For plants to thrive in a raised bed, it must be filled properly. We show you layer by layer how to fill the raised bed.
filling a raised bed is one of the most important tasks when you want to cultivate vegetables, salads and herbs in it.
Because the layers inside the raised bed are responsible for the optimal nutrient supply of the plants and a rich harvest.
With the following instructions you fill your raised bed correctly.
Fill raised bed: These layers come in
✔1st layer: branches, twigs or wood chippings
✔2nd layer: inverted turf, foliage or lawn cuttings
✔3rd layer: half ripe compost and possibly half rotten manure
✔4th layer: high-quality garden soil and ripe compost
Building a raised bed is not difficult at all.
If it is made of wood, it should first be lined with pond liner to protect the inner walls from moisture.
And another tip: Before you fill in the first layer, install fine-meshed hare wire at the bottom and on the inner walls of the raised bed (about 30 centimetres high).
This acts as protection against voles and prevents the small rodents from building caves in the lower, loose layers and nibbling on your vegetables.
A common mistake when filling a raised bed is to fill it completely from below, i.e. 80 to 100 centimetres high, with earth.
This is not necessary at all: an approximately 30 centimeter thick layer of garden soil as the top layer is sufficient for most plants.
In addition, a loose mixture of soil easily collapses if it is piled too high.
How to fill a raised bed?
In total, a raised bed is filled with four different layers.
They are all between 5 and 25 centimeters high - depending on how much of the respective material is available.
In principle, the materials become finer and finer from bottom to top.
Start at the very bottom with a 25 to 30 centimetre high layer of sawn wood waste such as thin branches, twigs or wood chippings.
This layer serves as drainage in the raised bed.
This is followed by a layer of inverted sod, leaves or lawn cuttings - it is sufficient if this second layer is only about five centimetres high.
As a third layer you fill in half-ripe compost, to which you can additionally mix in half-rotten horse manure or cattle dung.
Lastly, add high-quality garden soil or plant soil to the raised bed.
In the upper area this can be improved with ripe compost.
Both the third and the fourth layer should have a height of about 25 to 30 centimetres.
Spread the topmost substrate cleanly and press it lightly.
Only when all layers have been filled into the raised bed does planting follow.
Why do you fill a raised bed in layers?
The different organic materials with which a raised bed is filled initiate a process of humus formation which supplies the bed with nutrients from the inside over several years.
Besides, the layering works like a kind of natural heating, because heat is generated during the rotting process.
This heat of decay also makes early sowing in raised beds possible and explains the sometimes considerably higher yields compared to normal vegetable beds.
Important: The rotting process causes the filling of the raised bed to gradually collapse.
In spring you should therefore refill some garden soil and compost every year.
After about five to seven years, all compostable parts inside the raised bed will have decomposed and broken down.
You can use the resulting extremely high-quality humus to spread it in your garden and thus improve your soil.
Only now does the raised bed need to be filled again and the layers need to be re-applied.
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