Peter Ellis wrote:I am missing something. Why are you removing this "commercial soil" from the beds, rather than working with it?
Peter, re my post
Leila Rich wrote:In my temperate climate with dry summers/autumns, raised beds are often a real nightmare
Raising gardens above the native soil is not generally a good idea round here:
introducing a third dimension (aka 'up') leads to major
irrigation issues and cooked
roots.
As it's relatively warm in the winter, there's no need for raised bed's soil-warming properties.
So combined with 'soil' that looks like seed-starting mix with bonus dust, it needed to go.
Leila Rich wrote:get down to the native clay soil... I'll add a ton of compost..
I could fiddle with the commercial 'soil' for
years if it was at my own place and I was keen.
It's at a community centre though, where it's not practical/desirable to experiment.
I
had to move the 'soil' because of the raised bed thing, and I have good clay actual soil already underneath
So I guess my main whine is that some new gardeners hear/read about the awesomness of raised beds everywhere,
but don't realise it's a way of
gardening that works very well in some climates, but not where I am.
I made the same mistake when I was a new gardener, and now my gardens are practically
below soil-level.
Sometimes it feels like there
should be a disclaimer whenever raised beds are mentioned!