All

I am new to gardening and am about to construct a series of raised garden
beds. I have a good idea as to how to build the frame BUT am a little
stumped as to what to fill it with. I can't believe that I have to fill the
whole thing with topsoil as my calculations lead me to believe that a 30' by
4' by 24" area would require 8.9 yards or 12.4 tons of topsoil. I assume
that I have to have a drainage media such as gravel or sand, a middle layer
of some material and top level of higher quality soil. Am I correct. If so
what should the middle layer and drainage area consist of in order to
provide an excellent growth medium for a mix of plants ? what are the
depths of these layers and should I mix in fertilizers as I put it in?

Hope these are good questions and if anyone has suggestions as to web
resources or books I can read on this topic I would be most grateful


Thanks

MK

you dont have to fill them this year. each year you can add compost and mulch with
marsh hay and the beds will gradually raise and the organic matter increase. good
for annuals, not great for perennials.
they are raised beds. you dont need gravel or sand, they will drain cause they are
raised.
we dug a pond. had a lot of dirt. needed someplace to put it or we'd have to haul
it away. we built raised beds. so plan and dig a pond and use that dirt in the
raised beds. on top of the generally good dirt we put compost and manure. we didnt
mix it in. I didnt want to mix weed seeds from our dirt and bring them to the top.
I dug a hole for the plants, mulched heavily. Ingrid

"theakson" wrote:
I can't believe that I have to fill the
whole thing with topsoil
I assume
that I have to have a drainage media such as gravel or sand, a middle layer
of some material and top level of higher quality soil. Am I correct. If so
what should the middle layer and drainage area consist of in order to
provide an excellent growth medium for a mix of plants ?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

wrote in message
...
you dont have to fill them this year. each year you can add compost and
mulch with
marsh hay and the beds will gradually raise and the organic matter
increase. good
for annuals, not great for perennials.
they are raised beds. you dont need gravel or sand, they will drain cause
they are
raised.
we dug a pond. had a lot of dirt. needed someplace to put it or we'd
have to haul
it away. we built raised beds. so plan and dig a pond and use that dirt
in the
raised beds. on top of the generally good dirt we put compost and manure.
we didnt
mix it in. I didnt want to mix weed seeds from our dirt and bring them to
the top.
I dug a hole for the plants, mulched heavily. Ingrid

"theakson" wrote:
I can't believe that I have to fill the
whole thing with topsoil
I assume
that I have to have a drainage media such as gravel or sand, a middle
layer
of some material and top level of higher quality soil. Am I correct. If
so
what should the middle layer and drainage area consist of in order to
provide an excellent growth medium for a mix of plants ?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Fill the bottom third with crushed granite and/or quartz gravel. This will
serve as the drainage layer. Do not use limestone or any other calcareous
rock.

Fill the top two thirds with a mixture of coarse builder's sand, humus and
ground sphagnum peat to make your soil.

Do not use "topsoil" because what you get under that name can be anything
and may have too much clay, weed seeds or even toxic chemicals, such as
salt, in it.



theakson wrote in message
om...
All

I am new to gardening and am about to construct a series of raised garden
beds. I have a good idea as to how to build the frame BUT am a little
stumped as to what to fill it with. I can't believe that I have to fill
the
whole thing with topsoil as my calculations lead me to believe that a 30'
by
4' by 24" area would require 8.9 yards or 12.4 tons of topsoil. I assume
that I have to have a drainage media such as gravel or sand, a middle
layer
of some material and top level of higher quality soil. Am I correct. If so
what should the middle layer and drainage area consist of in order to
provide an excellent growth medium for a mix of plants ? what are the
depths of these layers and should I mix in fertilizers as I put it in?

Hope these are good questions and if anyone has suggestions as to web
resources or books I can read on this topic I would be most grateful


Thanks

MK

thank you for your kind help Dr-solo as we are in Chicago it tends to be a
bad idea to have ponds due to the Mosquito problem we have. Thanks again

Theakson



wrote in message
...
you dont have to fill them this year. each year you can add compost and
mulch with
marsh hay and the beds will gradually raise and the organic matter
increase. good
for annuals, not great for perennials.
they are raised beds. you dont need gravel or sand, they will drain cause
they are
raised.
we dug a pond. had a lot of dirt. needed someplace to put it or we'd
have to haul
it away. we built raised beds. so plan and dig a pond and use that dirt
in the
raised beds. on top of the generally good dirt we put compost and manure.
we didnt
mix it in. I didnt want to mix weed seeds from our dirt and bring them to
the top.
I dug a hole for the plants, mulched heavily. Ingrid

"theakson" wrote:
I can't believe that I have to fill the
whole thing with topsoil
I assume
that I have to have a drainage media such as gravel or sand, a middle
layer
of some material and top level of higher quality soil. Am I correct. If
so
what should the middle layer and drainage area consist of in order to
provide an excellent growth medium for a mix of plants ?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

thanks for the great and detailed information
Theakson


"Cereoid+10+" wrote in message
.. .
Fill the bottom third with crushed granite and/or quartz gravel. This will
serve as the drainage layer. Do not use limestone or any other calcareous
rock.

Fill the top two thirds with a mixture of coarse builder's sand, humus and
ground sphagnum peat to make your soil.

Do not use "topsoil" because what you get under that name can be anything
and may have too much clay, weed seeds or even toxic chemicals, such as
salt, in it.



theakson wrote in message
om...
All

I am new to gardening and am about to construct a series of raised
garden
beds. I have a good idea as to how to build the frame BUT am a little
stumped as to what to fill it with. I can't believe that I have to fill
the
whole thing with topsoil as my calculations lead me to believe that a
30'
by
4' by 24" area would require 8.9 yards or 12.4 tons of topsoil. I assume
that I have to have a drainage media such as gravel or sand, a middle
layer
of some material and top level of higher quality soil. Am I correct. If
so
what should the middle layer and drainage area consist of in order to
provide an excellent growth medium for a mix of plants ? what are the
depths of these layers and should I mix in fertilizers as I put it in?

Hope these are good questions and if anyone has suggestions as to web
resources or books I can read on this topic I would be most grateful


Thanks

MK

"theakson" wrote in message
om...
thank you for your kind help Dr-solo as we are in Chicago it tends to be a
bad idea to have ponds due to the Mosquito problem we have. Thanks again

Theakson

Actually, here in Florida where the state bird should be the mosquito,
having a pond or water feature stocked with fish reduces the mosquito
population because the mosquito larvae are consumed by the fish rather than
growing to adults in other habitats. Before we installed the water feature
we couldn't stay outside in the summer longer than 10 minutes without the
skeeters writing their names on us..........now we can sit outside all
night.

wrote in message
...
you dont have to fill them this year. each year you can add compost and
mulch with
marsh hay and the beds will gradually raise and the organic matter
increase. good
for annuals, not great for perennials.
they are raised beds. you dont need gravel or sand, they will drain
cause
they are
raised.
we dug a pond. had a lot of dirt. needed someplace to put it or we'd
have to haul
it away. we built raised beds. so plan and dig a pond and use that
dirt
in the
raised beds. on top of the generally good dirt we put compost and
manure.
we didnt
mix it in. I didnt want to mix weed seeds from our dirt and bring them
to
the top.
I dug a hole for the plants, mulched heavily. Ingrid

"theakson" wrote:
I can't believe that I have to fill the
whole thing with topsoil
I assume
that I have to have a drainage media such as gravel or sand, a middle
layer
of some material and top level of higher quality soil. Am I correct. If
so
what should the middle layer and drainage area consist of in order to
provide an excellent growth medium for a mix of plants ?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

volts500 wrote:

Actually, here in Florida where the state bird should be the
mosquito,
having a pond or water feature stocked with fish reduces the mosquito
population because the mosquito larvae are consumed by the fish rather
than
growing to adults in other habitats. Before we installed the water
feature
we couldn't stay outside in the summer longer than 10 minutes without
the
skeeters writing their names on us..........now we can sit outside all
night.


Before you had the water feature, the mosquitoes in your yard were bread
someplace else. I understand that the larvae in your pond never mature,
but what happened to the mosquitoes that were maturing where they were
coming from before?

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.

"Warren" wrote in message
news:J6uha.18342$Zo.7177@sccrnsc03...


Before you had the water feature, the mosquitoes in your yard were bread
someplace else. I understand that the larvae in your pond never mature,
but what happened to the mosquitoes that were maturing where they were
coming from before?

--
Warren H.

Interesting question. Evidently they are still there.....wherever they came
from. The neighbors come over and comment how they can't go outside their
homes without getting attacked by mosquitoes. We still get bit from time to
time, but not anywhere close to what it was. Are you suggesting that the
decrease in mosquitoes around my house may be attributed to something else?
If so, what could it be? We did remove most of the grass (er,
weeds)........about 3/4's of the property now is some sort of plant or bush
(mostly butterfly attractors and host plants) and a small vegetable garden.
I'm probably just as guilty as the next guy when it comes to forgetting that
I left a container of some sort out where it can collect water. I imagine
the treefrogs, toads, dragonflies, and other creatures attracted to the
water feature contribute to the decrease in mosquitoes too.

I think the grass clearing helped a lot. We are smack in the middle of
Chicago and have a pretty big garden we got eaten alive the year we didn't
cut the grass.

TK


"volts500" wrote in message
m...

"Warren" wrote in message
news:J6uha.18342$Zo.7177@sccrnsc03...


Before you had the water feature, the mosquitoes in your yard were bread
someplace else. I understand that the larvae in your pond never mature,
but what happened to the mosquitoes that were maturing where they were
coming from before?

--
Warren H.

Interesting question. Evidently they are still there.....wherever they
came
from. The neighbors come over and comment how they can't go outside their
homes without getting attacked by mosquitoes. We still get bit from time
to
time, but not anywhere close to what it was. Are you suggesting that the
decrease in mosquitoes around my house may be attributed to something
else?
If so, what could it be? We did remove most of the grass (er,
weeds)........about 3/4's of the property now is some sort of plant or
bush
(mostly butterfly attractors and host plants) and a small vegetable
garden.
I'm probably just as guilty as the next guy when it comes to forgetting
that
I left a container of some sort out where it can collect water. I imagine
the treefrogs, toads, dragonflies, and other creatures attracted to the
water feature contribute to the decrease in mosquitoes too.

I am just north of you in Milwaukee. a couple fish and there are no mosquito
problems. my friend grows water lilies. has ponds all over and altho she is right
on the edge of a marsh with perfect mosquito breeding area she has almost no
mosquitoes at all. she DOESNT cut the brush or trees on nearly 40 acres except right
near the ponds and house ... but she uses no pesticides either, and the dragonfly,
darning needles and the thousands of frogs and toads and every other kind of thing
that eats mosquitoes thrives. Ingrid

"theakson" wrote:
thank you for your kind help Dr-solo as we are in Chicago it tends to be a
bad idea to have ponds due to the Mosquito problem we have. Thanks again


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.