Preping a raised bed for next year

Hello,

Firstly I'm new to growing, so bear with me!

I'm in the process of making a growing area that's about 4'x4' and will be raised slightly (2 sleepers high). The area has recently been rotivated as we're sorting out the garden in general. The main problem is that I have some Japanese Knotweed (I think thats what it's called - it looks like asparagus) growing. The soil also has alot of turf, and other weeds rotivated in as well.

Any suggestions on how to prepare the soil for next year so that its fertile, has good structure, etc? We have a reasonably clayie soil, and the patch gets a decent amount of light. Am I right in thinking that sharps sand is good to add to clay based soils? As I am going to need to add something to raise the level, I was thinking a combination of compost and top soil.

I was also considering caining it with weed killer and covering it with a tarpaulin until the winter and then add some well rotted manure.

I'm sure you'll guess from this post that I'm a complete newcomer. Go easy

Cheers,

Chris

We've got Mare's Tail taking over the front drive and it doesn't look the same. When it first sprouted it looked exactly like an asparagus spear. And in the space of a week or so its tripled in size.

Your thoughts?

Hi There,

By the sound of it - it does sound like Mare's Tail.

I have it in my garden and i have some that look like little Christmas tree's from the outset

BUT also some that are just small and thin (like you discribe) but they just don't open up.

I've never found a way of totally eliminating it - just containing it and digging it out when it comes - i never pull it up incase i snap it above the root !!!

Cheers

I'm hoping its Mare's Tail as JKW sounds worst than the plague! I'll upload a few photo's soon.

Saying it is MT, what would you guys recommend? Ideally I'd like to start growing in the bed next year, so if possible I wanted to avoid using harsh weed killer that's going to put it out of action for the next year.