Top Soil Help

 


Hello All,

I am in the process of planning a raised garden behind my new house. The
raised
area is around 6m long and 7m wide ending in a tall embankment.
Half of it gets
strong sunshine till around 14:00h during the summer and
is then in the shade.
The other half, including the embankment, remains
exposed to sunshine till late
in the evening during the summer months.

I will be building walls to raise the area to be able to walk out of the
French
windows at the back of my house.  I need to backfill and then put
top soil to a
height of 1.2m.  I have several questions

a. How much top soil, i.e. depth, should I put in.  By and large what we
will
have there will be a mixture of herbs, leek, cabbages, carrots etc.
Some flowers
a couple of apple trees and perhaps a cherry tree.

b. What do I need to know about the type of top soil to use - I live in
Luxembourg. We get around 900mm of rain per year and the soil is very
well
drained.

c. How can I put the embankment to good use - it rises to a height of
around 12m
at an angle of around 25° (quite steep) and is currently
covered in brambles and
the like

I'd much appreciate any help




--
FredAt

 



.6 meters of top soil would be fine.

One apple, or cherry tree can be 9 meters wide, you could espalier them
against a wall, but they do take a lot of space.

Good garden soil is 30-40% sand, 30-40% silt, and 10-20% clay with
organic matter being 5-10% of the preceding mix.

What is its orientation to your planned garden, north, south, east, or
west of it? If to the north or east, it may be a good spot to espalier
your fruit trees, you could put in terraces for more vegetables or
ornamentals.

If you aren't planning on gardening this year, I'd suggest sowing with
buckwheat, or rye, or a general mix of "green manure".
<http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1228.html>
<http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/covercrops.html>

The easiest way to make your garden is with a no-dig lasagna garden.
<http://organicgardening.about.com/od/startinganorganicgarden/a/lasagnaga
rden.htm>

Personally, I lay down my soil amendments (chicken manure, bone meal,
wood ash) over any weeds that may be in the garden area. That is then
covered with newspaper (most newsprint in the US, and I presume Europe,
is soy based ink, check with the printer) or cardboard, and this then is
covered with organic mulch (I use alfalfa/lucerne) to a depth of 10 - 60
cm. Spray the garden beds with water until they are thoroughly soaked
and then wait 2 - 6 weeks before planting. I must admit that sometimes I
plant immediately, but I run the risk of weeds when I do.

Gut glück, bonne chance, and all that sort of thing.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

 

Billy wrote:

You have missed the point.  The OP wants to build the area up, he is talking
of the order of 50 cubic metres of fill if read him correctly, that's a lot
of lasagne.

David

 



6m long and 7m wide (suggested 2 ft. deep)
= 20' X 23' 4" X 2'
= 936 cu. ft. = 26.5 cu. meters

Surface area = 466 sq. ft. = 43.3 sq. meters

Mulch = 466 sq. ft. X 2' = 932 sq. ft. = 26.4 cu. meters  max.
      = 466 sq. ft. X.3' = 140 sq. ft. =  4   cu. meters  min.
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

 

wrote:


In the US that's three 10 cu yd dump truck loads... that's a lotta
dirt... and for high quality top soil mucho dinero.

And still that raised bed won't be large enough for 2 semi dwarf fruit
trees, even for dwarf it would be iffy.... and even if the trees grow
the bed would be in shade.  Trees do better in a berm.