Raised Veggie Garden and lots of ?s

mkwt

My sweet DH made me raised veggie garden over the weekend!  I have some questions that I am sure you all can help me with.  We have red clay dirt in our backyard, so we can not use it for gardening, it kills everything.  My questions are:"  should I put down the black landscape fabric over the lawn now?  What kind of dirt should I put in my veggie garden, it is about 3 landscape timbers in depth, so that is going to cost me a fortune in potting soil, any other options??  I live in East TN, so it is already getting nice here and I would like to put out some veggie after Easter, thanks for you help!

 

another KT

I wouldn't put landscape fabric at the bottom of the raised bed.  I would just add the soil on top.  Many garden centers will deliver loam and compost by the cubic yard.  Many farms will let you take manure for free but make sure it is composted or compost it yourself.  I'd start there.  Some towns offer compost for free from the landfill/transfer station but I wouldn't use it on my vegetable bed because you usually don't know what was included (i.e. street sweepings could have all sorts of stuff in there).

alliapistor

You'll get mixed opinions on whether to put down the landscape fabric.  Some people like it and others hate it.  One option is to put down newspaper this first year.  It will kill the grass and prevent weeds this year and then break down and improve the soil in the future.

I would definitely not use potting soil.  Way too expensive.  I agree with pp regarding potential options for cheap compost or mulch.  Also check on Craig's List, but be wary of any free "fill dirt" as it may not be any better or even worse than your clay soil.

Personally, I used the recipe for Mel's Mix from Square Foot Gardening when I created my raised bed (1/3 each compost, peat moss and vermiculite).  It's 3' x 12'.  I forget the total cost.  It wasn't cheap, but since it is a do it once type of thing, it wasn't too bad.

Dr.Loretta

If you google raised bed gardens, you'll get a "recipe" for what kind of soil should go into your raised bed.

I put down landscape fabric right before I tossed in the dirt and everything grew fine.

GL

rubyiu

We have a local company who delivers a variety of soils, composts and mulches. I get a 50/50 blend - half compost, half topsoil. I get a whole truckload and use it in my garden and then extra goes in all my other beds.

Go_Dawgs

Hi!  I'm in Atlanta, and we also have that red clay.  I laid down cardboard and then landscape fabric in the bottom of my box, and then filled with Miracle Grow soil for vegetables.  The soil did cost a fortune, but I didn't really look into alternatives.

VanessaOSU

I would not put down landscape fabric or plastic because you want plants to be able to below the bottom of the raised beds to pull water and nutrients if necessary.  But I do agree with the newspaper suggestion.  The newspaper will help kill off the grass and weeds but will decompose so it isn't a permanent blocker.

I also do a 50/50 mix of topsoil and compost.  The company layers it in the truck for me and then just dump it off.  After the first year I then just amend with plain compost.

WhiteGarden

Hey,  I have 2 raised beds and we basically got topsoil from a local country guy (cheap, but decent quality for topsoil), and then mixed in a few bags of compost in each.   It took some work but we worked it together to create a decent, usable blend.

I think what you do with the bottom layer of the bed may also depend on what you plan to grow.  Carrots need looser, deeper soil, and landscape fabric may cause them to grow crooked.  Also, one suggestion that I read AFTER we prepared our beds was to put a layer of gravel at the very bottom to help with drainage.  I somewhat wish we had tried this, but I'm not sure how it would help year after year, especially since we till up our beds.

 Good luck!

shayc1225

I moved into my house last year and didn't know anything about Gardening (I'm still learning). I purchase a 4x4 raised garden bed and first laid down newspaper and then gardening fabric. I have a couple of different ivy that grow like crazy (thanks to a neighbor) and was nervous of it making its way to the garden.

Since then I have gotten rid of my lovely neighbors ivy and have removed the dirt to get rid of the garden fabric and lined the bed again with newspaper. Fingers crossed I hope for the ivy not to come to my garden.

The mixture of dirt is 1/3 peatmoss, garden soil and compost. Last year I had so many veggies I didnt know what to do with them! I'm praying for another great gardening season.

 Good Luck