Raised beds

Pinky123

Hiya, know I am a bit late in the season to be starting ,....
I am getting 2x400lt raised beds, 1500 x 900mm. What mix of soil should I fill them with
Peat/compost and topsoil or topsoil and manure, will be planting strawberries, salad leaves and pumpkin
All advice appreciated

Adamtown

I have recently started gardening and have discovered these great raised beds , put them together in 60 seconds - no tools, screws etc.. Also, because they are modular you can make them as big or small as you like. growrings.ie

pwurple

Adamtown wrote: »

I have recently started gardening and have discovered these great raised beds , put them together in 60 seconds - no tools, screws etc.. Also, because they are modular you can make them as big or small as you like. growrings.ie

Hmm. To me those look like upended sewage pipes! I know they must be quite practical, but i just really don't like the look of those at all.

Op, I normally do manure in autumn to give it time to break down, let the worms gave a go at it. So for filling now, i'd keep it light. Topsoil, compost and some horticltural grit for good drainage.

JuliusCaesar

I'm thinking of changing to raised beds and having them along the garden walls, and changing the grass in the middle to patio/gravel/something better than the mossy mess I have now.

What are you making them of? Brick, stone, wood? I'm looking for ideas and sources. If I get a line of bricks, do they need some sort of foundation?

I don't like the look of those grow rings either.

pwurple

Do you mean for veg, or like a planted raised border?

If you're doing veg, I'd recommend leaving space between the wall and your beds. The previous owner in my place put his raised beds right up against the wall. Sure I can't get at half of them without climbing onto the soil.. Defeating the purpose.

If you're doing a raised border, that's different. I did that in a place we lived years ago. We built a wall up to about seat height, and capped it with some local stone. Loads of flowering plants and mixed herbs behind, and it doubled as extra seating for people for bbqs and picnics. Really loved it, very practical, and brought the scented plants up nice and high. Things like lavender were great there, wafting scents at that height. Lovely for sitting outside on summer evenings. Yes, we did foundations. Mainly because we wanted to retain several cubic metres of soil behind it... Several tonnes when it gets wet. Plus, the blocks were fairly large because we wanted to sit on top. About 18 inches I think.

This is a random google pic, not ours. But you get the idea.