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I have a 15ft x 15ft plot and i'm dying to get it planted up. Just waiting for the last frosts to be finished! So i'm planning to plant in rows but the soil seems to compact down very easily. I have read somewhere that compacted soil is bad cos the plant roots cant get into it. So how do i avoid compacting the soil? I have to walk on it, dont i?
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Thats the beauty of the bed system. You only walk on the paths and never on the beds!
My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)
Diversify & prosper
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If you haven't room for beds that you can work fro either side and you really must walk on it then use a plank to spread the weight .........S*d the housework I have a lottie to dig
a batch of jam is always an act of creation ..Christine Ferber
You can't beat a bit of garden pornComment
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Most people use something like a scaffold board or anything that spreads your weight to stand on.
Can be a faff but it works.Comment
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!5ft by 15ft doesn't give much room for beds .......S*d the housework I have a lottie to dig
a batch of jam is always an act of creation ..Christine Ferber
You can't beat a bit of garden pornComment
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Grow in beds. These can be raised or not as suits you. You don't walk on the beds, so if you start out with compacted soil you dig them once, and after that only to harvest things like potatoes and roots. Beds are typically four feet wide, so that you can work them from the paths, and as long as you like.Comment
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If you can't be phaffed using boards, make some compacted paths between 4 foot wide beds as mentioned above.sigpic“Gorillas are very intelligent, but they don't have to be as delicate as chimps -- they can just smash open the termite nest,”
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9 beds, each 4' x 4'Originally posted by binley100 View Post
with 1.5' paths in between them
Is my maths right?
I couldn't find a 9 bed plan, here's a nice pic of a 4-bed to give you the gist
Last edited by Two_Sheds; 15-05-2012, 06:39 PM.All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.Comment
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I think I'd have four long beds and lose the path up the middle ........or even make it a sort of E shape with four legs instead of three .....Last edited by binley100; 15-05-2012, 06:41 PM.S*d the housework I have a lottie to dig
a batch of jam is always an act of creation ..Christine Ferber
You can't beat a bit of garden pornComment
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beds are the eventual plan but the money just doesnt stretch as far as i'd like! I'll have a nosy in b&q to find some decent (and cheap!) planks.Comment
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Do you know anyone in a scaffolding company, they usually give away old boards, they are like gold dust hereComment
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As said, try to get your hands on some scaffolding planks, if you want edged beds that is. You can make beds without edging. Think it's called Lazy Beds or something like that. Sure someone will provide a link.Last edited by Maccabee; 15-05-2012, 07:33 PM.Comment
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As has been said above somewhere ^^^^, you don't need to edge the beds. By not making fixed beds at the outset you can try it out and see if the layout works for you. If not, next year, change it to something that does!
15' wide would give your 3 x 4' wide strip beds with 2 x 1.5 ' (18") paths between each - assuming that you have access to the outer edges from another path.. For now, you could cover the paths with cardboard, or any mulch, to define it - or just keep walking it!Comment
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Stop your other half walking on them lol Mine is forever walking on the plot even though I keep telling him not to.Gardening ..... begins with daybreak
and ends with backache
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With a space that small I wouldn't bother growing in rows. You'll get far more produce by block planting or square foot gardening. Make regular successional sowings rather than putting all in at once. If you remove salad crops from the equation by growing them in assorted containers you can use the plot for 'proper' veg.Comment
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