Post on 11-Jul-2015
Topic three: Prepare a garden bed for planting
Have you got what it takes?
Creating soil to fill the bed with
Topic three: Prepare a garden bed for planting
Adding soil to your raised bed
The advantage of raised
beds is that you can
easily add …
• compost
• topsoil
• potting mix
• dried manures
Or any combination of
the above to improve on
the soil you already have.
Topic three: Prepare a garden bed for planting
Adding Compost
Compost is ready for use
when it has broken down
and you can’t tell what
the raw materials were
that made it up.
It should be a dark colour,
crumbly and full of
worms.
This is home made. Why
would you buy it when
you can make your own!
Topic three: Prepare a garden bed for planting
There are many types of
commercial composts
available for purchase.
Mushroom compost has a
wonderful spongy
structure.
Add all composts thinly
and regularly, working
them into the soil with a
garden fork.
Adding Compost
Never sniff them – they can be a health haszard!
Topic three: Prepare a garden bed for planting
You can top your bed
up with extra
topsoil, but it is hard
to get hold of and
expensive.
Make sure you break
it up well and
thoroughly mix it
into your existing
soil.
Adding Topsoil
Always check that it is weed free.
Topic three: Prepare a garden bed for planting
You can use dried animal manures to top your raised
bed up. Like using compost, light regular additions worked regularly into the soil gives the best results.
Adding Manures