[Closed] Gardening for simpletons

I'd use a glyphosate weedkiller to knock out the grass. Give it a week and the grass will be pretty dead and the weed killer inactive. The only key thing to remember is to make sure the raised bed gets enough water.

Thanks, I wondered about doing something like that but wasn't sure if it might upset the composte.

As already said really - I'm sure you'd be ok just dumping the compost on top of the grass - it'll die off it it can't get to light. Definitely +1 on the watering!

How deep is the raised bed going to be? If you're only planting shallow-root stuff, then you shouldn't need to dig down any further, but if you plan to put in longer stuff, that'll root further into the pre-existing ground, I'd recommend digging that over a bit and mixing in some compost & sand. We put a raised bed onto ground without digging over and made the mistake of letting the carrots get a bit long = lots of snapped off carrots!

Have fun - it'll all taste so much better!

Firstly - it is compost - no 'e' - unless you have some very middle class stuff.

Secondly - It won't take you 20 minutes with a spade to lift the turf where you want to put the veg bed - using a weedkiller for no good reason isn't good practice. Then you'd do well to break up the soil before you put the other stuff on top as it will improve drainage.

You are a bit late to be planting seeds outside. You'd be better off getting a few starter plants if you want to plant out and try bringing on the seeds in a tray on your windowsill first. They will still be a bit late, but they should come on quicker there.

Hi, if your only shallow planting things, after the grass has died I would put a layer of weed blanket down to stop anything coming through. You can usualy buy it by the meter at garden centres. Also the veg food at poundland is really good, works as well as £6.99 feeds. Keep your eye out for slugs too, you don't get as many with a raised bed but they enjoy your produce too!

Sorry tootall! That's me believing predictive text over common sense although I am very middle class, that's why I wanna grow me own innit! Will be about 15 cms deep I reckon. We will probably pinch some bits of my parents because they've got all their little plants coming up in a greenhouse now although we bough seeds from b&q that said they could be sown straight out in may/june. I also have a spade, god knows where from though 😕

I have also bought a massive pot of slug pellets so should be ok there but do they hurt birds if they eat them?

Don't use weed killer under veg 🙄

Thats just very silly, you're going to eat it.

The grass will die under approx 6" of compost, put membrane over if you must.

Plant, water and watch. Have fun.

EDIT: 6" = 15cm 😉

Remove the turf.

Plant spuds [potatoes] late variety.

Thanks for clarifying Flip 8)

Don't think I'll go for spuds purely because the parents grown them and there are so many that we get stuffed full of enough of them not to need to grow our own but they do look easy to get going. Quite excited now! Just got to clear some bits of crap out tomorrow to the tip and we'll dig over the grass I think or if I'm feeling really lazy just some membrane.

@emma82

They break the ground up well.

My tomatoes are coming along really well now. Mt neighbour is jealous cos he's sposed to be the top gardener and all, but he ain't got the skilz dem. His beetroots failed, his mixed leaf salad was a disaster, and his spring onions are a joke. Last year, his potatoes were a source of great amusement, cos they were the size of large beans.

I think he lacks the patience required.

oh right cheers redthunder, missed that - good idea!

Elf don't be competitive with your neighbour, at least he is trying. Perhaps if you pooled your collective knowledge and played nicely you could each grow different veg and then share the results... everyone's a winner!

Emma; he's one of those types 'ear I used to be a professional gardener you're not doing it right do it my way or everything will die' type people. Forever offering 'advice', which quite honestly I just ignore most of the time. Speshly as my tomatoes are doing fine. Bloody easy to grow anyway.

He went away on holiday for a couple of weeks; gave explicit instructions on just how much water each plant needs. Really precise amounts. I just watered the lot the same; everything was lush and green when he came back. Really healthy.

'So you watered everything like I told you then?'

No mate; I just watered them all the same. Oh look; they've all survived.

He had a bit of a huff over that. Doesn't like anyone else being able to do what he thinks he's the expert in.

He set traps to kill squirrels, Emma. Just cos a couple buried some peanuts in one of his tubs. Fortunately, and much to my delight, he hasn't caught a single one. 😀

Do you live next door to Alan Tittiemarsh by any chance?

Allan Tittylip more like...

Nah he's ok; just a bit curmudgeonly. His missus tells him so all the time.

He's found a right nice bit of 25mm ply by the bins. He'll only waste it by making a shelf for something outside, where it'll rot and fall apart within the year, like the last ones did.... 🙄

Whereas if he gave it to me, like he should, I do something nice with it. Ah well.

[i]his spring onions are a joke[/i]

What goes boing and makes you cry?

Zebedee?

[img] [/img]

I used to have a MASSIVE Zebedee sticker on the side of my shelves as a kid. I was terrified of it, it used to watch me 🙁

Do people talk to their veg then - Prince Charles stylee?

No, a kick in the nuts from a rabbit.

[img] [/img]

Does it get camper than this?

edit;not just me then!

No, a kick in the nuts from a rabbit.

Well if you're a little elf perhaps...........jeeezus that guy holding the rabbit is tiny 😯