In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:
Billy wrote:
In article ,
FredAt wrote:
Hello All,
I am in the process of planning a raised garden behind my new house.
The raised area is around 6m long and 7m wide ending in a tall
embankment. Half of it gets strong sunshine till around 14:00h
during the summer and is then in the shade. The other half,
including the embankment, remains exposed to sunshine till late in
the evening during the summer months.
I will be building walls to raise the area to be able to walk out of
the French windows at the back of my house. I need to backfill and
then put top soil to a height of 1.2m. I have several questions
a. How much top soil, i.e. depth, should I put in. By and large
what we will have there will be a mixture of herbs, leek, cabbages,
carrots etc.
.6 meters of top soil would be fine.
Some flowers a couple of apple trees and perhaps a cherry tree.
One apple, or cherry tree can be 9 meters wide, you could espalier
them against a wall, but they do take a lot of space.
b. What do I need to know about the type of top soil to use - I live
in Luxembourg. We get around 900mm of rain per year and the soil is
very well drained.
Good garden soil is 30-40% sand, 30-40% silt, and 10-20% clay with
organic matter being 5-10% of the preceding mix.
c. How can I put the embankment to good use - it rises to a height of
around 12m at an angle of around 25° (quite steep) and is currently
covered in brambles and the like
What is its orientation to your planned garden, north, south, east, or
west of it? If to the north or east, it may be a good spot to espalier
your fruit trees, you could put in terraces for more vegetables or
ornamentals.
If you aren't planning on gardening this year, I'd suggest sowing with
buckwheat, or rye, or a general mix of "green manure".
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1228.html
http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/covercrops.html
The easiest way to make your garden is with a no-dig lasagna garden.
http://organicgardening.about.com/od...en/a/lasagnaga
rden.htm
Personally, I lay down my soil amendments (chicken manure, bone meal,
wood ash) over any weeds that may be in the garden area. That is then
covered with newspaper (most newsprint in the US, and I presume
Europe, is soy based ink, check with the printer) or cardboard, and
this then is covered with organic mulch (I use alfalfa/lucerne) to a
depth of 10 - 60 cm. Spray the garden beds with water until they are
thoroughly soaked and then wait 2 - 6 weeks before planting. I must
admit that sometimes I plant immediately, but I run the risk of weeds
when I do.
I'd much appreciate any help
Gut glück, bonne chance, and all that sort of thing.
Billy
You have missed the point. The OP wants to build the area up, he is talking
of the order of 50 cubic metres of fill if read him correctly, that's a lot
of lasagne.
David
Garden
6m long and 7m wide (suggested 2 ft. deep)
= 20' X 23' 4" X 2'
= 936 cu. ft. = 26.5 cu. meters
Surface area = 466 sq. ft. = 43.3 sq. meters
Mulch = 466 sq. ft. X 2' = 932 sq. ft. = 26.4 cu. meters max.
= 466 sq. ft. X.3' = 140 sq. ft. = 4 cu. meters min.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html