[garddwr]

Hello,

As some of you may have read on this thread http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=35597.0 I am trying to improve problem places in my garden. I have figured I need a raised bed so I like to calculate how much everything will cost.

Now.......


If say I wanted the raised bed 2 metres long 1.5 metres wide and 30cm deep how do I calculate it in litres as that's what compost is sold in ?

Or isn't this possible as a metre is for calculating distance and litre is for calculating volume ?

I have googled for online conversion but I can't seem to do it somehow ?

Thanks

[mumofstig]

One cubic meter also equals 1000 liters

Is that what you needed to know

So calc is 2 x 1.5 x 0.3 = 0.9 cubic m = 900 lts

Please correct me if calc is wrong

[garddwr]

Thanks that sounds right ish but that is a lot of bags of compost ! 

So 125 L Bag B+Q Multi Purpose - £6.98

900/125

7.2 bags required so that is a shocking




£55.84



And does everyone else think this is right because it does make sense but surley the ones of you who use raised beds for your veg it can't be that expensive  ?

Thanks

[mumofstig]

That's because if you dig your bed over, the digging raises the level of the beds a bit anyway. Then you dig some from the areas that will become your path and add that to the bed as well. You either put membrane down and use chippings or bark on top and this brings it back to the right path level. Then adding the contents of your compost heap each year gradually raises the level a bit more.
Can you get well rotted manure free where you are to add a bit more depth?
Quote from Ice

Filling raised beds??
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2008, 09:30 »   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I built a 10x4' last year and filled it with layers of top soil. old compost. manure, and as many cheap bags of compost I could afford at the local B&Q.  It worked a treat even though it was only half filled.  This year I have my own home rotted compost to make up the difference.

[Kristen]

I'm in the "dig the paths lower and pile on the beds" camp.  That and some manure is all mine have had.

"1.5 metres wide"

I expect that the available space dictates what size you have available, but that's pretty wide.  I would suggest that 4' / 1.2M is the max - you can reach from both sides without having to step onto the bed.

Also, things like Debris netting to cover your Brassicas will mean that the wider your bed the less height clearance you have available for the plant.

[DD.]

Thanks that sounds right ish but that is a lot of bags of compost ! 

So 125 L Bag B+Q Multi Purpose - £6.98

900/125

7.2 bags required so that is a shocking


£55.84



And does everyone else think this is right because it does make sense but surley the ones of you who use raised beds for your veg it can't be that expensive  ?

Thanks

But...

You can usually get 3 gowbags for a fiver, (or less if you shop around), these are about 75 litres.

900/75 = 12.

at 3 for a fiver = £20, plus the other suggestions above to lessen the quantity, plus surely you don’t want to go right to the top, otherwise your compost will overspill.

[Eatyourgreens]

I have just installed a five raised beds, each being 3.6m x 1.29m x .2m (12foot 4ft x 8 inches).

They were built elsewhere in the garden and then put in situ, so they sat on the existing grass.

I then removed the grass double dug the soil and buried the grass under the bottom spit. I also added four wheel barrow loads of well rotted horse manure to each bed.

This raised the beds by about 3 inches (Would probably settle down to about 2 inches.
 
I then added about 40 to 50 full wheelbarrow loads of good topsoil (Neighbour building a large shed) to each bed and this raised them up another 4 inches to about 2 inches from the top but they will settle so realistically half full.

But and this is the important bit, raised beds grew out of the medieval practice of "No dig" beds that were often surrounded by small wattle fences and the allotment practice of deep dug beds that raised up the soil, now formalised by adding the wood etc.

The soil does not need to be up to the top of the wood. It will raise up over time as the ground is worked and compost added each time a plant is planted and home made compost is dug in each year.

There is no need to add any compost to a new raised bed as long as you dig the underlying soil and then keep off (Apart from a light firm of the Brassica bed), the boards will act as a windbreak making a micro climate in each bed.

And it will happen with time like most gardening techniques, and your beds will be full up in a couple of years for free :happy:




Bob

[savbo]

Multipurpose compost is too good quality to dig into the ground. If you can't get any hone-made compost I would try to get some composted green waste from the council, very cheap (sometimes free!) if you can collect it yourself...

[harrymac]

It's worth remembering you can also buy top soil for raising the level in raised beds. In my neck of the woods you can get it for £15 for the first ton, £5 for each additional ton ordered at the same time.

Getting it delivered close to your allotment is another matter.