[global jamie]

hi all new the forum so please bear with me
i have just taken on an over grown allotment which is 90 feet long and 45 feet wide , i plan on going the raised bed route because i have access to plenty of timber to make them with and also i can get fresh compost by the ton for next to nothing .
will it be ok to fill the beds with just compost ? or will it have to be mixed with topsoil?
any suggestions much apprecated
cheers jamie  :blink:

[mumofstig]

You could put in a layer of compost .... after digging the soil inside the raised bed area, this will raise it by a good few inches. Then each year as you add your home made compost from the heap, you will over time fill the beds up to the top of the wood.

[global jamie]

after digging the beds first could i not then fill them to the top with the compost that i can get by the trailer load

[JayG]

I can see the temptation but you can actually have too much of a good thing; pure manure/compost might suit a few crops very well but doesn't have the same properties as a fertile loam (in particular it lacks mineral particles, which means you will be continually topping it up, and if you don't it would eventually completely disappear!  )

[Trillium]

This fellow put in straight, aged compost into his beds and has had great success. But I'm sure from time to time that he adds things like some lime, manure, etc.

kFCBWWYp_CY

[Ice]

What's wrong with the soil on your allotment that you would want to add so much to it?  Just because you have a raised bed it doesn't mean that you need to fill it to the top. 

[global jamie]

we have had to move allotment sites after years of battling with courts and land owners, the site we have moved to is is where there usded to stand a moultings
the ground is solid clay and gets very water logged in winter, i have sprayed the patch with roundup and next week i will rotervate the whole plot and start making the beds ,

[Ice]

If it's clay soil then sharp sand along with lots of compost will help break it up.  Clay soil is surprisingly high in nutrients.

[sunshineband]

We have built plank edged beds at our plot, because they are easy to manage for me and the paths are a safe walking surface.

As the soil is so stony, I have taken bubkets and buckets out of each bed (1.2m by 2.4m), so much that some were almost sunken beds, not raised beds.

It was a good starting point, and 18m later, I have dug in several cubic metres of compost to beds that are going to have roots in them,  and a small amount of manure to the potato ones and bean/pea/courgette ones too.

Gradually building up, but it'll take a while.

Plenty to eat though 

[TerryB]

When you've made your beds, you can dig out the top soil from the paths around the bed and add this to the bed.
Wood chip can then be put on the paths.
This will not only raise the level in the beds but will lower the level in the paths which will help drain the site.
If the beds are in line you could also put a couple of drains across your plot under your paths.