Getting the right Soil Mix

Now that you have built your beds you need to think about a soil mix to fill them with. So what to use? Well I have a basic philosophy and that is to use whatever you have, well within reason anyway. If all you had was bricks then it would be stupid to fill your beds with them but just be sensible about this. When I built my first high density garden bed I built it on a lawn. What I did was to remove the turf, add some well rotted horse manure and then put the chopped up turf back, but upside down so the grass would not continue to grow. I then added some old peat I have used the year before in the greenhouse, some coir, plenty of home made compost and finally I bought some topsoil which was pre bagged at my local garden store. I also had to buy the coir and this came as compressed bricks I had to rehydrate which was good fun. Coir is a waste produce from the coconut industry and as such is an organic resource. I try to be as organic as possible but will use whatever I need so sometimes I use non organic products.

One of these non organic products is vermiculite. I use this when growing seeds to cover the seeds over when I am germinating them. I have seen it said that this is an organic product as it is made by heating a mica type rock which then greatly expands. I suppose it is organic in the sense that it is from a natural rock, but is it sustainable, which is something else I try to be. I do not think it is. The volcanic rock it is made from is millions of years old and as such, whilst vermiculite is 100 percent natural it is not easy to replace, well not in the short term anyway so I do not class it as organic. I know there are some gardening methods which suggest using large quantities of vermiculite, it is up to you, but my view is look at the sustainability of what you are using. Is it organic and is it sustainable or easily replaceable by nature. If not, think twice before using it.

So my basic reasoning is use what you have to hand. A word of warning though. Beware of well intentioned neighbors. They will want to give you things like topsoil. My dad did this. When he found out I was buying topsoil, (which had been heat treated to kill weed seeds), he gave me some from his allotment. I am sure you can guess what happened. I covered half of my bed with bought in topsoil, and half with my Dads topsoil. Guess where the weeds grew? I even had weeds growing in the topsoil that my father gave me that do not grow in the area where I live, but they are rife in my Dad's allotment. Just think carefully about gifts and other "cheap" stuff. It may turn out to be more expensive than you thought.

Whatever you decide to use you will need to have a sufficient quantity to fill your beds above the level you intend to grow at. The reason for this is that your soil mix will be light and easy to work but remember it will settle after it has been put into your beds. Plan for this and put more in than you need. Make sure whatever ingredients you use to make your soil mix that they have the capability to retain enough moisture, hold nutrients but also be light enough to allow plenty of air to the roots.

One final point. I am sat here in my garden typing this in the sun. Next to me I am watching a bee search the flowers of catnip for pollen. If you mix your soil mix for your beds correctly it will be a very light soil, great for cats to do their toilet in as well as for birds to grub up looking for worms.

Since I have planted catnip, the cats come to play about with the herb rather than do their toilet. They also have the added bonus of scaring the birds away. I have heard of companion planting but this seems to be taking it to the extreme. The catnip is not in my high density garden but is in the flower garden. It still attracts the cats away from my vegetables which I am happy with. I know that in some areas catnip is treated as a weed but remember it is a way of attracting cats to one part of your garden rather than another so can be classed as useful - it just depends on your outlook in life.