May

Raised Beds - Part 2

Kirsten

01 Jul 2025 • 4 min read

Shield bug / Stink bug eggs on the a leaf that was pruned from the plum tree. I love that they look like happy little faces.

25/5 - Project Success

It has cost me £108 to build the four small raised beds. Which breaks down as follows:
- Compost £36
- Pallet Collars £32
- Top Soil £40

The raised beds probably took 2 to 3 hours of work time with gaps for other tasks and vole related delays (see part 1).

Step one - clear a suitable area

Corner of the plot cleared of weeds, tarpaulin moved out of the way and raked over to flatten out

Step Two - finish clearing the area, start to lay out beds

Step 3 - fill the planters with a base layer. I used straw cardboard and wood chip and compost from the composter. The compost went under the card because it was not well rotted and I thought it would likely grow lots of weeds. I gave this layer a good soak.

Step 4 - add topsoil, I use soil I purchased and soil from other parts of the plot

four pallet collars in place partially filled, bags of topsoil on top of wood chip

Step 5 - Top up with compost

topped up pallet collars, full of compost

In addition to the main project I also trimmed all the growth coming out of the truck of the plum tree and discovered just how stinky the comfrey tea is. I mixed it about 1 part tea to 10 parts water and used it round the base of the plum tree. The smell is so bad I am not sure how much more of it I will use. Will have to see how long the smell lasts.

two different views of the plum tree - before a trim (left) lots and lots of growth coming out of the lower trunk, after (right) you can actually see the trunk.

I did a speedy weeding and I put a row of canes parallel to the a fence and laid all of the tree pruning trimmings in the channel between the fence and the canes. This area has persistent grass and weeds and hopefully the pruning will act as a natural weed suppressant. I do not want to use any more of the weed suppresant fabric. It frays and leaves lots of little bits of plastic everywhere. I will likely pull up all the stuff I have used so far once the wood chip has rotted a bit and is ready to be replaced. I expect when I do this I will also change the width of the beds.

I folded up the tarp and placed it at the back of the plot, behind the tree in the shady sitting area. Next weekend I intend to plant up a huge pile of seedlings. Watching the sun and shade around my plot I am not sure that the beds are going to be used as originally thought. That corner is far shadier than I thought it was going to be. In contrast the L shaped bed around the tree gets a bit more light. The positive news about the revised beds being a little shadier should be that they are a little protected from the sun and wind and will take longer to dry out. I will let you know what goes where next week - I don't even know yet!

I had some good chats with plot neighbours and made use of the kitchen for several pints of squash. Next week I will be getting some kale from a neighbour, she already has a big glut. I harvested (and immediately ate) a mange tout type sugar pea. I did not plant too many of these so I am not sure if these will be nibble on the plot plants or if any will get home for a meal.

I also tidied up the chard. There were some very sad leaves that I think are probably from some very cold nights/mornings or very sunny days or the big swings in between. No harm done, just a handful was chopped off and popped into the compost.

Time at the plot: 3.5hrs
Mood: Glad day 2 went to plan