Raised beds

Hi
I am a member of a fairly new community gardening project. The whole thing is located on hardcore/hardstanding and is therefore made almost entirely of raised beds. When the project was first set up the local housing trust, who own the land, installed the beds but filled them with bagged compost.

I wouldn't say this years crop was a total disaster, but it was certainly a disappointment. My feeling is that the beds should have been filled with topsoil. The compost it too light and dries out too quickly. I think we need to at least partly empty them and mix in a good quality top soil.

I would appreciate any comments

Thanks

 

I have tagged @misterQ for you Louise, he is involved with a community garden and may be able to help you out.

 

My first reaction is to agree with you, @Louise Roberts. As you can see below, I have had a similar problem, and am still working on finding a solution...

When we moved here 3 years ago, I created a raised bed on top of some very poor quality sandy soil/grass. I filled the raised beds with homemade compost. I had some successes the first year, but the 2nd year was an almost total failure. Last autumn I dug out two spade-depths into the soil below the bed "boards", and filled with yet more compost, mixed with some of the soil. This year we had successful cropping again...
I am now adding 10-12" of horse manure on top of the compost, in an attempt to get some "body" into the soil. I realise that you can't dig down into the hard core, but I would be looking to get some bulk into the soil, with well rotted manure, and top soil.

 

Indeed I am and I hope so.


Louise, how deep is the compost in the raised beds and how do you yourself gauge when the plots need watering?


Generally speaking, a plant is made up of nothing more than air, water and a few trace elements. It needs warmth and sunshine in order to grow. So your job, as a gardener, is to provide suitable conditions containing those five components in the proper amounts and at the right times.

Immediately within your realm of control (for outdoor gardening anyway) are the water and the trace elements . The other three you have little or no control over, therefore, concentrate of getting the first two right.