I would not just fill the new beds with just compost and peat moss. You want some actual mineral soil in the beds as well. A mix of 50% soil, 25% compost and 25% composted manure from a landscape supplier is what I have used and it has worked well. A mix like this will settle about 25% the first year and I just fill the bed up each year with my homemade compost and sometimes till it in and other times not depending on the time of year.

Asparagus and strawberries should be planted ASAP. Probably too late for spring peas in Iowa already but you can plant something else like green beans now and then plant the peas in August for a fall crop after the beans are finished.

Agree completely with the mix suggested above. And asparagus require a lot of real estate - one planting (5 plants per person for a decent harvest) will fill up one raised bed very easily. And it may even be too late for asparagus - the crowns are only sold in very early spring, typically not later than March.

Agree. If you browse through the many discussions here (search will pull them up for you) about 'raised bed fill' you'll find most all include some soil, usually at least 1/2. It is needed for minerals, nutrients, an active soil food web to aid in the decomp of compost, better rooting for the plants, and drainage. Many, but not all, of the nursery mixes sold as "raised bed fill" already include soil mixed in.

So the question is whether or not to use some of your native soil or to buy something better?

Adding rocks in the bottom won't improve drainage and will only cause worse ponding. And since you are only 12" deep, the plant roots will need access to that soil. If at all possible then turning or tilling at least 6" of that native soil before placing the beds on top of it would be a great benefit.

Other useful ingredients can include perlite, pine bark fines, vermiculite, a fertilizer or nutrient source, chopped straw, etc.

For the asparagus keep in mind that it will need a permanent bed of its own. As for peas you can plant snap peas but it is late for green English peas and quickly getting late for strawberries as well.

Dave

Thanks for the suggestions! I have the peas going already in pots, I was hoping to just transfer them when I filled the beds. Asparagus were planted in the ground last year, just hoping to move them this year. I know I'll have to wait for next year, sadly. They've already gone to fern.

By soil, you mean top soil/black dirt right? I was planning on just getting a truckload of something dumped in my driveway, so I'm a little overwhelmed with the thought of getting multiple trucks of compost and dirt. I'm apparently going to need around 2.6 cubic yards (assuming I did math right) to fill all 4 beds.

An employee at my local nursery said not to use manure because the nitrogen will grow leaves, but stunt flowers (for tomatoes and strawberries.) Is this wrong?

@digdirt2 - I was planning on stapling some garden cloth to the inside of the bottom of garden beds. I thought that would help keep the new good dirt in? Is it not deep enough to do this?

Last year was my first year planting there, and the soil just was dry and cracked there, even after tilling the top few inches. Just too compacted I assume?

Picture for reference. It's a never ending project....

Apparently the dirt place I was planning on using has "Garden Mix" for sale: Garden Mix (10% Sand, 30% Compost and 60% Topsoil)

Does this sound okay?

At only 12" deep, no I wouldn't put any garden cloth on the bottoms. That too retards drainage. If you have a gopher or mole problem some will use hardware cloth. Otherwise nothings is best.

Some have good luck using several layers of cardboard underneath as it decomposes, drains, and lets roots penetrate. It will also help loosed up the soil underneath as it decomposes. But many plants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. have much longer roots than 12" and need access to that soil unless you want to build the beds deeper.

The "Garden Mix" sounds fine but I would ask for some sort of guarantee that it contains no herbicide contamination. There have been several discussions lately - one running right now on the Tomatoes forum - where purchased fill has proved to be contaminated with herbicides and can't be used. So I'd want my money back in that case.

Dave

Perfect... but if you are having problems draining I would leave out the peat moss as it has no nutrient value and is used for moisture retention.

For walkways I like at least 4ft wide but it looks like its too late for that. How wide are they? Is there a reason for that?

That wall side would be a problem in a couple of ways - 1st you won't be able to get on that side for planting or harvesting. Believe me narrow walkways are also a problem for for both.

Which way is north in the pic? And will this area get 6 or more hours of direct sunlight? Without being filtered by the trees when leafed out?

Do you not have another area that will get 6hrs or more of direct sunlight? IF this area does not then this whole project can be limited to very few plants and certainly not tomatoes, strawberries, and I'm pretty sure asparagus. I think asparagus needs 3 years before you should harvest.

Why are you worried about mulch washing away from the area?

Choosing an area with lots of direct sunlight is the first step in garden planning.

I'm with Gumby on the 4' wide paths! How do you plan on getting many wheel barrows full of soil/compost to those right side beds?

Strawberries and peas are early spring here in Ca.. Asparagus is almost done for us. As they said, asparagus is a forever bed!

I'm really not sure what your zone allows you, but you might want to look into tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, green beans, zuchinni (don't know if you have the squash borers, also that will take up a whole bed for 2 plants)

When I start a new bed, I usually dig down with a shovel or fork, break it up as much as I can, add whatever organic manure I can find, water it in, again and again, place the raised bed lined with hardware cloth, mix soil, compost and manure, water in water in.....repeat til full! It will still break down! Nancy

Since the beds are only 3 feet wide you wouldn't really need to get to both sides. You could reach across. For filling you could shovel mix from the concrete area, use a shoot or buckets. If the frames aren't fixed to the ground you could fill the far ones before placing the near ones. Using a 4 foot strip for a path would be a waste of valuable space imo. even if it meant that filling was a little more labour intensive. In a small garden you have to use every inch of ground and wide paths, while a pleasant luxury, just don't merit the loss of growing space.

I guess IF the OP has a 3ft reach then all might be OK. I am almost 6ft tall and can't reach that far. With the wall/fence/ & house surrounding 2 sides this setup will certainly be a challenge - not only to fill but to work.

But more importantly IF this location doesn't get adequate direct sunlight all these challenges are for naught.

While the width of a path or walkway will long be debated and I can agree that things can't always be ideal and at times we need to make things fit - the OP was asking for advice. The wonderful thing about gardening is - it is your garden and you can certainly do whatever you like.

Can you plant in the bed while standing?

Since everyone is different what I use as a guide is to measure from the floor up to the hip bone (with shoes ON) and use that as a guide for the minimum width of the walkway for that person. Go with less IF you choose but that is an individual choice.

When up against a wall or fence I would not make a bed any wider than 2ft. (for me).

Maybe growing in containers or something that can be moved into the sun would be a better choice?

@gumby_ct - North is the wooden fence. It gets sun all day. First thing in the morning, till around 4 or 5pm. Tomatoes did fine last year with a little blight from me planting WAY too close together (on the fence side) and not enough air circulation.

There is a 20" walkway between each raised bed, and another 20" between the beds by the fence and the fence. There's only 112 inches of space there because there's a fence on one end, and a concrete slab on the other. The garden area was already set up when I moved in, and I have grass everywhere else. Beds are movable at the moment, so I can move the inside ones, and fill the ones by the fence first. I can move the fence beds over, so they'd be directly next to the fence, and eliminate the 20" walkway on that side. Then I'd have 40" in the middle. I could just reach across the 3' bed then. I was just worried about air circulation, but I guess with strawberries and asparagus on that side it wouldn't be too big of an issue.

I'm planning on planting the tomatoes on the side by the slab. Asparagus will go in the back corner bed. Hoping to plant strawberries in the front bed by the fence. Possibly peas in the front bed, slab side. Mostly future planning here, I know it's too late for most of that. Asparagus are on year two, planning on moving them to raised beds when built.

Not worried about mulch washing away as much as mulch spilling into the yard. The garden area is level with the yard, and there's not really much of a separation point, aside from some flat pavers between the grass/dirt.

those beds look great! i would loosen the soil underneath and then fill them with the stuff you already planned on using. they don't have to be filled to the top. you could mix some fertilizer in with it.

@gumby_ct - See previous comment. Sorry it took me a bit to reply. The maroon thing is my neighbors garage. There's about 3 ft between the beds and the garage. 20" paths in between fence and between all the beds. The slab side is completely open, as is the area in front of the beds (grass.)

I'm 5'8", slender, and in my mid-twenties, so I'm fine to stretch a bit to garden. I think I'll be fine to maneuver around a bit while planting. I have a small space to use, so I'd like to use as much of the garden as possible. Debating on moving the beds by the fence directly against the fence though. Any thoughts?

Area gets the most sun in my yard. From first thing in the morning till around 5pm.

I would definitely fill the beds to the top and then some especially for the asparagus and strawberry beds which would be more difficult to add to down the road. The garden mix you plan to use will probably settle about 3-4 inches the first year.

I would leave the 20" space between the fence and the gardens so you can weed eat there. If you place the beds up next to the fence you will still have weeds that will grow between the bed and fence but would not have good a way to eradicate them.

I also think that you will be glad you have access to picking asparagus and the berries from both sides.

<Debating on moving the beds by the fence directly against the fence though. Any thoughts?> I didn't realize there was space between the fence and beds. I 2nd it to leave that space.

IF this is indeed the sunniest spot and you are OK with the space then run with it. IF anything changes you can always make changes next year or the year after. Gardeners are forever making changes.

If that fence is the north side that is where you should plant your tallest plants unless you will use them to shade something else.

My tomatoes get huge.

Hmmm, the reason I was going to plant tomatoes by the slab is because of 1. air circulation, and 2. There's way more room to move on that side (the slab is like 15' wide)

They were fine by the fence last year, but it was almost impossible to get to them on the fence side because they got so big. I also planted them way too close and too many. I overestimated how much I love tomatoes. (:

I agree that you certainly DO need to fill the beds right to the top. They need to be at least 6" deeper to begin with IMO.

But I honestly think you will want to re-think the asparagus. Not only is it permanent but it spreads, requires wide plant spacing, and most importantly there simply isn't enough room in even 1 whole bed there to plant enough crowns to get enough production for more than a meal or maybe two. Is that really enough production for you to make it worth tying up a whole bed forever?

If you can move the front beds to somewhere else along the fence so they are end to end so to speak rather than 2 beds deep I sure would do that. If you are going to build raised beds then why let the old garden space dictate where they go?

Dave

PS: and agree that your tomato plants need to go on the north side or they will shade out everything behind them unless you grow the dwarf varieties.

<but it was almost impossible to get to them on the fence side because they got so big.> (smiling) I plead the 5th

Would those beds fit if you turned them 90 degrees? How would that work for ya?

@ Digdirt2 <But I honestly think you will want to re-think the asparagus.> How much room do they take? 6 x 3' isn't enough? I've never grown asparagus before. I have a space between neighbors garage and my concrete slab that's about 20' x 4' that I could plant them in instead, but I liked the idea of having them in a neat little space. I just love asparagus. :)

@Gumby_Ct - I don't know if the beds would fit turned the other way. I could measure when I get home, I suppose. Is there a particular reason for turning them? I will for sure leave the tomatoes by the fence though. I think it was more my fault for planting 5 tomatoes in the space of like 1 of those beds. Seriously, I planted them way too close together and too close to the fence. Live and learn. lol.

Holy cow, I just googled Asparagus patches. NO IDEA they got that big. Rethinking store bought asparagus.

<I suppose. Is there a particular reason for turning them?> Said another way - is there a reason they are arranged that way?

Seriously just think that maybe things won't be all crammed in near the fence? And maybe you could have better access to what is near the fence? Just a thought.

Sydney - to put it bluntly (my apologies for doing so) but those are VERY small beds and they won't grow nearly the amount of things you have planned. Plus it is a very crowded and non-functional layout for many reasons that I and others have hinted at. That is why i said do NOT let the existing space dictate to you. The odds are it wasn't very successful there anyway.

I understand the desire to have things confined to a neat little space all together but with that as a goal you create many gardening problems for both you and the plants and in the long run limits your success.

So I strongly suggest you give re-vamping the entire area as much possible. Putting the boxes end to end along the fence and way from the patio and spaced a bit out from the fence will improve things a great deal. Just put several layers of cardboard down on any grass areas and set the beds on top of them if necessary.

Asparagus never remains in a nice neat little space anyway and it doesn't do well competing with other plants. Plus its water and nutrient needs are quite different from many other vegetables. So if you really want it find another, much larger place for it all on its own. Plant the crowns 12" apart and at least 8" deep and recognize that they will get 5-6 feet tall and will fall all over the place unless contained in some fashion.

Dave

@gumby_ct - I will try and turn them tonight. That sounds like it will allow easier access to tomatoes by fence. The only reason I had them that way was to allow for one whole bed for strawberries. But perhaps I'll just get creative or do 3 tomatoes instead of 4.

@digdirt2 - thanks for the bluntness. It's always appreciated. I've given up on the asparagus idea. It's just me eating most of this stuff so I think a few tomatoes, strawberries and snap peas (next year) will be fine. Or possibly planting cucumbers and training them to a vertical trellis for space reasons.

"Can you plant in the bed while standing?" I don't really understand the question. How does one do that? My paths are about two feet wide and I bend or crouch to plant. For sowing I stand to make the drills, crouch to sow the seed and then stand to cover it. 2 foot paths are ample space for all that.

If the OP has more space available then reorganising the beds is obviously the better option. I was assuming that the photo showed all the area they had. I am stuck in a mindset where we have such tiny gardens that we don't have the choice to expand. It shows in the language. We don't distinguish between garden and yard. It's all garden.

<"Can you plant in the bed while standing?" I don't really understand the question. How does one do that? > It really was intended as a rhetorical question.

I know I have to get down on my hands & knees for many things in the garden. I came complete with feet and legs and therefore need the space for them when planting, weeding, etc.

fwiw - I turned my entire backyard into garden and compost space. I despise grass which in most cases is/are weeds anyway. And also despise grass between and around garden beds. It only serves to harbor slugs and other insects while robbing water and nutrients from the plants I want to grow. If/when possible I would also have a 4ft perimeter around the garden beds for that reason. Use wood chips, mulch, or anything to keep the weeds from growing around the beds.