Raised Bed Soil

[remist17]

I am making 6 new raised beds for growing stock trees. I am building them into a side of a hill so I am adding soil. Currently I have some discount top soil in there mixed with some homegrown manure (it has set for 2 years). I would like to light up the soil some. should I add vermiculite or something else?

thanks

 

[GrimLore]

I am making 6 new raised beds for growing stock trees. I am building them into a side of a hill so I am adding soil. Currently I have some discount top soil in there mixed with some homegrown manure (it has set for 2 years). I would like to light up the soil some. should I add vermiculite or something else?

thanks

Dry Stall would be far less expensive and really help with root air requirements especially during the rainy season.

Grimmy

 

[remist17]

Dry stall is about 14 a bag. Vermiculite is about 5 a bag. I was thinking about dry stall but only have three bags in my inventory.

 

[GrimLore]

Dry stall is about 14 a bag. Vermiculite is about 5 a bag. I was thinking about dry stall but only have three bags in my inventory.

You get that vermiculite at the Supply place? Seems to be a lot more expensive here,

Grimmy

 

[remist17]

Vermiculite at a nursery in Dover
Dry stall at southern States in MD.

 

[Stan Kengai]

I have had raised beds for about 10 years now, and if I were to make another, here's what I would do.

70% compost blend - manure, mushroom, forest product (the more kinds the better, like a balanced diet)

15% pumice (or perlite for budgetary concerns) The problem with vermiculite is that is appears to break down after just a few years.

15% bonsai substrate fines - turface, lava, haydite, sand, grit etc (might as well get some use out of them)

This is what my beds have turned into after adding in my fines and used substrate over the last several years.

 

[GrimLore]

I get the Dry Stall, and Turkey Grit at the local Agway Their pricing on that is great but vermiculite and perlite is expensive there.

Grimmy

 

[Dav4]

Organic material worked into the soil and/or laid on top as a mulch will help to fix almost any problem. Peat moss, compost, chopped and mulched leaves...they will all improve your soil

 

[gergwebber]

[what he said]

Organic matter will lighten the soil too. If you can find composted rice hulls or saw dust that could help a lot. Be sure it is composted well, or you will need extra Nitrogen to offset the bacterial N demands. But anything that feeds the soil microbe community will help.

For inorganics, I like gritty material. Washed coarse sand or DG will work well. I would only buy bulk from a landscape supply store though. FORGET BAGS!!!!!!!!!!

For my beds, I like to add a thick layer of deciduous hard wood leaves every fall. This can be chopped into the bed in late winter. If you have a large hardwood near by, start a leaf pile and use it as mulch, or make leaf mold which is possibly the best soil conditioner there is.

Also, if you have a lawn, consider bagging your lawn clippings. Green Grass has a high nitrogen to carbon ratio. This means it composts fast and without creating a N deficiency like woodier material will.

Also, be sure to mulch the walkways with woodchips. This trick works great to keep down weeds and mud, but also functions as a compost bin for the extra space. Roots will not be confined to beds alone, so creating a cheap and fertile soil zone in walkways helps also.

 

[lordy]

Organic material worked into the soil and/or laid on top as a mulch will help to fix almost any problem. Peat moss, compost, chopped and mulched leaves...they will all improve your soil

this works great for me. I dont do raised beds, but I do double dig to about 18". I've been using chopped/mowed leaves, grass clippings, mulch, leftover or old bonsai soil. It gets easier and easier to turn it over in the spring, and the plants seem to love it.
I would add Perlite or Dry Stall to any heavy clay-type soil and break it up well.

 

[sikadelic]

I will be moving at the end of the year to southern Indiana. I wanted to make a raised bed for my trees to help with their development as well as help with the crazy winters and hard frost/ice storms they experience.

Do you guys have a good DIY for the raised beds themselves? I was thinking a couple of 4x4s or railraoad ties (or whatever I can get cheapest) and dig a 6" trench or so. Place some sand in there as a foundation and help level everything and drive rebar down through holes I will drill out.

I've never does this before or even researched it....just thinking.

 

[RKatzin]

I do like Stan going for about 70/30 on the organics/ inorganic ratio. I live in an area that is heavily forested and can just pick up what I need. Lava rock and pumice are abundant in the Cascade Range and I rake up all the compost, forest humus, pine bark ect and bag it. There is alot of decomposed granite in the area, too and you can load it by the pickupful. Many folks add dg to help break up our native clay soil. I always wish I could help you folks out there that have trouble finding or paying premium for materials I can pick up off the ground. I know of places where I can pick up pumice already graded to size. It happens in the mountain lakes. The pumice floats around in the lake and as it washes ashore the bigger chunks stay closer to the water and the fines float further up the beach. This forms lines on the beach, just pick up the size you want. Isn't that terrible!

 

[remist17]

Just did some calling around for dry stall, turface and lava. I got laughed at about the lava. Dry stall the cheapest is from Southern States in MD. Agway want 19 a bag. Turface is also the cheapest at Southern States at 12 a bag.

I live on a mountain side so I do three sided raised beds and the forth side is the hill. I use the discounted wood at homedepot that is treated. So what ever is on sale for 1 dollar I pick up. Mostly all the raised beds I do are 2x10 or 2x12. I screw them together and put two 2x4 into the ground in the back to hold it into the hillside. Ill take some photos if anyone wants to see these this weekend.

I have a lot of composted manure from the farm but I always cut it with something. For my veggy garden these are not raised beds so I just put two or three scoops of manure and rototill it in. Raised beds and bonsai trees for some reason got me thinking to much.

So with these beds used just for future trees, I put in top soil, bagged from Lowes, manure, peat moss and some old bonsai soil. I will top dress with straw to keep moisture in. All about 14" deep. Hows does that sound?

 

[Poink88]

Potting soil may be one of the best material you can use to amend your topsoil right now. Cheap too if you buy the big bags.

Forgot to mention that the potting soil I use are mostly pine bark. Soil conditioners should work great as well...which is also pine bark. Decomposed bark mulch is also good if you can find them at the box stores.

 

[RKatzin]

Remist, I was right with you all the way up to where you topped it off with straw. I use deco bark in the 2" size for that purpose. It is important to keep air flow going through the top mulch and straw forms a mat that restricts air flow. If you must use straw keep it well back from the plants base. Straw rots fast and it grows oats, barley or rye, the bark lasts several seasons. Rick

 

[remist17]

Remist, I was right with you all the way up to where you topped it off with straw. I use deco bark in the 2" size for that purpose. It is important to keep air flow going through the top mulch and straw forms a mat that restricts air flow. If you must use straw keep it well back from the plants base. Straw rots fast and it grows oats, barley or rye, the bark lasts several seasons. Rick

Good point. Didn't really think about that portion.
Will use some sort of pine bark mulch for topping off the soil.

 

[GrimLore]

Good point. Didn't really think about that portion.
Will use some sort of pine bark mulch for topping off the soil.

Call Agway for the pine horse bedding, something like 4.88 for a heavy compacted bag that goes a long way.

Grimmy

 

[Dav4]

Each fall in MA, I used to rake up all the sugar maple leaves and chop them up with my mulching mower....there were close to 20 mature maples so I had a lot of leaves. Some would get spread right on the garden and the rest would get piled up in the woods to compost. I do the same thing now in GA, but I chop up mostly oak leaves. I haven't paid for organic mulch or soil additives in over a decade. If you've got woods around, you may be all set.

 

[gergwebber]

Good point. Didn't really think about that portion.
Will use some sort of pine bark mulch for topping off the soil.

[Again Dav4 beat me to it]

I disagree. Mulch around the plants is a great opportunity to amend the soil. I use a readily decomposable material that is reapplied twice or three times annually(coinciding with plant rotation).

For raised beds, straw can be too coarse. It takes a lot of space and yes, it can mat up. I prefer lawn clippings for this purpose as it is usually free, and easy to spread. It is so fine, it is easy to add in and around transplants. It too mats, but this is good for weed suppression and water retention.Furthermore, it is worm food, and will add much more to the soils quality than bark will. The best material is actually dry leaves from the mower bag. This has a good N:C balance and leads to super nice soil fast.

The veggie garden is a bed that gets worked many times a year so what is the point if having a mulch on that needs 3 year to decompose? How many times will you have to rake it back and forth for planting/amending/ferts/tilling. In my garden, about the time I am ready to change crops, the mulch is fully composted and easily turned into the soil. Often I don't even have to bother tilling, as worms have done it for me.

 

[Dav4]

[Again Dav4 beat me to it]

I disagree. Mulch around the plants is a great opportunity to amend the soil. I use a readily decomposable material that is reapplied twice or three times annually(coinciding with plant rotation).

For raised beds, straw can be too coarse. It takes a lot of space and yes, it can mat up. I prefer lawn clippings for this purpose as it is usually free, and easy to spread. It is so fine, it is easy to add in and around transplants. It too mats, but this is good for weed suppression and water retention.Furthermore, it is worm food, and will add much more to the soils quality than bark will. The best material is actually dry leaves from the mower bag. This has a good N:C balance and leads to super nice soil fast.

The veggie garden is a bed that gets worked many times a year so what is the point if having a mulch on that needs 3 year to decompose? How many times will you have to rake it back and forth for planting/amending/ferts/tilling. In my garden, about the time I am ready to change crops, the mulch is fully composted and easily turned into the soil. Often I don't even have to bother tilling, as worms have done it for me.

I pretty much stopped tilling my veggie gardens soil over a decade ago and just apply an organic mulch spring and fall. Every time you till or pull a weed, you're bring weed seeds to the surface where they'll germinate. An organic mulch suppresses weed germination, moderates soil water and temperature fluctuations and eventually breaks down into beneficial substances for the plants...and I let the worms do the tilling.