Filling Deep Raised Garden Beds

If you can t use native soil purchase a nutrient rich mixture from your local gardening store.

Filling deep raised garden beds.

How deep to fill a raised bed. 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. Plants thrive more in raised beds than in ground beds. I only made 4 new beds each year.

Also known as lasagne gardening or sheet mulching this will help create healthy fertile soil that drains well and is adequately aerated plants need air in the soil to thrive. If an existing raised bed is being utilized just push the soil to the sides or temporarily remove the soil. The birdies beds aren t just sturdy but they provide great surface square footage with lower soil requirements than the standard home built wood garden beds. Soil and compost is then filled into the raised beds to a depth just a few inches 7 6 cm.

The most popular way to fill a raised garden bed is to layer it with a combination of soil organic materials including hay compost and manure. Bulk soil composition and type will vary. Framed raised beds are frequently used for vegetable gardening. It takes a huge amount of soil to raise the level.

Build a trench around 8 12 inches deep and about 1 2 feet down the middle of the raised bed. Build a trench for the core. 40 soil bulk soil. You should use native soil from your yard if possible since this will be best for your plants.

To give a comparison between that and other raised beds my square 4 5 x 4 5 x 24 beds take 40 5 cubic feet of soil or 1 5 cubic yards to fill. Raised beds give you an immediate advantage over a regular garden because when you fill your raised bed you can fill it with a blend of soil that s superior to the native soil in your yard. 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. These steps can be used whether you have an existing raised bed or you are filling up a new empty raised bed.

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. The most common depth of raised beds is 11 inches 28 cm because this is the height of two 2 6 inch boards which is commonly used to frame raised beds. To fill a raised garden bed you ll need enough soil to fill the bed and some organic compost.