Raised beds

Hi. I have two raised beds which are empty after summer growing I was digging it over and under the surface there is a massive amount of roots which makes it hard to turn over.There is a large tree just over my fence think maybe the roots are coming in from there.Any ideas on how to stop this. Thanks

 

Hi and Welcome to the Forum,

We have a similar problem with some large shrubs in next doors garden so we dug a trench about 2ft deep along the boundary cutting off the roots coming though, then put a lining of thick polythene up the side of the trench to stop any new growth.

However if you have really large trees that method will not deal with the trees much deeper and invasive roots, possibly digging out your raised bed and putting a sheet of very strong polythene under the whole bed so the roots canot get in. You will have to put some drain holes in the sides.
The other option is to move your raised beds well away from the trees if possible ?

A fair bit of work either way !

 

Hi, Thanks for quick reply could I put down weed membrane or something thicker then fill the beds again.

 

The reason those tree roots have filled your raised bed is because they cannot get enough of all that water and well fed soil.
If you use a permeable fabric then the water and nurtirents will still run under the bed and attract the roots.
Our choice would be some thick non permeable like this, across the bottom in one piece and taken up the inside walls of the bed, but with a couple of holes in the sides for drainage.
BBA Damp Proof Membrane Handi-Pak

 

Hi , yes get it now never read your first message properly thanks for your help will get that from toolstation then the hard work starts. Thanks again

 

Hi Ricky. Hot my first raised bed empty and bought the heavy duty membrane so ready to go the drain holes on the side is that enough to stop the bed filling up and do I need any stones and rubble at the bottom.

 

You have not said how deep your raised beds are, but if a typical 9 - 12" then they sould be fine with or without any gravel / stones on the bottom, avoid rubble if it has any limey cement or concrete.

You will now have to treat your beds as large pots /tubs so keeping an eye on the watering in the summer will be important, though hopefully a lot better than when the tree roots were taking all the goodness.