How to fill a raised garden bed?

[Vivianvivi]

I bought a raised bed from bunning a week ago. It's size is 1.2*0.9*0.3(metre). I counted it roughly Would need 324L to be filled. Then I started checking online how to fill it (from Google). One article says one bag soil one bag compost doing lasagna way... So i bought 6bags osmocote garden soil (25L/bag) and 6 bags osmocote compost (25L/bag) plus cow maune (25L/bag) and chicken maune(25L/bag) and blood bone(5L/bag)..... 

So i did the way...one bag soil, 1/6 of a bag chicken maune,  1/2 of a bag cow maune,one bag soil, one bag compost, one bag soil, one bag soil, another 1/6 of a bag chicken maune, one bag soil, one bag compost, one bag soil, one bag compost, one bag soil, one bag compost..blended..

But, after doing that, I wonder if the mixed soil over riched? And Would hurt the seed Or plant ( vegs)?

Please give suggestions...

[Vivianvivi]

Forget to say, in the first two layer i added 2 small hand shovels blood bones...

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Vivianvivi. It's sensational that you've joined us, and many thanks for your questions about filling a raised garden bed.

In @Noelle's guide on How to fill a raised garden bed, you'll note that the entire bed is filled with garden soil and a top layer of premium potting mix. You could then add several handfuls of chicken manure to the top. Your method of layering compost in between the soil would also work well. Adding the cow manure layers is likely fine too, but you might have been a little heavy-handed with the chicken manure. However, I don't think you need to panic, as it sounds like your plants should be fine.

Last season I ran into the issue where I needed to fill a bed about 5 times as large as yours. There were only limited budget soils in stock, and I really didn't want to buy premium soil to fill the whole bed. I decided to fill the bed with a 50/50 mix of cow manure and budget soil as there was plenty of cow manure in stock. In hindsight, I realised that was a very potent mix. The only issues I had were the seedlings seemed to struggle a bit until they grew large enough, then they just took off.

You could remove 250mm off the top and fill that with a premium potting mix if you wanted to. The plant roots will establish in that and then venture deeper into the nutrient-rich layers.

Let me mention @Noelle and @Adam_W to see if they have any thoughts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Noelle]

Hi @Vivianvivi & @MitchellMc 

MitchellMc's method is great but perhaps a little less cow manure, as too much urea (as in the manure) can cause root burn on young seedlings. I'd probably go one third to one quarter cow manure to two-thirds to three-quarters budget soil then top off with a 15-20cm layer of premium raised garden bed mix or vegetable & herb potting mix.  The seedlings' roots will then grow down into the manure-budget soil mix as they establish.

[MitchellMc]

Sorry, it might not have been clear, @Noelle. I wasn't suggesting a 50/50 mix, just illustrating how I made a similar mistake. I'm just lucky my seedlings survived in it. My normal mix would be around one bag of cow manure to every four bags of soil or compost.

Many thanks for your input.

Mitchell

[Vivianvivi]

Thanks heaps for your help@MitchellMc@Noelle

I truly worried about the bed soil that I made is over-fertilized tooo Much and will burn the seed Or seedling....I am a green hand from gardening😂

The over dosed manures I put at the bottom of the bed.. Below 20cm i guess... Finger cross...

And i will add another two bag of potting mix for seed to grow... Do you think it can fix the mistake?

[MitchellMc]

I think you'll be fine @Vivianvivi, especially if you add a little potting mix at the top for the seeds to germinate in.

Mitchell