[ij rowley]

Hi all
        Can someone please give me advice on what to fill my raised beds with , topsoil and manure appears best ,any other suggestions. Thanks Ian

[Elcie]

Hi Ian welcome to the site.

When I first got my plot two years ago I decided the rasied bed route was the way to go.  I initially dug the soil over and added some compost from the garden centre.  I quickly realised that this was rather expensive so stopped!  Gradually though I have added well rotted manure and before you know it they are filling up.  If it were me I would avoid top soil, I had a fair amount of success without it, and it can be expensive.  Think of the long plan and the fact that you will want space to add manure etc over the years and filling with top soil now will stop that being possible in future years.

I might be wrong though but this is what I did!

[Fisherman]

Ian
It depends on what you are growing: -
Potatoes like plenty of well rotted manure.
Carrots and parsnips will fork if you plant them in manure.
Brassicas can tolerate some manure but won't heart up if over manured.
Onions are better without manure but will tolerate a little.

Best to search on crop rotation and plant accordingly. Ideally you need at least 3 raised beds preferably 4 or 5 so that the correct growing conditions can be created and disease minimised.

[mumofstig]

Wecome Ian.
It depends very much on how raised your beds are

If they are the 'normal' size I would just dig some well rotted manure, or home made compost into your existing topsoil and as Elcie says they will fill up within a few years.

If they are very raised because of a bad back, or because of bad drainage etc then you may need to buy in some topsoil

[fletcherbaker]

Ive only got a small raised bed but went for the compost route but ive found this can be expensive ive filled it with 4x70ltr bags and think i will need another 3 bags and like i say mine is only small!raised bed i mean :happy:!

[Kristen]

Mine were raised by the soil from the paths between them - so I now have sunken paths which exaggerates the raised-ness of the beds

They get manure / Compost each year, so they have got a bit higher too

[Trillium]

Sharp sand will help fill the bed among the soil and manure, and it will add extra drainage and ease of digging. I'm sure it has to be way cheaper than brought in compost, topsoil, etc. Last summer I made 2 raised wooden beds but filled them only 2/3 full as I know in coming years the manures and such will slowly top them up.

[fletcherbaker]

Thats a good point Trillium mine are half full at the minute and was going to add more this week but im also growing potatoes in large buckets so i could put the compost out of those into the raised bed to fill in up when the spuds have finished with it