the plot but have to admit weeds currently have the better of me

I bet your raised beds are full of soil pa snip

robo

I filled the 4 new beds last week, good job I had not planted them out yet as the soil has settled by between 2 & 3 inches so topping up to do.

That will then allow me to transfer the strawberries that are in a 3ft tall bed that I made Oct last year in which the content has settled by about a third>
Teach me for having used content of compost heap as a filler in the base of the bed that had not fully rotted down
Still, it's not as if I am short of topsoil mix or composted manure for topping up with at the moment

Perhaps the partly filled ones are a work in progress and will eventually fill up as extra compost is added each year.

In some instances Plum I would agree, but take a look at the picture above, there is no soil above ground level in any of the raised beds, and I've seen that situation enough times now to make me wonder what the benefit is.

I have ten raised beds all around 12 x 4 feet I filled them all with any decent soil I could get some I put a layer of turf upside down first others half manure half topsoil ,the ones that are half manure are all around four inches low, the reason I have raised beds is that the plot had been used as a tip for 17 years prior to me getting it there was very little top soil what was there consisted of broken glass bit of bricks, asbestos and parts of cars and bikes I did not have an option ,I also have an area around 25 x 40 feet which I'm still trying to improve I've got most of the large bricks out and most bottles I'm now down to small bits of glass
and tarmac the rest of the plot the wife grows flowers on she is now trying to take over my rhubarb patch

My father always gardened with raised beds, BUT they were literally just raised beds, not surrounded by wood or anything else. He maintained that his raised beds ensured good drainage without hampering any weeding etc. Every year they would grow just that little bit higher with the application of muck or compost. To me, a raised bed with wooden, metal or whatever surrounds just seems to be a slug haven!

Those style raised beds of old took a skill and patience of a type I confess I haven't got.
If soil can be regarded as beautiful to look at those raised beds were.

Not so much a haven for slugs as a paradise for woodlice

robo, I'd be very careful how far you let your wife encroach upon your rhubarb stick

I don't have any raised beds, just a wooden surround around the strawberries that is going on the fire after the woodlice this year.

I probably do technically have the old fashioned style though as when I put an area to bed for the winter I put compost and muck on all of it before I cover it, including the paths. Then I map out the new beds for the following season in Spring so wherever I make them the paths are the same height as the beds, but both are higher than last season.

Does that count?
Westi

Inexperienced allotment holders are convinced that raised beds are the thing to do, usually by a TV show, they do the hard landscaping element, can't afford the soil to fill the beds and carry on with their flimsy, usually poorly treated (preservative) little fences.

My best bed user, no wood, many grass paths and he can garden any time of year without setting foot on any bed. Unless he chooses to dig it over.

It's not just one stick she's interested in pa snip it's the bed

Peter
I agree with you about media promoting raised beds. But lets be honest its not exactly a 'new' craze.
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Four years ago when I first took this plot on there was another newbie to the site just a couple of plots away from me. He and his wife were putting a great deal of effort, as were the three of us given all our ages, into getting a piece of land back into order.
His words, "we are going to have a traditionally laid out allotment, none of this raised beds fad".

I having been making raised beds from the outset, not only because there were areas of the plot that were stone pits and clay but also to make life easier for my daughter when she takes the plot over.
I also wanted to try growing certain crops that I thought would do well in raised beds. I also knew it would encourage Mrs Snip if she had the use of same.

The couple referred to above have just made two more raised beds and I doubt there is now room for any more on their plot.

The crops we are getting from the raised beds are not 'perfect' but we certainly are having better success.
Things like long carrots grow much better, and we have had less carrot fly problems, as do parsnips & beetroot when you can make a deep fine tilthed bed.

Dug today (24-11-16)


As I said "Not Perfect" but very edible

Dug on 20-11-16