Hi all. Been lurking for a few days and thought I would pick the brains of the very knowledgeable people here, if they don't mind!
I'm a complete gardening newbie, but I'm keen and eager to learn! I've got a very small back garden and no allotments near me, so we've decided to build some raised beds to accommodate the majority of the veg, but some will also be in pots on the patio.
We've decided to use decking boards (144mm wide) for the beds and line the sides with some kind of weed mat/black plastic to keep the soil in. We're hoping to fill in the beds with cardboard/newspaper at the bottom (they're going on previously planted, level, relatively weed-free ground), some bark and soil (soil to be removed from a patio extension we're also doing next weekend!), then some multi purpose compost I have lying around then a few gro-bags on top with maybe some sand mixed in. All three raise beds will be around 60cm wide (maybe a little more, but access will only be on one side of each!) in varying lengths - the shortest around two metres and the longest nearer three and arranged in a 'U' shape starting by the side of the shed, then along the back fence, then along the side fence. In the inner corners I intend to make some triangular raised beds for my dwarf fruit trees to go in with herbs around the base. As I said, the boards are 144mm wide (so high, for my purposes!) and I was thinking of using three per side, so a depth of around 44cm per bed - maybe we shall use four boards for the trees to give their roots more room.
So does any of that sound like a recipe for impending disaster? I'm not planning on growing anything too exotic, I may give melons a stab this year as I have some seed, but everything else will be reasonably normal UK crops (with the exception of the Purple Haze carrot seeds I couldn't resist!).
I already have two hanging baskets with three strawberry plants in each of them, I'm planning on adding more to my little strawberry family (more baskets, not more plants in the existing baskets!) and growing sweet 100 or tumbling toms and runner beans 'hestia' in baskets too as I can fit about 8 baskets around the garden. I already have some Kelvedon peas in a pot on the patio (not germinated yet though), a sweet pepper (or 20) waiting to germinate on the kitchen windowsill, leeks sown in a seed tray on the patio (again not germinated) and various herbs (some germinated ) on the kitchen sill. All of these were sown in the last week.
Thank you in advance
I'm a complete gardening newbie, but I'm keen and eager to learn! I've got a very small back garden and no allotments near me, so we've decided to build some raised beds to accommodate the majority of the veg, but some will also be in pots on the patio.
We've decided to use decking boards (144mm wide) for the beds and line the sides with some kind of weed mat/black plastic to keep the soil in. We're hoping to fill in the beds with cardboard/newspaper at the bottom (they're going on previously planted, level, relatively weed-free ground), some bark and soil (soil to be removed from a patio extension we're also doing next weekend!), then some multi purpose compost I have lying around then a few gro-bags on top with maybe some sand mixed in. All three raise beds will be around 60cm wide (maybe a little more, but access will only be on one side of each!) in varying lengths - the shortest around two metres and the longest nearer three and arranged in a 'U' shape starting by the side of the shed, then along the back fence, then along the side fence. In the inner corners I intend to make some triangular raised beds for my dwarf fruit trees to go in with herbs around the base. As I said, the boards are 144mm wide (so high, for my purposes!) and I was thinking of using three per side, so a depth of around 44cm per bed - maybe we shall use four boards for the trees to give their roots more room.
So does any of that sound like a recipe for impending disaster? I'm not planning on growing anything too exotic, I may give melons a stab this year as I have some seed, but everything else will be reasonably normal UK crops (with the exception of the Purple Haze carrot seeds I couldn't resist!).
I already have two hanging baskets with three strawberry plants in each of them, I'm planning on adding more to my little strawberry family (more baskets, not more plants in the existing baskets!) and growing sweet 100 or tumbling toms and runner beans 'hestia' in baskets too as I can fit about 8 baskets around the garden. I already have some Kelvedon peas in a pot on the patio (not germinated yet though), a sweet pepper (or 20) waiting to germinate on the kitchen windowsill, leeks sown in a seed tray on the patio (again not germinated) and various herbs (some germinated ) on the kitchen sill. All of these were sown in the last week.
Thank you in advance
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