Raised Bed and No Dig Gardening Michael Poultney, Midland Branch.

Following on from my previous article on composting, I felt your readers might be interested in my methods for

raised beds & no dig cultivation . This is also through trial & error over the past 20 odd years . On my plot now i’m all raised beds , and since i’ve been on there, people have seen that I get better produce with my methods,

and from that, three quarters of the plots on our site now have raised beds !

Making raised beds ; when I made mine 20 odd years ago I used any timber I could get hold of , now its easier in

the sense that reclaimed scaffolding planks are available at a reasonable price , ( health & safety ; if a scaffolding plank has slight damage in any way , its thrown out ! one of the only good things I can think of to come out of

health & safety , for us gardeners ! ) . These will last a good few years , especially if covered in black & white plastic , I have had plastic on my beds now for over 15 years with no deterioation.

My own beds are 26 ft long ( width of my plot ) by 4 ft wide . My depths vary from 12" to 18" because my plot slopes either way , my beds

are deeper one side & one end to get them level. Being 4ft wide I can reach the middle from either side so i’m not walking on it , meaning no compaction so you don’t have to dig. When you do dig you are bringing dormant

seeds to the surface giving you more weeds, you are also disturbing the bacteria & fungi that are working for

you. Let nature do the digging , worms were made for that purpose! At the end of a growing period on one of my beds any weeds come out with a hand fork , the bed is then levelled & top dressed with garden compost or

manure ( all according what you’re going to grow ) . The top dressing is then watered and covered with a weed suppressant.

I use plastic coated wire to cover this to stop wind disturbance. The worms will now do the digging for you until you are ready for that bed again, ( working exactly like your covered compost bin, your plants need air to the

roots as well as moisture , the burrows made by the worms will do this , this is working with nature.

Advantages of raised beds ; the soil warms up quicker so you can plant out earlier, you have better drainage with

less water logging with less chance of getting club root ( prone in water logged soil ) .No digging means you don’t do your back in (making it easier the older you get) . Less bending and the produce lifts out easier giving

you less waste (parsnips and carrots ) , spuds, I get up with my hands ( no damage by prongs of the fork ) . No

damage by using a hoe , a hand fork is all I use. Less slug damage ( unless they have a ladder ) . Ideal if you have a clay soil. The only drawback I have found with raised beds is that they dry out quicker , just water more

often , the hardest part of doing raised beds is filling them up !

In mine I have used garden compost , leaf mould, manure , top soil , spent mushroom compost , cheap compost , spent hops . Mix well and let nature settle the brew. Filling up with a good medium will give crops a better root

run with less restriction giving you stronger & healthier crops , a nice and open medium that will not crust over so badly during a dry spell. Bean, onion and leek trenches have been around for years , a trench is a raised bed

upside down !

You have all used a raised bed without realising it .... potting on. The larger pot compared to the small one is a raised bed. If something doesn’t work I would not do it ........ raised beds do work.

Mick.