[ChrisG]

Hi all, newbie here and complete newbie to gardening (and no I don't have any chicken).

Been toying with the idea of having a go at growing some veg, but as my garden is very wet with a river at the bottom I reckon a raised bed would be the way forward, but when I realised how expensive topsoil is it put me off a bit as I'm loathe to spend too much cash as I might find I don't enjoy it.  However I discovered today that my local garden centre is selling 75litre bags of compost at 3 for £10, and stable manure slightly cheaper, which work out significantly cheaper than topsoil.  Would a 2x1x0.5 meter (might go longer and lower, depends what timber I can find) raised bed be ok with pure compost (or compost manure mix) or do I really need some heavier soil in there as well?  Thinking I'll probably try growing some carrots, leeks, parsnips, broccolli and beans to start with but happy to change that if the soil type isn't suitable.

[Trillium]

The bed size would work, even better if you can make it a bit longer with found wood, but don't extend beyond 1.3 M (4ft) which is the optimum width to reach centre crops from either side. Before filling the beds, loosen the existing soil with a garden fork for better drainage and penetration by veg roots and clear all weeds (or you'll pay later).

The manure and composts you found would work nicely until you can get composting your own and find even cheaper sources later. If you can find some just plain good soil, that'll mix in very nicely. No need for 'topsoil'. As for crops, only carrots and parsnips wouldn't like the mix - too rich for them and they'll fork if not turn into erotic shapes. The others will like it. Peas, beets, salad greens and toms would work as well.

[vegmandan]

Personally I would buy topsoil.

Compost will be completely devoid of nutrients after a few months as it's really just peat with some fertilizer added which will wash out very quickly.

Also come the winter time it will just become waterlogged,raised bed or not.

You say that top soil is expensive but by the tonne it will be a lot cheaper than compost from the garden centre and believe me a tonne doesn't go far.

A 2x1x0.5 metre bed is 1000 litres in volume so you'd need 20 fifty litre bags to fill it.

If you are buying top soil from a garden centre then DONT.
 
I know what you mean about the price ,it's ridiculous by the bag.

Have a look in the yellow pages for suppliers or in the local papers and you'd be surprised it's not that dear.

There's someone in our local rag selling it for £40 a tonne delivered.

I've just done a quick google search and found 1 tonne delivered for £80
and that was just the first one I found.

Here's the link  http://www.dandys.org/prod.asp?category=Bordermix-Topsoil-bulk-bags&CID=78

Believe me it's far better than compost.

[ChrisG]

... if not turn into erotic shapes.

You say that as if it's a bad thing  


I found a local supplier who are a bit cheaper than Dandys but that's still less than the cubic meter I'd need, whereas the compost would work out at about £45 per cubic meter.

Point taken about waterlogging, I'm using this compost in my herb pots and it does hold the moisture very well.  Looks like I need to hunt around for some cheaper soil suppliers, hadn't though of scouring the local paper.

The plot I'm thinking of using is currently grassed.  Am I better off killing the grass (if so with what?) and digging it in or removing the turf?

[Trillium]

For killing off grass, you can go several ways, depending on what time and energy you've got to spend. You can Roundup the whole area and leave it for about 3-4 weeks to do its thing right down to the roots. Or, you can start digging up the turf and piling it upside down in piles which you cover with black tarp so it'll break down into useful soil. Or, you can place old carpeting, black plastic, etc on the grass in sections and let the grass die back in several weeks. Choice is yours.