Take a look below at six great methods for filling your raised beds on a budget.
Filling raised garden beds uk.
40 soil bulk soil.
Build a trench around 8 12 inches deep and about 1 2 feet down the middle of the raised bed.
For the first layer lay newspapers or cardboard to keep the weeds or grass from growing.
Add branches and leaves.
Topsoil mulch and similar products are sold in cubic feet or yards.
Fill the raised bed to the top or near the top.
If an existing raised bed is being utilized just push the soil to the sides or temporarily remove the soil.
If we have several really deep big beds to fill at once we buy some organic soil and compost in bulk from a local landscape company and have it delivered.
Good compost is rich in organic matter has good moisture retention great for soil structure and can provide lots of nutrition for plants.
I filled my 15cm high beds with a mixture of spent compost from summer bedding displays soil mined from spoil heaps at the ends of the plot leaf mould and compost from the garden bins and in time the allotment compost heap.
Calculate how much soil you need to fill your raised garden.
The problem with compost is getting it cheaply in enough quantity to fill a raised garden bed.
Bulk soil composition and type will vary depending on your location.
We re building hugelkultur raised beds which means we re filling 1 3 of them with rotting wood.
This will reduce their watering needs.
On the other hand if you need to fill just one modest raised bed or two purchasing bagged soil could be the way to go.
Dove sounds about right in a brand new allotment we deturfed built raised beds from scaffold boards 4 each one each side one cut in half for the ends then filled with top soil then covered with local farmyard manure full tractor load 20 filled 7 of these beds and left it to the worms without a shadow of a doubt the raised beds are the way to go almost no work at all to maintain them once done and 5 monthes later the soil is all mixed and ready to go thanks to the critters in the soil.
Then multiply that number the area and the depth in feet to calculate the amount of soil in cubic feet you need to fill your garden.
If you re planting something that grows straight like tomatoes feel free to make the soil flush with the top of the bed.
Multiply the length and width in feet to figure out the area of your raised garden.
It takes a huge amount of soil to raise the level.
Place the soil directly on top of the layer of cardboard or newspaper.
I only made 4 new beds each year.
Filling raised beds with compost.
If you re planting flowers leave some space between the top of the soil and the top of the bed.
Compost is the ultimate soil.
Bury any turf removed in making the beds in the lower levels of soil in the bed to enrich the soil as it decays.
Follow these easy steps to make the most out of your raised garden bed space and save money on filling your bed.
Build a trench for the core.
And to separate the surface soil from your regular soil.