Creating a Raised Bed

I want to create a raised bed on a part of our back lawn. After I have skimmed the turfs off the top, what is the ideal depth to dig down to. My plan is to row vegetables. I have seen bags of what is described as vegetable soil advertised on the web, would it be beneficial to add some of that as well as some compost to the soil I remove from the trench. I am a a complete beginner, so any is most appreciated.
Bill

 

I can't advise on the raised bed bit, because I've never (yet) built one.

However when it comes to the compost side of things, I must pass on a recommendation that I got from the wise Zig on this here forum.

Get 'spent mushroom compost'. It is fantastic stuff. Based on a recommendation, I ordered 60 sacks of it a few months ago. It worked out at £2.50 per 50L sack, and it has totally transformed the "soil" in my back garden. I had lifeless, rock hard red clay that even dandelions struggled in. Now I have good soil, with a healthy lawn, I've had a good crop of potatoes and I have numerous flowers and a few veg all thriving in there now.

Don't pay for gimmicky products. Mushroom compost is rotted horse manure, chicken poo, straw and a calcium rich rock whose name just wont stick in my memory for some reason, and at £2.50 a sack (cheap because its a throw away by-product of mushroom farming) you just cant go wrong.

 

Hi thepict.

A few years back, I constructed my raised beds as follows. First of all I put in place the pre-constructed raised bed, which was made out of 8"x2", 8ft Long and 4ft wide. I skimmed off the turf within the bed, putting it to one side. I then took out a spades depth of the soil, again putting it to one side. Then using a fork, I broke up the sub-soil. I put back the turfs (upside down) then the removed soil. At this point I noticed that the soil level was significantly higher than it was. This meant that I wouldn't have to buy in too much 'stuff' to fill it. What I did was to use multi-purpose compost, but I as clueless1 says, mushroom compost would be good. After a while you'll find that the level within the bed will drop, but in a way this is a good thing, because it means that you can keep topping up with compost/manure. Here's a link to a thread I started, which shows my raised beds, http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/garden-projects/13844-my-garden-2.html I hope this helps. BTW, don't make your raised bed any wider than 4ft, you'll find it difficult to reach in from the sides otherwise.

Cheers...Freddy.

 

Thank you Freddy and clueless. I will certainly take your advice. BTW Freddy I liked your photos . Your garden looks amazing.
Bill