Raised bed filling

Chris_N · July 2014

I'm going to make a small raised bed utilising a concrete gravel board that's part of the fence and probably sleepers or similar for the front etc - I thought I might just fill it with multi purpose compost as this works out cheaper than a bulk bag of top soil but wondered if that would be ok - does the filling material have to have a soil content?

bekkie hughes · July 2014

You can use mpc, but it will dissapear at an astonishing rate! you will need to add the same amount next year, my local builders merchants (not one of the big chains) offer one of those huge bags, im not sure of the weight, but it may be a square tonne???? For 30 quid.

Another option is looking through the local paper, there is often someone who just wants rid of some soil

If you have patience, you can use the raised bed as a compost bin for a year, then add top soil to that, that would keep the costs down, runner beans would love it too!

Dovefromabove · July 2014

I agree, MPC just breaks down into dust after a season or three and is a false economy - I use approx half and half top soil and well rotted farm yard manure, and top up each year with more manure or home made garden compost.

Gardenmaiden · July 2014

We used our clay soil from the garden, mixed with compost and gravel. We were digging a pond at the time and making three huge raised beds. Once plants were in we put wood chip on top. The beds are not far off 10 years old now and we just leave the plants to their own devices and have never had to weed it.

flumpy1 · July 2014

We used half top soil and half compost and this was the result

This is only part of it but my plants love it

Raised bed filling

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