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How to top up a raised bed?

KeenButNoviceKeenButNovice Posts: 5
edited May 2021 in Problem solving
I made some raised beds about 3 years ago and filled them with top soil plus compost and some cardboard layers (I think called the Lasagne Method). Plants have grown well but the soil level has settled down about 6 inches and I need to top it up. How can I do this without burying the plants, or digging them up near re planting them back at the new level of soil?  Thanks.

Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Sadly I think the simple answer is, you can't. Some plants can have the crowns buried (eg heathers that have got old and leggy) but most won't like it.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • CazzieTCazzieT Posts: 74
    I also have this problem with a long 60cm wide raised bed alongside a patio.  It has some well established shrubs (approx 6 yrs old) like viburnum, photinia, miniature lilac and hypericum which I think would suffer from being dug up. There are also some perennials but they should be easy to move.  Would a 6" depth of soil be OK to add to the bed with these shrubs in situ and, if so, should I use a mix or topsoil? Thanks.
  • februarysgirlfebruarysgirl Posts: 835
    edited May 2022
    @KeenButNovice unfortunately there is no other way. I've had to resign myself to the fact that every spring I'm going to have to dig up the perennials and top it up. At least I get chance to rearrange my planting. When I first filled them I included compost but since then have just used topsoil on it's own. Compost being organic is just going break down and increase the settling which is the last thing I want. 

    @CazzieT I have some shrubs in my raised beds but they were only planted last year. The plan is to have some kind of barrier around the stems when the soil level becomes an issue. I only use topsoil to try to keep the settling to a minimum.
  • CazzieTCazzieT Posts: 74
    Thanks for your thoughts.  I might just have to bite the bullet regarding the shrubs as they really are too big to remove.   I should have just planted veg in there!
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