Came back from Chelsea with new enthusiasm for growing veg in a raised
bed!

My initial thoughts on construction are...

1) Remove turf from area & level (lawn on a slight slope)
2) Lay weed suppressant matting
3) Construct bed - prob 9" - 12" high
4) Fill to 4" with gravel to help drainage
5) Fill remainder of bed with soil / compost

My question is - am I makng it harder than it need be? Could I just
put the bed on the sloping lawn, fill with soil / compost & start
planting?

Any thoughts / advice appreciated

Thanks

Paul

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Came back from Chelsea with new enthusiasm for growing veg in a raised
bed!

My initial thoughts on construction are...

1) Remove turf from area & level (lawn on a slight slope)
2) Lay weed suppressant matting
3) Construct bed - prob 9" - 12" high
4) Fill to 4" with gravel to help drainage
5) Fill remainder of bed with soil / compost

My question is - am I makng it harder than it need be? Could I just
put the bed on the sloping lawn, fill with soil / compost & start
planting?

Any thoughts / advice appreciated

Thanks

Paul

If you clear the turf you would clear any perennial weeds at the same time
so there is no point in putting any material at that depth and you would
have to be on a boggy site to put gravel down. I would suggest that if you
have heavy soil, grit should be mixed into the soil but otherwise it's not
necessary. Bob Flowerdew recommends mounding up the raised bed instead of
erecting a border but on our allotments both versions work well.


--
Rowdens Reservoir Allotments Association
www.rraa.moonfruit.com
Feed the soil, save the planet

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Came back from Chelsea with new enthusiasm for growing veg in a raised
bed!

My initial thoughts on construction are...

1) Remove turf from area & level (lawn on a slight slope)

if you have a mix of normal grass, no invasive weeds or grasses etc, you
won't need to remove the grass. You could lift up the turf & turn it over
but no need to remove.

2) Lay weed suppressant matting

No necessary, if you are worried about suppressing weeds try using cardboard
or felt carpet underlay or old wool carpet (avoid synthetics however). All
of this will eventually rot away but will have dealt to your lawn & grasses.
Weed mat may stop vege plants putting their roots down if they want to grow
deep.

3) Construct bed - prob 9" - 12" high
4) Fill to 4" with gravel to help drainage

probably not necessary unless your lawn is poorly draining. The height of
9-12 inchs will be enough to deal with most drainage issues. A reasonable
draining lawn will deal with the rest.

5) Fill remainder of bed with soil / compost

Or any old reasonable organic matter you can get hold of. Partially rotted
stuff is ok (if you can put it in your compost bin, you can put it in your
garden partially rotted) if you place it near the bottom and have a layer at
the top of finished compost or soil. Point being that the organic matter you
bung in the bottom will rot down fairly quickly over spring summer for you.
Plant into a growing bed on the top & things will rot down at the base by
the time plants have put their roots down deep. I used old hay & green grass
clippings in one bed, with a top layer of mushroom compost & some soil.
Tomatos went in & the stuff at the bottom was a nice crumbly sludge at the
point tomatos needed it.

My question is - am I makng it harder than it need be? Could I just
put the bed on the sloping lawn, fill with soil / compost & start
planting?

yes, absolutely, provided you are not on the side of a mountain & your soil
is reasonably well drained. I recommend filling your garden with whatever is
easily available and cheaply priced. It may not be marvellous in the first
year perhaps but will quickly turn into a good growing medium provided you
put in what you would otherwise put in your compost. Meaning, there is no
magic formula, you can treat the garden as a giant compost bin provided you
have a few inchs of growing medium at the top you can plant/seed directly in
to.

Have a look at (but rememebr there is no 'exact way' to do it, you do not
hace to follow any set 'recipe')
http://www.gardenwiseonline.ca/gw/ga...lasagna-garden
http://www.fbga.net/Lasagna%20gardening%202004.htm

rob

Thanks guys - you've saved me a lot of time, money & back-ache!

On Wed, 28 May 2008 15:54:13 +0100, Paul wrote
(in article
):

Thanks guys - you've saved me a lot of time, money & back-ache!

Coming in late on this, but we made a raised veg bed on top of very bumpy
grassy ground. My husband built the frame first, then we covered the ground
inside with thick cardboard, then rotted horse manure, then a mixture of top
soil and our own compost on top. There was absolutely no digging or removal
of grass involved! The worms did the rest. Don't forget that the ground
will settle and need topping up.

--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Posted through the usenet newsgroup uk.rec.gardening