[ConfusedGardener]

I'm still waiting for the poly tunnel to be put up, but am trying to plan ahead things that I will need, and also the best way to go about making the paths/beds. The plan so far is to level off the site after having removed the top soil, but not sure if the turf (not sure you can call it that - it was more of a meadow by last summer after having been neglected!) needs to be stripped off first? If so what would be the best way to do that? We will have some help from a local farmer to level off the site and put the tunnel up, but we have not discussed turf yet.

Then once the top soil has been removed, and the site leveled off, I suppose some top soil will go back, and the tunnel will be put in, but the area inside the tunnel I think would best be left as bare subsoil(clay). Then I plan to mark out the paths/beds, and put weed proof membrane along the paths (before putting down wood chippings), then build up the beds which will be raised. I want to use the slate which we dig up from the soil to make 6" wide walls for the beds, and mortar to hold it together as I want something that is more permanent than using wood. I'm not sure how well this would work, and I've never built a wall of any type before, so any tips/insights relating to this aspect would be very welcome.

Would it also be a good idea to cover the beds with weed proof membrane and then plant through it? Does anyone else here do this?

Our farmer has suggested that we also put a wall of soil around the tunnel, obviously set back a bit so as not to shade out things - he has a new gadget (basically a box) that he drags around with the tractor to do this. It seems to make sense as it can be quite windy here sometimes, but I'm in two minds if it's a good idea? I guess the wall would be about 5' high, but I'll have to ask.

[rhosfawr]

Hi buddy,

Ive only just joined and read your post, that membrane thing is def a good idea, someone told me to do it as I had dandelions growing. I stupidly built the tunnel ove an area that had some grass......ive spent the last week  keeping on top of the fast grass, big and thick like you get abroad...lol. Any way, the black plastic is down and is decomposing all that's under it............its gonna work! ( said with a weight of my shoulders ) For my paths ive used black membrane with stones on the top, working well ( no weeds yet )..I think your idea of the walls will be good as a permanent structure will be good,,,,and fancy, 3 to 1 sand cement will hold it, and a foot deep will make a good raised bed..did you say the raised bed will be 6" wide? how many will you have, will this take up too much space collectively, just thinking...the wall round the outside....well,,, give me his phone number , I want one : ). Ive just planted willow around the end to hopefully defend it from the wind in the winter....will ow it work....we'll see lol

[Headgardener22]

Couple of comments:

You don't say how big your tunnel is, nor what you are planning to grow so answering some of the questions you've raised is a guess.

I've got a 20ft x 10ft tunnel, but from what you say, yours is going to be bigger.

I wouldn't use bark for the paths, soil will get into it and be difficult to keep clear. Put stones (some of you slate broken up?) or better still larger lumps. Weed suppressant underneath will stop the stones treading into the ground.

I've had wood edges to my beds for 10 years, so, providing you use treated timber, it may be quicker to construct than building a wall.

Planting through membrane is a good idea for permanent things but for annuals, it can be expensive on membrane putting in new each year.

As to the walls, sounds a sensible thing if you're in an exposed place, they might also give you a protected outside area for coldframes.

[3759allen]

not so sure about the wall around the outside. you'll be surprised how well even a 1 foot deep trench to bury the polythene holds everything down.  i would rather make sure you get the polythene as deep as you can in the trench than put soil walls in. as it sounds like you have access to farm machinery you may be able to use a digger which would make digging the trench a lot easier and neater.

with all the talk of machinery and building slat raised beds, please be careful not to damage the polythene. it's so easy to catch and nick a little bit of the polythene.

also make sure you use the hot spot tape when building it, and try and heat the polythene in the sun on the same day as putting it over the structure. and have some repair tape handy in the future, in case you get any small holes, they repairing asap before they tear to large.

[ConfusedGardener]

Thanks for the replies all.

rhosfawr - Welcome to the forum. We also have lots of dandelions here, as well as couch grass. The raised bed walls are supposed to be 6 inches wide, and 6 inches below path level/1 foot above path level (if there are enough rocks to go round).

I'm attaching a "to scale" diagram of the north end of the tunnel so you can get an idea of the layout. Each square is 6 inches x 6 inches.

Where abouts are you? If you're close to here, PM me and I'll pass on our farmer's number


Headgardener22 - The tunnel is 24 x 77 feet, and we are planning to grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, maize, kiwis ("K" on the diagram), and even a fig ("F" on the diagram). I'm sure there are a few things I'm forgetting!

Thanks for the tips. Perhaps we will just put membrane on the beds for the first year or two to keep the weeds down, and then do away with them.

I like the idea for the cold frames. I've been trying to think of a place to site them, and that should be ideal.


3759allen - thanks for the comments. What I think I will do is use a large bit of light plywood board (with edges duct taped so they are not sharp) to shield the polythene in the area I'm working. Hopefully that should prevent any major accidents, but I'll try to be super careful.

[rhosfawr]

Hi there,

looking like a show polytunnel mate,,,gonna be good. Thinking about allens comment takes me back to a month ago when I was digging the trench, he is right, we had 75mph wind here a little after and its ok, I got some gorilla tape of ebay to go round the edge of the frame to ensure super sticky, duct tape is only water resistant, but gorilla is meant to be water proof,,so all good so far, and its worked. I checked under the black plastic today and its is working, ive cut pieces and put it around the plants. Also something I learnt is when you do your trench, dig it so its a square shape, and not rounded, this is supposed to stop it from sliding and becoming lose, a lot more fraffing around but saves the hassle in the future, and get a fork and stab holes in the polythene for drainage in the bottom of the trench, this will prevent the trench dirt collecting water and becoming boggy,,,,all this I read mate when I was putting mine up....share the info sort of thing. With the beds, keep an open mind,,,im trying to go with the intention of if something grows better in one place, I don't want to be knocking walls down to move it to another area, have you got some out side space aswell then, mines full of weeds...lol

how has today gone?

[rhosfawr]

pp: Have you got some photos of your project

[ConfusedGardener]

Thanks rhosfawr. I just hope it turns out as good as it looks "on paper"

I don't suppose you have a photo or could get one of the area you gorilla taped? I'd really like to see how you did it.

I very much appreciate the tips, please keep them coming if you can think of any more!

We're still waiting for the ground to dry out a little more so the site doesn't turn into a mud-fest, and then the farmer will come to pull out a couple of tree stumps/level the site, but we have all the tunnel bits here waiting to go up. I should get some "before" photos in the next few days and will post them here.

We have a bit over 2 acres of land, so a fair bit of space to play with. Moved here one and a half years ago, and have been busy mostly trying to dig outdoor beds in the mean time. We had plans for an orchard on one part of the land which we had started to clear, and had also started digging beds in an area close by to that, but then the knot weed reared it's ugly head, so that all had to be scrapped

I still need to dig at least six 12 x 4 foot outdoor beds for the veg we have planned this year, and hopefully get at least the beds in that small section at the north end of the tunnel (in the plan I posted) dug so I can get some of the longer term plants going. I'll have to work my way south gradually building the walls for the beds and filling them as I go, which I think will take some time. So many things to keep me busy and my head spinning, but the tunnel is a top priority for us to get going by the end of the year.

[rhosfawr]

i agree!!

tunnel is the first thing! that's exactly what I thought! I will take some pics tommowrow of what I taped ..sounds like a really good set up your going to have..ive got some outside beds and they seem less work that the poly tunnel lol, but I already can see the advantage ( cant understand how it can be so warm & humid when its cold outside, but it works lol) Make sure you put that white tape on the metal bars to stop the polythene from melting in the heat, ive got a bit left from mine if you want it. It wont be to long now before it drys out, one last bit of rain ect and then that's it, its all go. Its a new day everyday. I rekon stick to those plans, its a nice area with multi level visual attraction. Ill post them pics tommowow and ill make an attempt in including my mishaps, like putting some tomatoes out the other day, then they say frost....grrr, covered them over now so....well, ill show you the pics tommowor lol. Where abouts are you, was there rainfall today, was only slight here but still makes you worry lol. Im allways checking when I hear a bit of wind wondering...hows it all going out there...lol

[rhosfawr]

pp: what ventilation are you going to have...it can get hot, I had to take down a complete side of the tunnel and rebuild it as it were getting to hot, that's in aprill, just something to think about

[ConfusedGardener]

No rain today, but a frost was forecast for tonight. Not so sure that will happen, but I fleeced the first earlies just in case. My tomatoes are still too small to go out. They're still in their seedling tray sitting on a heated propagator tray to help keep their roots nice and cosy, but planning to pot them up to individual 3 inch pots in a couple of days hopefully.

For ventilation we are just going to open the double doors at each end. With a bit of luck it'll be enough, but I suppose if it's not we will have to look at other options. I read somewhere that one person installed a solar powered extractor fan, which seems like a very good solution to me. I suppose it might be wise to plan ahead and put one in during construction, assuming open double doors won't cut it on the hottest days of the year?

[ConfusedGardener]

I tried to PM you, but I guess you need to get your post count up a bit first since it didn't work.

Thanks for the offer of tape. I might have to take you up on in if we don't have enough, but hopefully all we need is included in the kit. In return if you would like some celery, borage, or seed potatoes, we have a bit of an excess of those that you are welcome to, otherwise they will go to waste. The celery should be ready to pluck out of the seed tray in around a month, and borage will probably be ready for a bit of thinning in 2-3 weeks.

[rhosfawr]

celery!! I love it, and I havnt got any lol. I took the pics today but my partners in bed now and I need her pc to transfer the pics so will do it tomorrow.. I agree, keep the tomatoes in for a bit so the roots are snug like you say. The solar fan sounds good but I think your double doors at each end will be suffice, if not, open the doors and put one of those big fans in to circulate the air. Ah, watering ...ive got a barrel that collects the rain water then an underground pipe and pump that pumps it to the polytunnel, it gets dry in there sometimes and rain water is much better than tap water as it has a lot of chlorine in it. Your in north carms, that's mad I used to live near there, im a bit more north now, small world but I guarantee our crops wont be as small lol. Seed potatoes, I always struggle with potatoes, any advice would be great, I think its cos I cant see them forming, I waited ages last year and got a few marbles,,unlike tomatoes and fruiting plants where I can adjust and address issues as they come along..if you know what I mean. Sorry you couldn't pm me, ive only just joined but hey....im on Sutton seeds to get some speedy veg seeds. I wouldn't go out your way to reconstruct your design to house the solar fan, it could cost a bit and there may be other areas to put the funds...but you are going to be the proud owner of a botanical polytunnel !!!

[ConfusedGardener]

If you haven't tried growing it yet, be aware that celery needs lots of water (it's a bog plant) and ideally a spot that will get shade during the hottest part of the day. Best to grow them in the spring/autumn, but I started them a bit late for spring! I think they should do ok over summer if they are in a good location with plenty of water and well manured soil. Got over 150 little sprouts up now, and only need around 100, if that!

Last year was the first year we've ever tried growing potatoes, and they did great. I think the secret was digging a nice deep bed, and adding lots and lots of manure. Didn't do much apart from that and give lots of water/comfrey/nettle tea. We planted Rocket and Marris Piper a bit late and were still digging the Marris Piper up a couple of months back Perhaps they did not like your soil type? Ours seems to be a little on the acidic side, which is ideal. Did they get more or less full sun?

Good idea having an underground pipe. I may borrow that idea too What kind of pipe did you use? We have a couple of sumps (from Lidl) and plenty of containers for water storage (about 2860 ltr), I'm just trying to work out where to put things and how to make it all work smoothly.

I think a solar fan shouldn't be too hard to squeeze in after the tunnel is built, but I'll have to do a little research, and as you say, may as well save the money unless it becomes a necessity.

Thanks again for all the tips, and yes, I can't wait to get the tunnel up and running 

[ConfusedGardener]

Got a few photos earlier today. The first is looking NE across the lawn towards the tunnel site. The tunnel would stretch  from the tree boundary on the left side (N end - starting just about "under" the tallest tree) of the shot to the shed on the right. The second looking almost north along the line the tunnel will take. The shed will be about 12 feet away from the south entrance of the tunnel, far enough not to shade it, but hopefully close enough to take some of the bite out of any strong winds coming from the south.

Just had a call from our farmer and he is heading over here tomorrow to get things started