Hi all,

I am strating to make use of some old raised beds thay are 30 feet by 4 feet
wide an 3 feet high - I have repaired the brickwork but have a question.
I have removed all the soil and have found a layer of crushed rock, should I
line the structure with polythene and make draine holes in the bottom or
just pile in a mix of soil, potting compost and rotted manure. I have also
laid on water to each so that I can install a trickle hose in each.

Bob

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I am strating to make use of some old raised beds thay are 30 feet by 4
feet
wide an 3 feet high - I have repaired the brickwork but have a question.
I have removed all the soil and have found a layer of crushed rock, should
I
line the structure with polythene and make draine holes in the bottom or
just pile in a mix of soil, potting compost and rotted manure. I have
also
laid on water to each so that I can install a trickle hose in each.

Bob



I'd use a layer of weed-suppressing membrane rather than polythene as it'll
do the same job but more effectively unless you happen to have the polythene
already. Don't just put the soil in direct as it'll wash down into the gaps
and the surface will sink. If you want to make loads of holes in polythene
quickly, roll it up into a sausage and stab it with a garden fork - much
quicker than making the holes individually.

--
Martin & Anna Sykes
( Remove x's when replying )
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm

The old way was to put in your rubble etc, then cover with turf laid grass
down on top then the soil to fill.

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I am strating to make use of some old raised beds thay are 30 feet by 4
feet
wide an 3 feet high - I have repaired the brickwork but have a question.
I have removed all the soil and have found a layer of crushed rock, should
I
line the structure with polythene and make draine holes in the bottom or
just pile in a mix of soil, potting compost and rotted manure. I have
also
laid on water to each so that I can install a trickle hose in each.

Bob



I'd use a layer of weed-suppressing membrane rather than polythene as it'll
do the same job but more effectively unless you happen to have the polythene
already. Don't just put the soil in direct as it'll wash down into the gaps
and the surface will sink. If you want to make loads of holes in polythene
quickly, roll it up into a sausage and stab it with a garden fork - much
quicker than making the holes individually.

--
Martin & Anna Sykes
( Remove x's when replying )
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm

The message
from "Bob" contains these words:

Hi all,

I am strating to make use of some old raised beds thay are 30 feet by 4 feet
wide an 3 feet high - I have repaired the brickwork but have a question.
I have removed all the soil and have found a layer of crushed rock, should I
line the structure with polythene and make draine holes in the bottom or
just pile in a mix of soil, potting compost and rotted manure. I have also
laid on water to each so that I can install a trickle hose in each.

There's no need to line it. The crushed brick is to let rain drain out.

Janet.

The old way was to put in your rubble etc, then cover with turf laid grass
down on top then the soil to fill.

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

The message
from "Bob" contains these words:

Hi all,

I am strating to make use of some old raised beds thay are 30 feet by 4 feet
wide an 3 feet high - I have repaired the brickwork but have a question.
I have removed all the soil and have found a layer of crushed rock, should I
line the structure with polythene and make draine holes in the bottom or
just pile in a mix of soil, potting compost and rotted manure. I have also
laid on water to each so that I can install a trickle hose in each.

There's no need to line it. The crushed brick is to let rain drain out.

Janet.

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 21:41:05 GMT, Janet Baraclough.. wrote:

The message
from "Bob" contains these words:

Hi all,

I am strating to make use of some old raised beds thay are 30 feet by 4 feet
wide an 3 feet high - I have repaired the brickwork but have a question.
I have removed all the soil and have found a layer of crushed rock, should I
line the structure with polythene and make draine holes in the bottom or
just pile in a mix of soil, potting compost and rotted manure. I have also
laid on water to each so that I can install a trickle hose in each.

There's no need to line it. The crushed brick is to let rain drain out.

And there's no need for such crushed rock/brick drainage material
unless the soil beneath is truly badly drained -- and in that
case, the excess water will trickle out anyway if there are small
interstices around the foot of the beds' walls.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 21:41:05 GMT, Janet Baraclough.. wrote:

The message
from "Bob" contains these words:

Hi all,

I am strating to make use of some old raised beds thay are 30 feet by 4 feet
wide an 3 feet high - I have repaired the brickwork but have a question.
I have removed all the soil and have found a layer of crushed rock, should I
line the structure with polythene and make draine holes in the bottom or
just pile in a mix of soil, potting compost and rotted manure. I have also
laid on water to each so that I can install a trickle hose in each.

There's no need to line it. The crushed brick is to let rain drain out.

And there's no need for such crushed rock/brick drainage material
unless the soil beneath is truly badly drained -- and in that
case, the excess water will trickle out anyway if there are small
interstices around the foot of the beds' walls.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

The message
from lid (Rodger Whitlock) contains these words:

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 21:41:05 GMT, Janet Baraclough.. wrote:

The message
from "Bob" contains these words:

Hi all,

I am strating to make use of some old raised beds thay are 30 feet
by 4 feet
wide an 3 feet high - I have repaired the brickwork but have a question.
I have removed all the soil and have found a layer of crushed
rock, should I
line the structure with polythene and make draine holes in the bottom or
just pile in a mix of soil, potting compost and rotted manure. I
have also
laid on water to each so that I can install a trickle hose in each.

There's no need to line it. The crushed brick is to let rain drain out.

And there's no need for such crushed rock/brick drainage material
unless the soil beneath is truly badly drained -- and in that
case, the excess water will trickle out anyway if there are small
interstices around the foot of the beds' walls.

I was wondering if the old raised beds were made for
alpines/rockplants; maybe with glass lights over the top in winter to
keep rain off; I've seen a picture of something similar in an old
gardening book. The broken brick drainage would make sense for alpines.

Janet

The message
from lid (Rodger Whitlock) contains these words:

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 21:41:05 GMT, Janet Baraclough.. wrote:

The message
from "Bob" contains these words:

Hi all,

I am strating to make use of some old raised beds thay are 30 feet
by 4 feet
wide an 3 feet high - I have repaired the brickwork but have a question.
I have removed all the soil and have found a layer of crushed
rock, should I
line the structure with polythene and make draine holes in the bottom or
just pile in a mix of soil, potting compost and rotted manure. I
have also
laid on water to each so that I can install a trickle hose in each.

There's no need to line it. The crushed brick is to let rain drain out.

And there's no need for such crushed rock/brick drainage material
unless the soil beneath is truly badly drained -- and in that
case, the excess water will trickle out anyway if there are small
interstices around the foot of the beds' walls.

I was wondering if the old raised beds were made for
alpines/rockplants; maybe with glass lights over the top in winter to
keep rain off; I've seen a picture of something similar in an old
gardening book. The broken brick drainage would make sense for alpines.

Janet

You could be right about the beds being used for alpines, when I unearthed
them after what seems to be 35 years growth of weeds, shrubs and trees I
found a frame above each one about 2 feet above soil level it foxed me what
they were used for. I have 6 of these raised beds and so far have cleaned
and repaired three of them. I have also build a path though the centre of
them as to get to the rest of the garden meant zigzagging between each one.
I took down the frames when I emptied them. the soil in the frames
originally was about 50:50 compost and crushed brickwork. I am going to
use these beds for vegetables at least for this season.

Bob




"
I was wondering if the old raised beds were made for
alpines/rockplants; maybe with glass lights over the top in winter to
keep rain off; I've seen a picture of something similar in an old
gardening book. The broken brick drainage would make sense for alpines.

Janet

You could be right about the beds being used for alpines, when I unearthed
them after what seems to be 35 years growth of weeds, shrubs and trees I
found a frame above each one about 2 feet above soil level it foxed me what
they were used for. I have 6 of these raised beds and so far have cleaned
and repaired three of them. I have also build a path though the centre of
them as to get to the rest of the garden meant zigzagging between each one.
I took down the frames when I emptied them. the soil in the frames
originally was about 50:50 compost and crushed brickwork. I am going to
use these beds for vegetables at least for this season.

Bob




"
I was wondering if the old raised beds were made for
alpines/rockplants; maybe with glass lights over the top in winter to
keep rain off; I've seen a picture of something similar in an old
gardening book. The broken brick drainage would make sense for alpines.

Janet

I've just invested in 12 scaffolding planks to start dragging some order
into my vegetable garden. I was going to lay them and cut another to
make the top ends and whack a piece of wood into each corner and screw
the planks to them. However a carpenter said I might just as well nail
the scaffolding planks to each other. Is this okay?

How level do I need t make the long sides and what do I put down between
the rows to make it as easy as possible to trundle up and down between
the beds?

I am hoping to dollop a load of compost onto each bed which well mean I
don't have to dig very deep

janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 21:20:07 -0000, Bob wrote:

You could be right about the beds being used for alpines, when I unearthed
them after what seems to be 35 years growth of weeds, shrubs and trees I
found a frame above each one about 2 feet above soil level it foxed me what
they were used for.

Aha! Bulb frames. Used to grow tempermental bulbs that take
exception to Britain's damp climate.

I think Wisley has bulb frames, so you might go take a gander if
you're in the neighborhood to see how they are used.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]