[freebo]

Hello,
Quick question, how deep do my veg beds need to be? We're digging out and surrounding them with verticle planks to make a rasied bed but don't know how deep they need to be. We're not growing spuds in these beds, I guess the deepest things will be carrots & parsnips.

Thanks!

Mike

[Aidy]

Dont do raised beds myself but at a guess 2 spits deep, (2 spade depths) should just about cover everything.

[GrannieAnnie]

Aidy's right.   For things like carrots and parsnips, if they hit compacted soil, they grow shorter.  At least I think that's what happened to mine last year.  We have no stone here and there was no fresh manure in the ground, but my carrots and few parsnips grew forked, and were short.  

I'm digging deeper this year!!!!

[WG.]

Hi freebo and welcome to the forum.

[muntjac]

dont forget to raise the soil in the beds .... or some folks will think those who use this system have boundary issues with themselves  

[milkman]

eh?

[muntjac]

i saw a rather amusing site on a plot on the other site in our vilage they had dug a bed surrounded it with brand new scaffold boards and dug the soil inside the " box"  and then at the time i saw them today were planting spuds .the whole aim of raised beds is to deepen the growing conditions .on pointing this out the man said well im just following what i seen on tv  :roll:  

[Trillium]

Unless you're making 2 ft high raised beds, digging the soil 2 spades deep, and loosening the subsoil with a fork should make a difference. You really don't want to mix the junky subsoil (at least, that's what's in my garden) with the 'good' stuff of 2 spades deep where you'll mix in manure, etc. By simply loosening the bottom with a fork (you may have to remove the soil temporarily from above) you give the soil better drainage, some air, and any rogue veg roots a chance to escape deeper - no more forked carrots jumping on the bed!    You'll also find any hidden rocks, garbage, tree roots, etc that must be dealt with. Then, from the pathways, heap some of that soil onto planting rows or beds before laying down your path covering. No point walking over what is useful.

[freebo]

Thanks for all of the replies!

Now for a weekend of more digging...