Filling raised beds

[Tony]

I plan to make a few raised beds for various places around my property over
the next few weeks. I'm doing this mainly because my existing soil isn't
very good and the beds would also look nice in the landscaping.

I currently have nothing to fill the raised beds with. I'm looking for
something economical. A local nursery suggested very fine grind mulch.
They indicated that is what they used to pot up all the things they sell.

I figured that a truckload of that plus organics that I could buy to
supplement it might work nicely and it's not outrageously expensive. Anyone
have any other suggestions?

I'm located in northwest Florida.

Tony

[Dwayne]

It will depend on what you want to plant in the raised beds. Almost
everything will do good in 1/2 dirt, 1/4 compost, and 1/4 sand. If you are
planting blueberries, you will need to put in some peat moss also. Good
luck. Dwayne



"Tony" > wrote in message
news:4799EE8549186942.5DA3DEDA59568053.C986D994140 ...
> I plan to make a few raised beds for various places around my property
over
> the next few weeks. I'm doing this mainly because my existing soil isn't
> very good and the beds would also look nice in the landscaping.
>
> I currently have nothing to fill the raised beds with. I'm looking for
> something economical. A local nursery suggested very fine grind mulch.
> They indicated that is what they used to pot up all the things they sell.
>
> I figured that a truckload of that plus organics that I could buy to
> supplement it might work nicely and it's not outrageously expensive.
Anyone
> have any other suggestions?
>
> I'm located in northwest Florida.
>
> Tony
>
>

[Betsy]

Get the book "lasagna gardening" It has some great ideas for filling raised
beds.

"Dwayne" > wrote in message
...
> It will depend on what you want to plant in the raised beds. Almost
> everything will do good in 1/2 dirt, 1/4 compost, and 1/4 sand. If you
are
> planting blueberries, you will need to put in some peat moss also. Good
> luck. Dwayne
>
>
>
> "Tony" > wrote in message
> news:4799EE8549186942.5DA3DEDA59568053.C986D994140 ...
> > I plan to make a few raised beds for various places around my property
> over
> > the next few weeks. I'm doing this mainly because my existing soil
isn't
> > very good and the beds would also look nice in the landscaping.
> >
> > I currently have nothing to fill the raised beds with. I'm looking for
> > something economical. A local nursery suggested very fine grind mulch.
> > They indicated that is what they used to pot up all the things they
sell.
> >
> > I figured that a truckload of that plus organics that I could buy to
> > supplement it might work nicely and it's not outrageously expensive.
> Anyone
> > have any other suggestions?
> >
> > I'm located in northwest Florida.
> >
> > Tony
> >
> >
>
>

[simy1]

"Tony" > wrote in message news:<4799EE8549186942.5DA3DEDA59568053.C986D994140E74A2 @lp.airnews.net>...
> I plan to make a few raised beds for various places around my property over
> the next few weeks. I'm doing this mainly because my existing soil isn't
> very good and the beds would also look nice in the landscaping.
>
> I currently have nothing to fill the raised beds with. I'm looking for
> something economical. A local nursery suggested very fine grind mulch.
> They indicated that is what they used to pot up all the things they sell.
>
> I figured that a truckload of that plus organics that I could buy to
> supplement it might work nicely and it's not outrageously expensive. Anyone
> have any other suggestions?
>
> I'm located in northwest Florida.
>
> Tony

First, don't fill them. For fertilization purposes (assuming you grow
veggies), you will have to add two inches of manure every year (sandy
soil) to three years (clay). Leave at least five inches to the top -
that will buy you ten years or so before they fill up.
Find someone who owns horses or cows and get a truckload of manure.
That will come free and is a better fertilizer than other bulk
materials such as leaves woodchips or straw. Here tree contractors
will bring you unlimited amounts of woodchips for free, but they take
a long time to disintegrate, acidify the soil, and have medium
fertility. They are the best for perennials, fruit trees, and
acid-loving plants.

[Fleemo]

"Tony" > wrote in message news:<4799EE8549186942.5DA3DEDA59568053.C986D994140E74A2 @lp.airnews.net>...
> I plan to make a few raised beds for various places around my property over
> the next few weeks. I'm doing this mainly because my existing soil isn't
> very good and the beds would also look nice in the landscaping.
>
> I currently have nothing to fill the raised beds with. I'm looking for
> something economical. A local nursery suggested very fine grind mulch.
> They indicated that is what they used to pot up all the things they sell.
>
> I figured that a truckload of that plus organics that I could buy to
> supplement it might work nicely and it's not outrageously expensive. Anyone
> have any other suggestions?
>
> I'm located in northwest Florida.
>
> Tony

When I built my raised beds, I did a lot of shopping around at various
landscape supply places to find not only the best price, but the best
soil to fill my beds. My girlfriend thought I was crazy, driving
around town comparing dirt, but I found huge differences in both the
price of the material and the quality.

Many places will offer several different "blends" of soil, good for
specific uses such as establishing a lawn or growing roses. I would
recommend you go with what many places call a "Gardener's Blend",
which consists of nearly equal parts of quality topsoil and compost.

-Fleemo

[Dwayne]

Dont use fresh manure........ If you do, you will be weeding out all the
plants from the seeds eaten by what ever produced the manure. Dwayne


From: "simy1" >
Subject: Re: Filling raised beds
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 11:22 AM

"Tony" > wrote in message
news:<4799EE8549186942.5DA3DEDA59568053.C986D994140E74A2 @lp.airnews.net>...
> I plan to make a few raised beds for various places around my property
over
> the next few weeks. I'm doing this mainly because my existing soil isn't
> very good and the beds would also look nice in the landscaping.
>
> I currently have nothing to fill the raised beds with. I'm looking for
> something economical. A local nursery suggested very fine grind mulch.
> They indicated that is what they used to pot up all the things they sell.
>
> I figured that a truckload of that plus organics that I could buy to
> supplement it might work nicely and it's not outrageously expensive.
Anyone
> have any other suggestions?
>
> I'm located in northwest Florida.
>
> Tony

First, don't fill them. For fertilization purposes (assuming you grow
veggies), you will have to add two inches of manure every year (sandy
soil) to three years (clay). Leave at least five inches to the top -
that will buy you ten years or so before they fill up.
Find someone who owns horses or cows and get a truckload of manure.
That will come free and is a better fertilizer than other bulk
materials such as leaves woodchips or straw. Here tree contractors
will bring you unlimited amounts of woodchips for free, but they take
a long time to disintegrate, acidify the soil, and have medium
fertility. They are the best for perennials, fruit trees, and
acid-loving plants.

[simy1]

"Dwayne" > wrote in message >...
> Dont use fresh manure........ If you do, you will be weeding out all the
> plants from the seeds eaten by what ever produced the manure. Dwayne
>
>

I agree that fresh manure is quite seedy, however cow is far worse
than horse, and horse is quite manageable. The guy is starting new
beds and he is certain to have a fertility problem initially. Manure
is the best way to deal with that. The next layer can be any of the
seedless mulches, and if he does not dig too much it should be all
right.

[Ann]

(simy1) expounded:

>I agree that fresh manure is quite seedy, however cow is far worse
>than horse, and horse is quite manageable.

You have that exactly backwards. A cow ruminates, which grinds up
more weed seeds than a horse, who gobbles and basically just passes
the food right through. Horse manure is far weedier than cow. That
being said, many people have more access to horse, if it's properly
composted, it's far better than no manure at all. Composting will
kill more of the weed seeds (although cow manure also needs
composting).

--
Ann, Gardening in zone 6a
Just south of Boston, MA
********************************

[Fleemo]

You can get big ol' honkin' bags of manure for less than a buck a
piece at home improvement stores like Home Depot, which will go a long
way toward improving your existing soil and not break the bank.

Unless I'm mistaken, the commercial manures have already been
composted and are ready to use in your garden.

-Fleemo

[Tom Jaszewski]

On 14 Feb 2003 00:05:23 -0800, (Fleemo) wrote:

>Unless I'm mistaken, the commercial manures have already been
>composted and are ready to use in your garden.


Yup mistaken alright, if they smell like shit they are. Good compost
smells like an earthy humus, no traces of fecal smells.



Regards,

tomj

[simy1]

Ann > wrote in message >...
> (simy1) expounded:
>
> >I agree that fresh manure is quite seedy, however cow is far worse
> >than horse, and horse is quite manageable.
>
> You have that exactly backwards. A cow ruminates, which grinds up
> more weed seeds than a horse, who gobbles and basically just passes
> the food right through. Horse manure is far weedier than cow. That
> being said, many people have more access to horse, if it's properly
> composted, it's far better than no manure at all. Composting will
> kill more of the weed seeds (although cow manure also needs
> composting).

You may be right about that. But probably the basic difference is that
(my) horses are not out to pasture. That prevents them from, say,
ingesting any wood sorrel seeds. It is not like I invented the whole
concept. This is what I found out with different sources of manure.

[zhanataya]

On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 17:02:57 -0600, "Tony" >
wrote:

>I plan to make a few raised beds for various places around my property over
>the next few weeks. I'm doing this mainly because my existing soil isn't
>very good and the beds would also look nice in the landscaping.
>
>I currently have nothing to fill the raised beds with. I'm looking for
>something economical. A local nursery suggested very fine grind mulch.
>They indicated that is what they used to pot up all the things they sell.
>
>I figured that a truckload of that plus organics that I could buy to
>supplement it might work nicely and it's not outrageously expensive. Anyone
>have any other suggestions?
>
>I'm located in northwest Florida.
>
>Tony
>

There are several places around Pensacola and Milton that sell compost
by the yard. I didn't think their prices were so bad. I mixed
dehydrated cow manure with it for my container gardens. In central
Florida IIRC I think I used one yard for a 4' X 12' vegetable garden.

zhan