What do i backfill my garden beds with?

[maggiealley]

Hi everyone ! 
we are wanting to start to plant in our garden beds ( beds attatched ) they run down both sides of our yard approximately 1meter in width and 15meters long .. currently the beds just have rocky bits of dirt and small weeds ab stuff on them which we will clear out tomorrow.   What do i back fill the beds with ? We will most probably be planting hedge like plants 

thanks all  

[StevieB]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @maggiealley and thanks for jumping straight in with a question for our community.

Let me tag horticulturists and Workshop members @Adam_W and @Noelle who may be able to offer suggestions, as well as our resident D.I.Y. expert @MitchellMc. 

You may also find some helpful tips and ideas in these Bunnings D.I.Y. advice articles:

• How To Plant a Hedge

• 10 Fast Growing Plants For Privacy

• How To Control Weeds Organically

Hope you have a great day gardening tomorrow, even if it's the not so fun part of clearing the beds. We'd love to see updates on your progress along the way.

Stevie

[MitchellMc]

Hi @maggiealley, and welcome to the community.

As you have mentioned, the first step is removing any debris that isn't suitable to plant into. Next, I would suggest installing some sleepers along the fence side supported by Whites Outdoor 450mm Heavy Duty Steel Flat Stake Sleeper Peg. This is to provide a boundary to the garden bed as using the Colorbond fence for this is not optimal.

I'd recommend you backfill with a quality garden soil similar to Scotts Osmocote 25L Garden Soil Premium Planting Mix. If you need a significant quantity of fill, you might like to consider having a bulk quantity of Mother Earth 1m3 Garden Soil delivered.

I trust the articles @StevieB has provided above will be useful.

Please let us know if you have questions or need further assistance.

Mitchell

[ChloeThomson]

Hi @maggiealley ,

I certainly agree with the comments already made about raising up the edge of the garden bed if possible. It will make retaining soil and mulch in the area much easier. As well as bring in some soil as already mentioned, you could mix through some bagged compost and suitable slow release fertiliser before planting your hedges. 

Once the hedges are planted then of course you can top the soil around the plants with mulch, because this is the first time planting here I'd go for something finer rather than chunky - purely because it will breakdown and enrich the soil even further. Once the hedges are established and happy your could do the next mulch top up with something chunkier. 

Happy gardening 

🌱 Chloe

[Jason]

Hi @ChloeThomson,

Brilliant to see you make your first post on Bunnings Workshop. We know you have so much gardening knowledge, experience and (above all) passion to share with the community, so we are really excited to have you join us. 

Please let me know if you ever need a hand getting the most from the site.

Thanks again for joining in the discussion. 

Jason

PS. I'm sure @Noelle will also be rapt to have you join us.

[MitchellMc]

@ChloeThomson,

That's a great tip about the addition of compost, as purchased soils can notoriously be devoid of broken down organic material. I recently made the mistake of using some very budget soil, and twelve months later, I still have bark chips. All the plants died as there was zero water retention, and I couldn't keep enough water up to them over summer. I won't make that mistake again. I'll actually be spending more trying to make up for the cost-cutting and have lost plants in the process.

Many thanks for sharing your tips. I really appreciate your input, and I trust your knowledge will be invaluable to our members.

Mitchell