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Help needed, newbie to gardening!

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  • 16-09-2009 12:11am
    #1
    ondarack
    Registered Users Posts: 306 ✭✭


    i layed a raised flower bed next to a wall about 2months ago, its about 10feet in length, 2feet in height and 4feet in depth. i layed it on top of grass without plastic and it is bordered by railway sleepers. its fairly compact now at this stage so should it be rotovated? i'm just looking for ideas now about how to proceed from here, is there a plastic or netting that i can put on top to prevent weeds from coming through? digging it up again to lay plastic underneath is not an option. what kind of flowers/shrubs can be planted this time of year? and where would i get bark or stone to finish off the bed? all suggestions welcome, pictures would also be a help.


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    #2
    ImMadAsHell
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭ImMadAsHell


    Hi ondarack, I can't answer all your questions but from my own (limited) expirience I would say that the fact your bed is 2 Ft deep means you should have no issue with weeds etc growing up from the pre existing turf. 2 ft should be more than enough to plant into, trees etc will have larger roots, if the ground that you built the bed on was really hard and compacted it might stunt the growth of larger plants because the roots will struggle to grow into the hard earth.

    Are there weeds growing on the bed at the moment, if so I would suggest killing them off with Roundup, make sure they are all gone before you put fabric, bark etc down otherwise they will keep growing and ruin the appearabce. It pays to take the time to get it done right at the start, its a pain to have to redo it after you have planted it up. depending on what look you are after you can get weed suppressing fabric in most hardware stores, LIDL sometimes have it to, for extra effect put down two layers (budget permitting), then you can get bark chippings or gravel. B&Q, Woodies etc have this.

    Don't think you need to rotavate, a quick once over to break up the soil should do. Not sure what plants you could put in now, there is only realy a few weeks growing time left, you could put in some srubs, bushes now and add plants in the spring for colour. If you go to an outdoor nursery you can see what is growing / flowering now and buy that.

    Hope it helps.


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