Raised beds for cut flower production: best mixture?
kbolton294
Posts: 4
Hi all, newbie here, so be gentle with me!
I'm just starting out with 12 raised beds approx. 10 ft by 3ft, and approx. 1-2.5ft deep (they're on a hill, so are about knee height on the lower side and around half that on the top side).
I'm starting a cut flower business and have read many different ways to fill beds for veggies, but does anyone have any top tips for getting good results with flowers? We are vaguely thinking adding garden waste (branches, twigs, larger compostable stuff from the garden), possibly some shingle/gravel, some top soil, well rotted manure, as much homemade compost as we can gather from various heaps across the garden, then topping off with MPC, poss some vermiculite mixed in.
So, main questions:
1) does this mix sound about right?
2) we want to get started as soon as the frosts are gone so is a month or so a reasonable time to let them settle, or should I forgo the manure, I hear it can damage roots?
3) where can I get a fair quantity of topsoil without breaking the bank? I've seen some going for free online but is it worth paying a little more getting it in bags from garden centres so there's less nasties in there?
4) we are planning on making nettle and comfrey tea (blergh!) so could we just get away with regular top soil, a little bit of drainage material and a mere dusting of MPC?
Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom, and apologies for the essay!
K xx
Posts
Hi K - welcome to the forum and best of luck with your new venture.
I'm sure you'll get helpful advice here.
To some extent it depends what flowers you're intending to grow.
e.g. I've grown Achillea in the past on rich fertile soil and they just flop everywhere as the soil is too rich. I now know that some plants need a poorer soil to make them sturdy.
But for a good rich soil, I think you're on the right lines with regard to your mix, there's no point in adding vermiculite - it'll disintegrate within weeks and is too delicate for such use, use coarse grit instead to help with drainage.
I don't think there's a need for a costly MPC topping either - if you have a good mix of topsoil with well rotted manure of some description along with coarse grit I don;t think you'll need much else other than a dressing of Growmore or Blood, Fish and Bone. and you'll be ready to go.
I've just used such a mix for my new raised veg beds.
Not sure where you are, but I bought topsoil from Silvertown Aggregates, it comes from the sugar beet factory in Bury St Edmunds and is what they wash off the beets before processing. It is mixed with some sharp sand and dried before delivery. There are no stones or weeds and the consistency is that of sand, it certainly looks very good stuff.
I've literally just finished barrowing 2 ton of it today down the garden today - that's in addition to the 25 ton I had delivered last autumn - and 4 ton of well rotted horse manure to dig in with it.
The 25 ton load was £500 from Silvertown Agg.
I hope you have a wonderful (and profitable) display this year - and hope I get more veg than I know what to do with
All the best
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Thanks for the excellent advice Pete!
I think I'd rather be in a position where I need to add to the soil rather than take away. Growing a few things that thrive in poorer soils this year, so think I may have half or so of the beds with some compost mixed in, then the other half left as top soil with manure mixed plus BFB sprinkling. Luckily for me, we have had rescue ponies for years, mountains of very old poo all over the place! Who knew it would be such a goldmine down the line. All those years of poo-picking in the fields for my mum were worth it! Also have tonnes of nettles and comfrey around the place so planning on making these teas throughout the season, wish my poor nose luck!
Best of luck with your veg, may they be triumphant and abundant
Forgive me for saying this but we are all amateurs on here - more or less. If you are hoping to start a business growing cut flowers then you need to get the basics right - and you can't get more basic than the soil you are growing them in. The fact you are 'vaguely thinking of...' makes me think you have not thought about this very much or are not approaching this in a very professional manner. Your livelihood will depend on you getting the basics right - first time! . I think you should be looking for answers in other places ie from current producers or The Cut Flowers Assoc. or the NFU. We are only growing plants as a hobby. You have got advice from Pete8 but do you really want to stake your future on advice from a stranger? from someone who is not in the same business? It may be very good advice but...
Well Hogweed, saying we were "vaguely thinking" about a certain way of doing something only meant that we were very open to other ideas aside from the research already undertaken. I am a paid up member of cut flower growers groups that all liaise and help one another. I have studied floristry and horticulture for the last few years, and my mother ran a plant nursery for 25 years, so thanks but no thanks for your concern over our "professionalism". Please take your rudeness elsewhere.
So maybe we should be coming to you for advice rather than the otherway round?
But certainly not in manners ... don't think Hogweed was being rude ... simply giving sensible advice to someone posting a query and giving the impression that they were a total beginner.
Last edited: 21 May 2017 09:48:20
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.