New raised bed

Hi all

Newbie here , I have built myself a 10 metre by 1 metre raised bed I think I need approx. 3000 litres of growing medium and was going to fill it with a good multi purpose compost .

Will this be ok or should I add any thing else whilst i`m at it ?

Thanks in advance

Steve

 

That's a lot of multipurpose compost, could be expensive unless you buy in tonne bags. When I did mine, I put garden compost, well rotted horse poo (both were free) and bought a few bags of topsoil to top up. If you are going to grow root crops next year,it might be a good idea to not use manure in the area you plan on growing them in,as it can cause them to fork.

Rusty

 

Thanks Rusty, already have the compost but was wondering if there was anything else to put in .
I have a compost heap that's getting bigger and will definitely use that when its ready , not going to start planting up till next year .

 

You could empty your compost heap into the bed now and scatter it along the bottom, then top up with the multipurpose, your own compost will continue to degrade and rot down in the bed. Stack it up and really fill it though as compost continues to rot down so will the level in your bed.

Steve...

 

I'd fill it with a third of soil at the bottom personally. Compost won't last forever and will rot down further eventually. So you might have a half empty raised bed after a few years.

 

great ideas!

Will get some soil but also use my compost and start my heap again.

Thanks