Hi! This past summer was my first attempt at growing in the raised beds that came with our house we bought in 2023. I didn’t use every bed (there’s 14 of them) and I just tried to keep weeding the ones I didn’t use and kept cardboard on them. Some of the beds are damaged cause they’re wood and I plan to knock them down and replace them next year. A lot of the dormant beds are still in decent condition and I’d love to get their soil good and ready for next year, however they look a little empty and sad. Should I order soil to fill them now before it gets too cold or should I just throw a bunch of leaves on them (we have plenty) over winter and do it in early spring? The only thing I want to over winter is strawberries.
Financially I prefer waiting as I just spent 2,000 on my car 😅 and my compost pile isn’t robust or broken down enough yet to do the job either.
by TheTampoffs
9 Comments
Personally I will be topping up my garden in the spring. Still busy breaking down stuff and preparing for the winter. Will have much more time to deal with it in the spring. It’s also nice to have a task to do when the gardening bug hits but it’s too cold to actually plant.
Now would be best because you’ll allow the soil to settle and any uncomposted materials to finish breaking down over winter. A cheaper way to fill them would be to dump shredded leaves in, then a top coat of soil or compost. The leaves will break down over the winter, so you’ll likely have to top them up anyway, but this will leave you with extra rich soil for cheap.
top with heavy manure and let that decompose over winter. Soil will need to be watered all winter to ensure hydrophobic soil doesn’t ensue.
I top with cow poo now so the worms can have broken it all down by spring.
Whatever works best for you will be fine for the beds, generally.
The mulch place in my area will sell their bulk compost at a 70% discount in the winter, so sometimes I top up in December. Call around and maybe it’ll be the same for you.
Healthy soil is a living thing with structure full of animals, micro organisms, bacteria, virus, fungus… If you amend it now with compost and good top soil it will have time to develop over winter. Let weeds grow and cut them with a hoe before they flower and make seeds. Next spring just loosen it with a garden fork (not turn over) before transplanting or sowing seed. Anything not decomposed is going to utilize nitrogen in the soil to break down, so do not have leaves or anything fresh left over by spring. Organic fertilizer will help build healthy soil.
I load mine up with compost every Fall so it’s ready to go by Spring. Combination of leaf mulch rabbit poop and cow manure compost.
To get you going, buy compost for one or two beds. See all those trees at the back? Go round up the dropped leaves and put in the raised beds, and spread across the soil. Chop and dig them in. They will add the loveliest and cheapest compost, and they will break down by spring. Also, add grass clippings. I bet they’d be some lovely soil beneath the trees. Dig a few barrow loads full in the dead of night.
I would totally do it now!