When the garden is tidied up from late summer, there is a lot of biological waste such as plant remains, grass cuttings, leaves and prunings. These materials are perfect for refilling the new (or old) raised bed. The advantage: By spring, the compost has matured well and is ready for sowing.

In autumn, the raised bed is prepared for next year

How to set up the raised bed again in the fall

The best way to start a new raised bed is as follows:

  • Remove any existing substrate residues or tamp them down firmly on the bottom of the bed.
  • Fill in shredded wood cuttings as a drainage layer: the branches and twigs should be roughly chopped.
  • Instead, thick tree stumps or inorganic material such as pebbles are also suitable.
  • This is followed by a layer of cut sod with the roots pointing upwards.
  • Alternatively, a thin layer of grass and hedge clippings or straw is also suitable.
  • This is followed by a layer of damp autumn leaves about 30 centimeters thick.
  • Do not use diseased (risk of infection!) or leaves that are difficult to decompose.
  • Finally, there is an approx. 15 centimeter thick layer of half-ripe compost and/or stable manure.
  • Horse manure is particularly suitable for raised beds planted with heavy feeders such as tomatoes, courgettes or pumpkins.
  • Finally, there is a layer of plant or garden soil or fine compost about 10 centimeters thick.

In order for the rotting process to start faster, you can sprinkle rock flour (14.13€) or compost accelerator between the individual layers. Earthworms are also used to work through the compost and speed up the process even further.

Cover the raised bed during the cold season

Then you should cover the freshly filled raised bed for the winter. A thick layer of mulch is suitable for this (e.g. leaves, straw, brushwood…), but mulch film is also very suitable. This measure is important to ensure that the contents of the raised bed are not silted up and thus compacted by winter precipitation. In addition, valuable nutrients can be washed out. Over the next few months, the compost volume in the raised bed will decrease significantly - the compost decomposes into fine humus soil and therefore sags. Therefore, the raised bed often has to be filled up again in the spring, preferably with a layer of horse manure or half-ripe compost and fine potting soil on top.

tips

The contents of a raised bed will decompose within five to six years. After this period has expired, the bed must be set up again.

Category:

Vegetable garden