[rusbli]

Hi all,

Im new to the forum and would like some advice. As its a lovely sunny day I have decided to turn my top half of the garden into a vegetable plot. The plot I did have was a raised platform that is filled in with hardcore. It was then laid with soil for planting around the edges and gravel in the centre. As a feature garden. I have taken away all plants and soil from the edges. As it stand it has no plants, some gravel on the bottom. Under the gravel is sheeting, which is on top of the hardcore. The advice that I really need is how to actually go about transforming this into a veg plot. My idea is to make some raised boxes with wood and fill with soil and compost to plant the veg. But I am concerned about drainage as underneath there is the sheeting, will this stop water draining?
Also the soil I removed from the old beds can I use this to fill the bottom of my boxes or is it better to buy new?

Hope this makes sense and thanks in advance for your advice,
Russell

[Clampit]

I dare say the sheeting is mypex, which is a black woven material. It lets the water through but stops the 'weeds' from coming up. Best to have a close look though because I may be wrong. I can't see why your raised bed idea won't work, it certainly beats removing all the hardcore.

[rusbli]

Ok thats a relief! . The other question was would the soil from the beds be ok to use or shall I put fresh stuff in. If so whats the best combitation mixture to use for my veg boxes??



Thanks for you help so far.

[noshed]

Make sure the sheeting will let water through - if not, puncture it a bit. You can use any compost to fill your boxes but it can work out quite expensive. See if your council provides compost/soil improvers for free or cheap - if you have brown bins they probably do.
And/or get cheap bags of compost from big supermarkets they will soon be doing BOGOF deals.
Good luck - it would help if you say roughly where you are in your profile thing.

[cooperman]

if yo take a close look at the sheeting and its a fabric type then thats porous so you can lay topsoil/compost over the top, if its just a type of black polythene then this will need sttabbing with a fork, garden type not dinner!!
the raised beds will be great and the only way to go by the sound of it, good luck

[rusbli]

Right then I will check the sheeting, but im sure its the porous material kind. Spent the whole day clearing the top half of the garden. I cant wait to start planting now, have no idea what im going to start with  :shock: .

[Tinbasher]

Right then I will check the sheeting, but im sure its the porous material kind. Spent the whole day clearing the top half of the garden. I cant wait to start planting now, have no idea what im going to start with  :shock: .

Make sure you do the beds deep enough and out of decent stout timbers.  Railway sleepers are ideal if you can get them and transport them.  Sawing them can be a problem if you need to.  Pressure treated planks are best but they need to be an inch thick at least, else they will buckle and belly outwards.  I like old scaffolding planks.  You can always come by them if you ask around construction sites and such places.  Split ones can usually have the worst sawn off and can be battened otherwise.  Nice thickness and fairly resilient wood.  Get some treatment on them before use.  

What wood are scaffold planks made out of does anyone know?  I've long meant to find out and never have so here's my chance.

What is the best (most friendly) treatment for timber that is in contact with the bed soil?  I always baulk at the use of creosote, oil or turpentine and have tended to use one of these water-based preservatives.

[rusbli]

Well im using pallets, ive nailed them together to make a rectangle shape and hoping these will do.

[noshed]

Pallets will be fine to be going on with